Söder rejects sacrificing mothers’ pension for electricity tax cut

Bavarian Premier Markus Söder said he would not support cutting the mothers’ pension to fund a reduction in electricity tax, while expressing confidence the tax cut could still be included in Germany’s 2027 federal budget. He made the comments on BR television’s Sunday roundtable, BR reported.

The proposed cut for households would cost 5.4 billion euros and is not included in the current budget draft. Söder said he believed there was room for it in a budget of 560 billion euros, noting that the government had funded fuel-tax relief twice before. The electricity tax cut is in the coalition agreement, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced it four weeks ago.

Germany’s Council of Economic Experts has proposed scrapping the third phase of the mothers’ pension instead. The CSU election pledge is due to start paying out in 2028 and would cost the federal government five billion euros a year. Söder said the scheme mattered to nine million women, particularly those who had children before 1992 and faced limited work opportunities after the Second World War.

Söder described the electricity tax as a symbolic issue, saying the cut would amount to around seven euros a month for some families. He questioned why the government planned to spend 50 billion euros on basic income support while discussing scrapping the mothers’ pension. He also said people sought under arrest warrants continued to receive support. “I told my mother-in-law she would get the mothers’ pension,” he said.

Söder also spoke about the death of Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger of the Free Voters. He said Aiwanger was missed in Bavarian politics and in their working relationship. Söder described his death as a human tragedy, but said replacing him in office would not threaten the stability of the government.