Parliament approves pension plan for children

Germany’s government is planning a partnership with US chipmaker Nvidia to expand the use of artificial intelligence in industry, government sources confirmed following a report by business newspaper Handelsblatt.

The collaboration could be announced at an investment summit in Berlin on Monday and Tuesday. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang is expected to attend the opening evening with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

German companies including Siemens also want to participate, according to Handelsblatt. The newspaper reported that the government was prepared to invest hundreds of millions of euros.

The project would focus on “physical AI” — systems that interact with the real world, such as robots, self-driving vehicles and automated factory equipment — as well as powerful AI models for future factories.

The summit is part of the government’s push to attract more private investment to Germany.

Halving Germany’s limit on workers from non-EU states in the Western Balkan region could deepen the country’s shortage of skilled labor, the country’s employment authorities said.

The current quota includes 50,000 people from the region, which includes workers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

“A halved quota will weaken a successful immigration model, worsen the skilled labor shortage, and make it more difficult for companies to search for new workers,” said Vanessa Ahuja of the Federal Employment Agency.

Over half a million people from the region are currently employed in Germany, according to the agency.

The German government would like to halve the quota from January 2027.
 

Germany and France have reached a deal to protect Europe’s automotive industry, the countries said in a statement Friday.

The plan aims to cut CO2 emissions and support the development and construction of electric cars in Europe, the statement added.

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Joachim Nagel, president of Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, says the country’s economic recovery could last into 2028, while warning that further interest rate increases may be needed to curb inflation.

Speaking at the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Bangkok, Nagel rejected the suggestion that Germany’s improving growth outlook was a flash in the pan. The IMF recently raised its German growth forecast for 2026 to 1.3%.

The recovery could continue next year and potentially into 2028, he said. Government reforms and a boost from artificial intelligence could help build momentum, with room for growth forecasts to improve further.

Nagel said the European Central Bank (ECB) would do whatever was necessary to bring inflation back to its 2% target over the medium term.

“We have raised key interest rates twice recently. If the situation remains as it is, I cannot rule out that we may have to act again,” he said.

Eurozone inflation rose to 3.8% in September. Nagel said volatile market conditions justified deciding interest rates at each meeting based on the latest data.

Representatives of Germany’s Jewish Student Union (JSUD) say they have received death threats after blocking an Alternative for Germany (AfD) lawmaker from attending a synagogue commemoration in Halle.

“We have faced significantly more hostility and significantly more hate — including death threats,” JSUD chairman Ron Dekel told the RND media group.

The students blocked Hans-Thomas Tillschneider at an event marking seven years since the antisemitic attack on the synagogue. Dekel defended the action, saying right-wing extremists had no place at a synagogue, particularly when survivors and victims’ relatives were mourning.

The far-right AfD is classified as extremist in Saxony-Anhalt, where Halle is located and where the party won September’s state election. Tillschneider, a deputy speaker of the state parliament, criticized the students and said he had never opposed Jewish life.

Dekel also accused parts of Berlin’s socialist Left Party of antisemitism, urging its prospective coalition partners, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and environmentalist Greens, to take this into account.

Germany’s parliament has approved a scheme giving children aged six to 18 a monthly state payment of €10 ($11) toward private retirement savings. The legislation still needs approval from the Bundesrat, which represents Germany’s states.

Lawmakers from the governing conservatives and center-left Social Democrats (SPD) hailed the decision as historic. Michael Thews of the SPD said it would help many people build adequate retirement savings.

Fritz Güntzler, finance spokesperson for the center-right Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), said the scheme would also introduce young people to the opportunities offered by capital markets.

Opposition lawmakers argued that it would deepen inequality because parents and grandparents can contribute up to €6,840 ($7,500) a year.

Stefan Schmidt of the environmentalist Greens called it a two-tier system, saying children who won the “parent lottery” could gain far more than a modest start to retirement saving.

The scheme is part of the government’s broader pension reform agenda as Germany’s aging population puts pressure on the state retirement system.

Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn.

You join us as news comes in that children in Germany are about to start saving for retirement before most have even started thinking about their first job.

The idea is to give young people a head start in building up a pension, with the money invested over decades.

Meanwhile, Jewish student representatives in Germany say they have been receiving death threats after confronting a far-right politician at a synagogue commemoration.

Stay with us here for these stories and more of what Germany is talking about today.