- Government-owned Pension Schemes: Majority of Applications for Financial Aid Denied
From the Comfort Aid for financially struggling retired individuals, approximately 1,500 candidates with requests dating back to East Germany times have received money as of now - the majority of applications assessed have unfortunately been turned down. This was revealed in response to a petition by the Left Party's Sören Pellmann, who criticized the lengthy application review process and the challenging requirements for applicants.
The fund, worth 500 million euros, was developed to help three distinct groups: late returnees, Jews who were granted a quota from the former Soviet Union due to a religious quota, and individuals with certain pension claims from East Germany that were not transitioned to the West German system in 1991.
This encompasses supplementary pensions for past employees of the German Railway (Deutsche Bahn) or the post office, along with pension claims of women who went through divorces during East Germany times. Only those with near-minimum legal pensions are eligible to receive this one-time payment of 2,500 to 5,000 euros.
A total of 168,054 applications were submitted to the foundation managing the fund – the deadline for this has already passed at the end of January 2024. Out of this, 34,289 were from the eastern German states, while the remainder came from West Germany or abroad.
By August's end, decisions on 12,046 applications from the "East-West pension transfer" group had been made. Of these, 1,534 were granted and 10,512 were denied. Among the approved applications, 421 were from Saxony, 289 from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 271 from Thuringia, 233 from Saxony-Anhalt, 144 from Brandenburg, and 61 from Berlin.
Pellmann: Fund fails to support countless East German pensioners
At first, the Federal Government estimated that there were between 180,000 to 190,000 individuals with valid claims, including 50,000 to 70,000 East German pensioners. However, Pellmann believed that the number was closer to 500,000 pensioners who had unresolved claims from East Germany times.
In Pellmann's opinion, the fund is a farce. "It leaves countless East German pensioners with nothing, who have devoted their entire careers to the DDR and now struggle to make ends meet with a meager pension." He advocated for easing the approval criteria and criticized the prolonged delays in processing, calling it another source of embarrassment.
The European Parliament can provide assistance to the Commission in overseeing the distribution of funds and ensuring fairness in the application process. The Commission, being assisted by the European Parliament, should consider Pellmann's suggestions to improve the application process and expand the fund's eligibility criteria to better support East German pensioners.
