Merz says Germany has some very good years ahead

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has predicted a successful future for Germany provided it stays on its reform course. 

"Germany's best years are not behind us: If we get it right, we have some very good years ahead of us," he said at the party conference for his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. 

"The success story of our country, the Federal Republic of Germany, is not yet over," he said on Saturday in the state capital Dusseldorf.

Germany has achieved a great deal in recent decades, said Merz, who is the CDU's federal chairman. The country has also repeatedly managed to work its way out of crises. Such challenges must be met with reforms, he said. This is precisely what the federal government he leads is doing now.

Merz: Government is a 'reform coalition for Germany'

"We are proving that the political centre can find solutions, work out compromises and also reform the country," said Merz. "Step by step, we are proving that we are a genuine reform coalition for Germany." 

After 80 years of freedom, peace and prosperity, the task now is to make the right decisions so that the younger generation can continue to live in the same way, he said.

Whiners and grumblers should step aside

The chancellor expressed his conviction that the majority of the population was prepared to support the reforms. The most important guiding principle, he said, was that things should be fair and that everyone should play their part. 

Merz countered critics of the reform course by saying: "Cultural pessimists, prophets of doom, whiners, grumblers, indignant professional critics: step aside! We are setting to work with confidence and optimism, and we will restore our country to the standard it deserves."

This week, the coalition of Merz's CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) adopted a comprehensive reform package which includes income tax reform, pension reform, reform of the statutory health insurance system and a reduction in red tape.