On 27 September during a meeting with representatives from the main trade unions and employers’ bodies, and following months of negotiations between the government and the social partners, SPD Minister for Social Affairs and Employment, Andrea Nahles, together with CDU Minister for Finance, Wolfgang Schäuble, agreed on wide ranging reforms to company supplementary pensions. Both Ministers, neither of whom was willing to divulge any of the details at this stage, stated that a draft law would be rapidly drawn up. German press reports indicate that the reform, which looks to make supplementary company pensions more attractive, especially for SMEs, will give the social partners a key role, and company pensions which had previously been subject to a collective agreement, will, going forward, get financial support via subsidies and tax breaks.
Announced in March 2015 by Andrea Nahles (c.f. article No. 8963), the company pension reforms are now finally taking shape. A spokesperson for the Labor Ministry confirmed that agreement had been found between the Ministers involved and that a draft law would be ‘rapidly’ drawn up and submitted to the Bundestag this autumn.
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