JU Deutschlandtag in Bonn: Merz to address delegates on Saturday, 17 October amid coalition strain

A chancellor under pressure heads to Bonn

The Junge Union (JU), the youth organisation of the CDU and CSU with about 90,000 members, holds its annual Deutschlandtag in Bonn from Friday, 16 October, until Sunday, 18 October. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is one of the guests expected, and the meeting falls after a run of CDU defeats in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. Tagesschau reports that in one of those votes the CDU was voted out of a state parliament for the first time. Nationally the Union trails the AfD, and approval for Merz and his black-red coalition is poor. The coalition with the SPD is also strained after Labour Minister Bärbel Bas resigned amid mutual accusations with the CDU.

“The Union is in a very serious situation, and the country generally is in a very serious situation too, so the current state is critical, to be honest.”

Opening day and weekend programme

The conference opens on Friday evening at 19:00 with a speech by JU chairman Johannes Winkel, who wants to be re-elected to the post. Hendrik Wüst, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU), speaks first among the three prominent guests, directly after the opening. Merz is due to address the delegates on Saturday, 17 October, while CSU chairman Markus Söder is scheduled for the weekend as well. Tagesschau lists the JU's main topics for Bonn as family policy, artificial intelligence and pensions with generational fairness. Winkel says the JU is well prepared and strongly positioned on content, and that he is curious how the chancellor will perform.

Pension reform and the 2025 clash

At the 2025 Deutschlandtag in Europapark Rust, the JU opposed the coalition's pension package, which passed the Bundestag only after heavy intervention from then Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn. RP Online reports that Merz lost authority in the party after the state election defeats, and that promised reforms, including on pensions, have not yet been passed. N-tv reports that Winkel wants the deduction-free pension after 45 contribution years abolished, as the pension commission proposed in the summer, a proposal Bärbel Bas had also backed. Pascal Reddig, who chairs the Junge Gruppe and helped negotiate the commission paper, told ZDF on 16 October that there should be no debate about Merz as a person.

“If any group can look after the future of the CDU, then surely it is the youth organisation, the Junge Union, and we trust ourselves to do that.”

Treasurer's exit and party finances

Treasurer Clara von Nathusius will not stand for re-election to the federal board. Bild reports that Winkel had told members not to comment publicly on dealing with the AfD before the elections, and von Nathusius had called the firewall against the AfD a failed project in an ARD appearance shortly before the votes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin. Separately, Focus revealed that the JU had to repay about 350,000 euros in funding to the family ministry because it could not prove it spent the full sum on political education. To make the repayment, the JU reportedly took a loan of about 300,000 euros from the CDU. Tagesspiegel notes the affair dates back but only became public now, and von Nathusius must still file a report on her work.

Business leaders and the chancellor

A survey by the Verein Leseranalyse Entscheidungsträger (LAE), published on 16 October, asked decision-makers from business and administration about Merz. 43 percent said he should not resign, while 15 percent said he should make way for Hendrik Wüst, 9 percent named Markus Söder and 1 percent backed Boris Rhein. Only 35 percent expect Merz to serve out the current legislative period, and 46 percent think he will not hold his position over the next two and a half years. Just 1 percent see the coalition's planned reforms as very important for their company, while 44 percent think they bring little and 33 percent very little. Only 15 percent believe the reforms could be passed in their currently planned form.

Hendrik Wüst15%

Markus Söder9%

Boris Rhein1%

Hendrik Wüst

15 %

Markus Söder

9 %

Boris Rhein

1 %

Data from the article text