German Chancellor Merz vows to continue economic reforms — Anadolu Agency

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a meeting with business representatives in Berlin that the federal government would gradually continue fundamental economic reforms. This was reported by Anadolu Agency.

According to Merz, the need for structural changes is considerable. He noted that the government has already launched a number of initiatives, but their implementation has not yet reached the level expected at this stage. The chancellor stressed his determination to implement reforms step by step.

A more flexible labor market

Merz cited increasing the flexibility of the labor market as one example. The issue is planned to be discussed next week by the coalition committee. The chancellor also said that a number of labor-related laws still need to be adopted.

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Merz also mentioned deepening the European Union’s single market and the planned pension reform in Germany. At the same time, these issues are causing disputes within the coalition: the government’s junior partner, the Social Democratic Party, wants to discuss the planned abolition of entitlement to a full pension after 45 years of contributions. Measures to increase labor market flexibility are also a subject of disagreement.

Investment and artificial intelligence

Merz noted that economic research institutes have raised their forecasts for the German economy this year. He named government investment in infrastructure modernization, financed through a special fund using borrowing, as one of the key factors. At the same time, the chancellor said that there is still no self-sustaining economic upswing for the coming years.

Separately, Merz pointed to Germany’s opportunities in artificial intelligence and called on small and medium-sized businesses to make more active use of their own data. In his view, the effective use of this data could become a significant competitive advantage for the country.