After a meeting of the party’s executive board in berlin on thursday, parliamentary group leader volker kauder (CDU) already made a coalition statement in favor of the FDP for the election in the fall of 2013: "then we will enter this election campaign with the goal of continuing this governing coalition, and i see a very good chance of doing so."In surveys, however, the FDP is currently below the 5 percent mark, while the union has 39 percent.
Kauder and his deputy gerda hasselfeldt (CSU) showed massive displeasure at the push by labor minister ursula von der leyen (CDU) for a subsidized pension for low-income earners. The figures on which the minister had based her calculations did not reflect the reality of life, they said.
30 to 35 years of contributions would not be realistic with a retirement age of 67 years. "We had to assume maybe 45 years of contributions."At the same time, kauder emphasized: "it is important for us to make it clear that there must not be, and will not be, any poverty among the elderly in our country."
The head of the parliamentary group announced: "we will again examine very intensively in the parliamentary group whether the previous proposals can be sufficient."Von der leyen, meanwhile, is pushing for a quick decision on her controversial supplementary pension concept. "By the end of october, i expect directional decisions," she told "spiegel online".
Kauder said: "we must take the time we need to find an answer to this question. It’s not about a 100-meter race now."There are considerable reservations in the parliamentary group against a mixture of pensions and insurance. And: "which also cannot be that one speaks of the fact that the basic security can mean poverty."The basic security had been made for people without sufficient pensions. "I advise all of us not to talk down our trust in the statutory pension insurance system." The situation is better than von der leyen describes it.
The minister said: "I will stand up for this fight too."She wants to avoid a situation in which, after 35 years of work and contributions, low-income earners, together with private pension provision, will receive little more than the current state subsistence minimum of 688 euros per month in 2030. That’s why she’s aiming for an increase of up to 850 euros in her concept – financed from the pension fund.
Kauder and hasselfeldt did not answer a journalist’s question as to whether the faction leadership still had confidence in the minister. Kauder only repeated that von der leyen is to be thanked for having pushed the issue extensively.
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