Hey,
It's Srijith from 0049 :)
Welcome to The Blick! Each week I round up the stories, events, and opportunities that matter most if you’re living in Germany or planning a move here for work or studies.
🔹 New migration and security measures: The federal and state interior ministers' conference closed with a push to speed up the new EU asylum rules and to deport serious offenders to Afghanistan and Syria via third countries.
🔹 Pension reform proposals: First details emerged of 33 recommendations: tying the retirement age to life expectancy, scrapping penalty-free early retirement after 45 years, and a new mandatory funded top-up pension. If adopted, employees would pay an extra 1% of wages into a state fund, and self-employed residents would join the statutory system.
🔹 Schufa score case: Germany's top civil court weighed how much the Schufa must reveal about how your credit score is built. That score gates flat applications, loans, and phone contracts, so it touches every resident; a ruling is due on 21 October.
🔹 One-click cancellation button: Any shop or service you signed up to online must now show a clear "cancel contract" button. Withdrawing from an order, booking, or subscription is meant to be as easy as signing up.
🔹 Hamburg–Berlin long-distance rail: Full service resumed after a major renovation that ran about six weeks late, ending replacement buses and detours. It is a relief for commuters and travellers on one of Germany's busiest routes.
Summer holidays begin in three states (26 June): Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland break first, so expect busier motorways, trains, and airports from the weekend.
Fuel tax rebate ends (30 June): The roughly 17-cent-per-litre rebate expires, so petrol and diesel get more expensive from 1 July. Fill up before the 30th, ideally before midday under the once-daily price-rise rule.
Pensions rise 4.24% (1 July): Around 21 million pensioners gain about €78 more a month on a standard pension. If you or your parents draw a German pension, the adjustment notice arrives by post.
🔹 New Video: This week's video breaks down every major change hitting your wallet in July: rising fuel costs, the lower air-travel tax, new €3 customs charges on cheap overseas parcels, the MeinELSTER+ tax app, the EU right to repair, higher care-worker pay, the 4.24% pension rise, and the switch from Bürgergeld to the stricter Grundsicherung. Watch it before 1 July, when most of these take effect.
Watch it Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn8rUhStgWQ
That is it for this week. Stay informed, stay prepared.
Until next week,
💙 Peace,
Srijith