Germany news: Childfree adults to pay more for elder care

What you need to know

• The federal Health Ministry is reportedly planning to increase elder care contributions for childfree adults.
• Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is headed to Canada for a five-day trip as Europe pivots away from reliance on the US for security.
• Germany's TÜV consumer safety firm is on trial over a fatal dam collapse in Brazil.

Here are the latest headlines from across Germany on Tuesday, May 26: 

Class-action lawsuit against TÜV opens in Munich over Brazil dam collapse

Preliminary hearings have begun in Munich against TÜV Süd, the Bavaria-based branch of Germany's mostly highly regarded safety testing firm.

The suit was brought by residents of the Brazilian town of Brumadinho. On January 25, 2019, a dam broke outside an iron ore mine owned by the mining company Vale. The collapse caused a mudflow that covered several buildings belonging to the mining operation as well as parts of the town, killing at least 270 people.The release of toxic chemicals from the mine also created a major environmental disater for the entire area.

Thirteen people, mostly Vale employees, have been arrested for negligence over the disaster. Two of those suspects were TÜV Süd engineers who had been part of the team contracted to carry out safety checks on the dam.

Childfree adults to pay more in elder care contributions — report

According to a report from German media group RND, federal Health Minister Nina Warken has prepared a draft bill that would have adults without children pay a higher percentage of taxes towards publicly-funded elder care.

The bill would have contributions from childfree adults increase by 0.7% over a period of years, meaning they would pay 2.5% of their income each month. Their employer will be expected to pay 1.8%. For adults with children the rates will remain the same: 1.8% for people with one child, 1.55% for people with two children, and 1.3% for people with three or more children.

Under the proposal, all adults over the age of 23 who are working full-time would be affected. 

It is unclear when Warken, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), will submit the draft to the cabinet. Her ministry had originally said it would present a proposal for elder care reform in mid-May. With a long-stagnating birthrate mildly buoyed by immigration, Germany needs to act fast to make sure older generations can be taken care of without placing an undue burden on young people.

Who's going to care for Germany's aging population?

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Welcome to our coverage

Good morning from DW's newsroom in a sunny, summery Bonn.

Today we will be covering the heatwave that has much of Europe sweltering, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius beginning a five-day trip to Canada, and the start of a class action lawsuit against German consumer safety firm TÜV.

Check back here for reports, analyses, and headlines from across Germany throughout the day.