Overview
- Thorsten Frei, leader of the CDU/CSU Bundestag group, said on Sunday he rejected the planned plastic-packaging tax, calling it economically and ecologically wrong.
- The SPD's parliamentary leader, Matthias Miersch, says a first draft exists and coalition talks continue, so the proposal has not been formally removed from discussion.
- The draft bill would charge €550 per tonne of plastic in packaging from July 2027, a rate the finance ministry used to plan roughly €805 million in 2027 revenue and about €1.5 billion annually thereafter.
- If the tax is dropped, reporting shows the 2027 budget will face a gap of around €670 million that must be closed during the Bereinigungsvorlage preparation and the Haushaltsausschuss's Bereinigungssitzung this week.
- The dispute is part of wider end-of-year budget fights over new levies such as sugar and alcohol taxes and pressure from the Union for measures like broader electricity tax relief, which will affect where any shortfall is filled.