German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pushed back against accusations that he insulted the country's workforce, arguing that coverage of his remarks overlooked widespread public agreement with his core message. Speaking in a ZDF summer interview, Merz said he never accused individuals of laziness but pointed out that Germany logs too few working hours, noting that workers in Switzerland put in roughly 200 more hours per capita annually.
Merz said higher productivity and economic output are essential to sustain Germany's welfare state. The debate follows an earlier push by the CDU's business wing to abolish the legal right to part-time work.
In the same interview, Merz warned that Germany faces a crisis of confidence in democracy, saying he left the last Bundestag plenary troubled by the opposition's tone, including from the Greens. Public sentiment appears grim: a ZDF Politbarometer shows 68 percent dissatisfied with the government and 70 percent with Merz himself.