German parliamentarians set to suspend €497 salary hike

A €497 ($578) increase in the €12,330 monthly salary of politicians in Germany's lower house of parliament or Bundestag that was to start on July 1 will be suspended, a senior member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) told broadcasters on Monday.

Steffen Bilger, chief whip for Merz's conservative grouping, told broadcasters RTL and ntv that agreement had been reached with their centre-left coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), to suspend increases for the 630 Bundestag deputies.

Discussions were continuing within the parliamentary groups of the CDU, its Bavarian sister-party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the SPD, Bilger said.

He noted that reforms planned for this year were linked to additional burdens on the public and said it was right that politicians should make their contribution.

Opposition politicians in The Left, the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have also backed suspending the pay rise.

Jens Spahn, head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told the portal The Pioneer that he was open to a suspension for this year.

Bilger defended the basic mechanism for adjusting parliamentary salaries in line with salary increases in the wider economy, saying that this was a "sound measure" that he wanted to retain.

Politicians had to be adequately remunerated to ensure their independence, he said.

"We also work hard," he said.