The meeting of the Union faction on this Tuesday was considered a touchstone for the compromise on the basic pension, which the coalition partners had negotiated on Sunday in the Chancellery. Already last week, there was a heated debate in the group on this issue.
However, the compromise on Sunday seems to have calmed the situation and averted a threatening uprising of the group. The group backed by a large majority the agreement with the SPD (read the details here), only occasionally there were participants according to criticism.
For the first time expressed also CDU chief Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer before the deputies on the subject:
- The result is better than what was on the table a week ago, she said.
- The Union has still much enforced, a fund for the future, the promotion of occupational pension, a deduction on double contribution.
- "I can represent the compromise to the best of my knowledge and belief."
Kramp-Karrenbauer emphasized that it is also part of the brand essence of the Union to do something for the people who have worked or raised children all their lives and who now only receive basic security. The Kramp-Karrenbauer speech was repeatedly interrupted by applause, participants reported.
Chancellor Angela Merkel also campaigned for the compromise: "In the 1990s, crazy things happened in the new federal states," she said. People would have worked for 3.36 euros or 4.50 euros. It is true that these people would not have to the office for basic security. "We should now embed the compromise in our own narrative: performance must pay off," said Merkel, according to participants. "It's a project that we can represent and that bears our signature."
On the other hand, Carsten Linnemann spoke critically. The chairman of the SME Union (MIT) asked how the financial transaction tax should be designed, with which Finance Minister Olaf Scholz wants to partially finance the basic pension.
By the way, one knows his position, said Linnemann.
He had voted against the compromise on Monday in the CDU board as well as Tilman Kuban, the head of the Young Union. Also, the Hamburg deputies Christoph Ploß and the chairman of the parliamentary group Mittelstand, Christian von Stetten, and the Baden-Wuerttemberg deputy Axel Fischer came up with critical questions on the financing of the basic pension in the group to speak. The mood was much more positive than last week.
The most difficult situation for Union fraction chief Ralph Brinkhaus. He has shown himself particularly relentless during the negotiations with the SPD. Without Brinkhaus, even Union politicians say, there would have been a compromise before.
Video: "Breaking through a thick knot"
CLEMENS BILAN / EPA-EFE / REX
Brinkhaus wanted to counter the accusation that he was not leading the faction, but merely moderating. Above all, the economic wing and the conservative camp in the group had hoped for a more self-confident course towards the government, as Brinkhaus surprisingly won the election last September for the group chairman against the Merkel confidant Volker Kauder.
So far, Brinkhaus had disappointed this hope. At the ground rent, he finally wanted to demonstrate determination.
Before the deputies Brinkhaus said it was worthwhile that the group had negotiated hard. "I'm not happy, but if I look at the overall situation, I recommend you to continue on the path."
In his environment, it is pointed out that it is only due to his hard work that there should now be a comprehensive income test. But Brinkhaus himself has internally pointed to the problems of this model in recent weeks. Those who share their concerns are not satisfied with the compromise.
Nevertheless, Kramp-Karrenbauer can now look forward to the CDU party conference in two weeks more relaxed. Although it is not excluded that it is opposed to applications for a basic pension. However, it is unlikely that the party will topple the project after not only the leadership, but also the vast majority of the Union faction are in favor of it.
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