Overview
- The Bundestag budget committee provisionally approved the federal 2027 budget in a late-night clearing session, sending the package on for final political decisions.
- The agreed core figures set federal spending at about €555.436 billion, net new borrowing at roughly €122.972 billion, and total new debt including special funds (Sondervermögen) near €210.413 billion.
- A universal cut to the electricity tax worth about €5 billion remains unfunded and has been referred to the coalition committee (Koalitionsausschuss) for a final decision.
- Negotiators softened planned social-sector cuts, scrapped a proposed plastic tax and delayed a sugar tax by six months, trading off domestic measures to help close gaps in the plan.
- The government says higher spending is driven by security shocks that require more defence and crisis spending, while critics warn the debt rise uses special funds to plug holes and will raise future interest costs and risk underinvestment in long-term priorities; the budget now moves to coalition talks and then to a Bundestag plenary vote.