A deal on a higher basic pension for low-income workers that Germany’s ruling parties clinched on Sunday shows their alliance can deliver results and should carry on governing, senior officials from both camps said.
Disagreement over the basic pension, or Grundrente, was the latest issue to test the awkward coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and their Social Democrat (SPD) partners, until they broke the deadlock on Sunday.
The SPD needed to secure a deal it could sell as a social milestone at a Dec. 6-8 party congress, where it will decide whether to stay in the coalition. Some members, worried by the party’s falling ratings, want to rebuild in opposition.
Failing to reach a deal would have threatened the collapse of the government. But Labour Minister Hubertus Heil called the pension package “a good solution” and said it showed the coalition could deliver results.