epd/dpa/afp | The CDU Economic Council is calling for significant cuts to the welfare state. In order to prevent a further increase in social security contributions, among other things: the mother’s pensionthe pension at 63 and the basic pension will be canceled, according to a reform paper published by the association on Sunday. In future, unemployment benefits should generally only be paid out for one year. The initiative by the association, which is formally independent of the CDU, was clearly rejected by the SPD, the Left and the German Social Association.
The club explicitly mentioned something like: Dental treatments. These should “no longer be a burden on contributors in the pay-as-you-go system”. The Secretary General of the Economic Council, Wolfgang Steiger, told the dpa: “An expression of a responsible policy towards employees is also to ensure that social security contributions do not continue to rise and that less and less net remains of the gross.” The health insurance companies’ catalog of services is “one of several possible starting points that need an honest debate.”
Today, most measures for the prevention, early detection and treatment of dental, oral and jaw diseases are paid for by health insurance companies. As with other insurance benefits, the pay-as-you-go principle applies. The costs incurred are covered by the ongoing contribution income. According to the government, dental services are now free of charge as long as they do not go beyond the care recognized as necessary. However, patients already pay for many things out of their own pockets, such as inlays. In the first three quarters of 2025, statutory health insurance companies spent around 10.5 billion euros on dental treatment.
“Various services, such as dental treatments, can generally be easily insured privately and should no longer be a burden on contributors in the pay-as-you-go system,” says a passage on health insurance benefits.
Tax cuts demanded
In addition, the council, which sees itself as representing the interests of the entrepreneurial economy, makes numerous suggestions to reduce the “excessive” tax burden. Among other things, corporate tax should be reduced to 25 percent and the solidarity surcharge should also be abolished for high earners. A “noticeable increase” in the basic allowance for income tax is also called for.
The paper that was first discussed Picture on Sunday reported is entitled “Agenda for workers in Germany”. “More than three million unemployed are an unmistakable signal that politicians must now finally do everything to renew the promise of advancement and unleash growth forces,” said the Secretary General of the Economic Council, Wolfgang Steiger, justifying the initiative Picture on Sunday.
There was sharp criticism from the ranks of the Social Democrats. The chairman of the Committee for Labor and Social Affairs in the Bundestag, Bernd Rützel (SPD), described the demands as “pure ice age”. Relieving the richest, eliminating maternity and basic pensions and cutting unemployment benefits is “a slap in the face for 90 percent of Germans,” said Rützel Augsburg General (Montag).
Green health expert Janosch Dahmen has rejected the CDU Economic Council’s proposal for cuts for those with statutory health insurance at the dentist. “Removing dentistry from statutory health insurance is an aberration in health policy. This is medically wrong, socially extremely dangerous and economically short-sighted,” Dahmen told the German Press Agency in Berlin. Dental health is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for general health. “Anyone who saves money here will produce heart attacks, diabetes complications and serious infections tomorrow, resulting in exploding follow-up costs for the healthcare system.”
The BSW politician Fabio De Masi explained: “Anyone who no longer reimburses the dentist’s visit will only cause more follow-up costs and further weaken private purchasing power.” A government “that puts the economy into a coma and can’t even manage to lower electricity taxes or invest more in infrastructure should keep quiet about the dentist,” he advised. The CDU employee wing (CDA) has also criticized the CDU Economic Council’s latest austerity proposals. “Here a group of super-privileged people are explaining to other people what they should do without,” said CDA chairman Dennis Radtke on Sunday South German newspaper.
“Filling at the dentist or lunch for the kids?”
Left leader Ines Schwerdtner explained that the initiative was evidence of “the brave new world of the economic union”. People who toil every day would soon have to decide: “Filling at the dentist or lunch for the children?”
The German Social Association rejected the Economic Council’s paper as “disturbing”. “Hardly a day goes by when citizens of the Union are not denigrated and thus unsettled,” said the association’s chairwoman, Michaela Engelmeier, to the newspapers of the Funke media group: “The Chancellor claims that everyone celebrates too much while sick, the SME Union believes that millions want to work part-time just for fun, and now the CDU Economic Council is coming around the corner with the next disturbing idea.”
The proposed reduction in unemployment benefits from two to just one year would cause livelihood hardship for millions of people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, said Engelmeier. Excluding dental care from health insurance would also fuel the “already existing two-tier medicine”: “The wealthy would have beautiful teeth, while the needy would have even more gaps.”