Federal Minister of Labour Bas advocates for inclusion of civil servants in statutory pension insurance

The minister also argued with the financial logic of a larger group of insured individuals. "If everyone contributes, then we would have more in the pot and the state would not have to contribute so much," explained Bas. She directly linked the inclusion of civil servants with the relief of public budgets.

At the same time, Bas admitted that such a structural reform could not be implemented in the short term. "I know it's a long road," she said, referring to the political and constitutional hurdles. The consent of the federal states, in particular, is indispensable.

Bas formulated specifically: "All federal states must participate. Therefore, one must talk to the state premiers if one wants this." Since civil servant law falls under the responsibility of the federal states, a reform is only possible in agreement with the state premiers. Bas signalled her readiness for corresponding discussions.

Debate on Retirement Age

In the discussion, Bas also expressed openness to raising the retirement age beyond the current limit of 67 years. However, such an adjustment should not apply across the board but should be linked to conditions. For employees who could not work until an advanced age due to physical or health reasons, special regulations would be necessary.

As a possible mechanism, Bas suggested at least partially linking the retirement age to the number of contribution years. Those who have paid into the system for many years could therefore retire earlier, while those who work longer would have to switch to retirement later accordingly. With this, she linked the retirement age more closely to individual employment biographies.

According to Bas, initial steps towards the inclusion of civil servants could already be taken in the currently planned pension reform. The minister made it clear that she wants to use this opportunity to at least lay the groundwork for the later system change. However, she did not provide a concrete timeline.

Financial Key Figures of Pension Insurance

On Monday, the German Pension Insurance (DRV) published its spring tax estimate with updated contribution rate forecasts. According to this, the contribution rate for general pension insurance will remain unchanged at 18.6 percent in 2027 – a rate that has been in place since 2018. An increase to 19.9 percent is expected for 2028, before the contribution rate will likely reach exactly 20 percent in 2029.

Work of the Reform Commission

Parallel to these financial key figures, a commission appointed by the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition is working on proposals for a comprehensive pension reform. The results of the commission are expected by the end of June. Bas's initiative for the inclusion of civil servants is likely to be incorporated into the deliberations, even if it could only be implemented at the earliest in a later reform phase.

Overall, a phase is emerging in which the federal government wants to tackle several levers of old-age security simultaneously: the contribution obligation of new groups, the level of the retirement age, and the link to employment biographies. Whether all these elements will come together in one reform depends significantly on the outcome of the commission's work and the willingness of the federal states.