
Bundestag Approves Voluntary Military Service for 18-Year-Olds
As Berlin reshapes its defence policy, it is also battling tensions over a major pensions reform that could strain its fragile coalition.

As Berlin reshapes its defence policy, it is also battling tensions over a major pensions reform that could strain its fragile coalition.

Reform proposals are a key element of the coalition agreement between the CDU and the Social Democrats, now under strain.

The CDU/SPD coalition may collapse as young MPs threaten to block the pension reform, leaving the government’s fragile majority at risk.

This is a temporary respite, which the socialist left is celebrating as a victory.

Hostility to Macron-backed pension reforms is further undermining the already unpopular government.
The move is part of an effort to keep the welfare state solvent.

French parties proposed referenda on immigration, compulsory military service, pension reforms, and euthanasia in response to President Macron’s call for a “cycle of discussions.”

The French president chose a conciliatory tone in his communication during a difficult time, but that tone had all the appearances of inertia.

The confrontations are increasingly about the political methods of Emmanuel Macron and Élisabeth Borne’s government.

The LIOT group announced its intention to propose a new bill to repeal the pension reform. They will focus specifically on the repeal of Article 7—the one that pushes back the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years.