Latest news with #BärbelBas
Local Germany
14-07-2025
- Business
- Local Germany
How could welfare reforms in Germany affect you?
Bürgergeld and other unemployment benefits are is to be reformed (read cut) in order to save money, according to statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz to ARD in a televised interview on Sunday. Specifically, Merz spoke in favour of noticeable cuts to Bürgergeld, including potentially enforcing a cap on payments towards rent. "It should be called basic security ( Grundsicherung ) and no longer citizen's money ( Bürgergeld )...' Merz said, adding that he envisions the government saving more than one or two billion euros via cuts to welfare cash benefits. Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) reportedly wants to present a draft for a Bürgergeld reform after the summer break. What would a Bürgergeld reform look like? Among the main points Merz addressed on camera were a cap on the amount of rental costs that can be covered, as wekk as adjustments intended to stop people from collecting unemployment money on top of undeclared or other part-time work. A cap on rental costs could have a particular impact on people living in tight housing markets, such as in Berlin, Munich or other major cities, where housing costs are often high and more affordable options aren't readily available READ ALSO: Germans taking on personal debt at 'nearly twice the European average' The Chancellor also suggested that in some cases, like immediately after losing one's job, he could imagine increasing the unemployment benefits rate in some cases. Merz' comments, taken along with similar comments from Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD), suggest a looming cuts to Germany's welfare benefits system. For her part, Bas has also spoken of a broad reorganisation of Bürgergeld to make it 'more targeted and better at getting people into work', according to a report by The Labour Minister has also spoken out in favour of stricter rules for welfare recipients, including sanctions for people who miss appointments at the job centre . Advertisement Welfare politicised Germany's long-valued welfare benefits, and Bürgergeld in particular, have become issues of political contention in recent months. The far-right Alternative for Germany party has taken to pushing a narrative that immigrants in Germany are milking the country's welfare system, despite evidence to the contrary . READ ALSO: Fact-check - Are immigrants in Germany taking advantage of the welfare state? It's not surprising that the conservative Christian Union parties under Merz' leadership are pushing for social welfare reforms, but exactly how far they will push remains to be seen. The black-red government was confronted with a substantial hole in the federal budget as soon as it came to power, and having run on plans to cut certain taxes and raise spending on defence and infrastructure, they are limited in where they can look for potential savings. But exactly which benefits will be capped or cut, and by how much, will ultimately come down to the compromises reached in debates between Merz' conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (historically regarded as defenders of the welfare state).
Local Germany
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
Hundreds of thousands at Christopher Street Day Pride parade in Cologne
According to a spokesperson for the organisers, around 65,000 people marched through the city centre in a colourful parade with floats, which was lined with hundreds of thousands of onlookers and revellers despite intermittent rain. There had been no incidents by Sunday afternoon at the time of writing, according to both police and organisers. Everything was "peaceful and joyful," said a police spokesperson. The organisers also described it as a "super-peaceful" demonstration. The two-week Cologne Pride, which included the parade and a two-day street festival, attracted a total of around 1.1 million people, they said. Revellers arrive to take part in the Christopher Street Day (CSD) demonstration in Cologne, western Germany on July 6, 2025. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP) Last year, there were 1.4 million visitors, but the rain apparently deterred some this time. This year's demonstration was held under the motto "For Queer Rights. Many. Together. Strong." As in previous years, politicians also took part in Cologne Pride, including Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) and former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). Advertisement Cologne Pride, dedicated to demanding equal rights for homosexual, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer people, is one of the largest of its kind in Germany. It is organised annually by the Cologne Pride Association. Pride dates back to the police storming of the Stonewall Inn gay bar on Christopher Street in New York on June 28, 1969. This was followed by days of violent clashes between activists and security forces.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German minimum wage set to rise by about 14% over the next 18 months
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's minimum wage is set to rise by about 14% over the next 18 months under an agreement that appears to defuse a potentially divisive issue for the new government. A commission in which employers and labor unions are represented recommended on Friday that the minimum wage rise from its current 12.82 euros ($15) per hour to 13.90 euros at the beginning of 2026 and 14.60 euros a year later. The head of the panel, Christiane Schönefeld, said it faced 'a particular challenge this year in view of the stagnating economy and the uncertain forecasts.' She said it conducted 'very difficult talks, which were complicated further by the expectations expressed in public.' Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, has had a national minimum wage since 2015. It was introduced at the insistence of the center-left Social Democrats, who were then — as they are now now — the junior partners in a conservative-led government. It started off at 8.50 euros per hour, but the independent commission reviews its level regularly. There has been one political intervention, however: under then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, the government in 2022 ordered an increase to 12 euros an hour, fulfilling a campaign pledge by Scholz. In their campaign for this year's election, the Social Democrats called for an increase to 15 euros. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc strongly opposed another government-ordered raise. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas, a leading Social Democrat, said she would implement the commission's proposal. She said she 'can live well with it.' 'Of course we wanted more for people in this country,' she told reporters. But she praised the panel for reaching consensus on an increase, 'because it looked for a long time as though we wouldn't get an agreement at all, and then of course we would have had to talk in the coalition about how to deal with this.' The Associated Press Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
The Independent
27-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
German minimum wage set to rise by about 14% over the next 18 months
Germany's minimum wage is set to rise by about 14% over the next 18 months under an agreement that appears to defuse a potentially divisive issue for the new government. A commission in which employers and labor unions are represented recommended on Friday that the minimum wage rise from its current 12.82 euros ($15) per hour to 13.90 euros at the beginning of 2026 and 14.60 euros a year later. The head of the panel, Christiane Schönefeld, said it faced 'a particular challenge this year in view of the stagnating economy and the uncertain forecasts.' She said it conducted 'very difficult talks, which were complicated further by the expectations expressed in public.' Germany, which has Europe 's biggest economy, has had a national minimum wage since 2015. It was introduced at the insistence of the center-left Social Democrats, who were then — as they are now now — the junior partners in a conservative-led government. It started off at 8.50 euros per hour, but the independent commission reviews its level regularly. There has been one political intervention, however: under then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, the government in 2022 ordered an increase to 12 euros an hour, fulfilling a campaign pledge by Scholz. In their campaign for this year's election, the Social Democrats called for an increase to 15 euros. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz 's conservative bloc strongly opposed another government-ordered raise. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas, a leading Social Democrat, said she would implement the commission's proposal. She said she 'can live well with it.' 'Of course we wanted more for people in this country,' she told reporters. But she praised the panel for reaching consensus on an increase, 'because it looked for a long time as though we wouldn't get an agreement at all, and then of course we would have had to talk in the coalition about how to deal with this.'
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
German minimum wage set to rise by about 14% over the next 18 months
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's minimum wage is set to rise by about 14% over the next 18 months under an agreement that appears to defuse a potentially divisive issue for the new government. A commission in which employers and labor unions are represented recommended on Friday that the minimum wage rise from its current 12.82 euros ($15) per hour to 13.90 euros at the beginning of 2026 and 14.60 euros a year later. The head of the panel, Christiane Schönefeld, said it faced 'a particular challenge this year in view of the stagnating economy and the uncertain forecasts.' She said it conducted 'very difficult talks, which were complicated further by the expectations expressed in public.' Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, has had a national minimum wage since 2015. It was introduced at the insistence of the center-left Social Democrats, who were then — as they are now now — the junior partners in a conservative-led government. It started off at 8.50 euros per hour, but the independent commission reviews its level regularly. There has been one political intervention, however: under then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, the government in 2022 ordered an increase to 12 euros an hour, fulfilling a campaign pledge by Scholz. In their campaign for this year's election, the Social Democrats called for an increase to 15 euros. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc strongly opposed another government-ordered raise. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas, a leading Social Democrat, said she would implement the commission's proposal. She said she 'can live well with it.' 'Of course we wanted more for people in this country,' she told reporters. But she praised the panel for reaching consensus on an increase, 'because it looked for a long time as though we wouldn't get an agreement at all, and then of course we would have had to talk in the coalition about how to deal with this.'
