Germany's budget committee approves 2027 federal budget of 560.9 billion euros, electricity tax still open

Committee approves the 2027 budget

The Bundestag's budget committee approved the federal budget for 2027 early on Friday, 13 November, after a session that ran through the night. Planned spending is about 560.9 billion euros, the highest amount the federal government has ever been allowed to spend. The approval is provisional, because the full Bundestag still has to vote on the budget in the sitting week of 24 to 27 November. A Welt report from Thursday had put planned spending at about 555 billion euros, a figure that predates the final changes.

Borrowing beyond the core budget

Net new borrowing in the core budget comes to almost 123 billion euros, about four billion more than the government's first draft envisaged. Special funds add further credit-financed spending, with 57.8 billion euros for infrastructure and 29.6 billion euros for the Bundeswehr. Handelsblatt puts total new debt at around 210 billion euros, while RP Online and Focus describe it as more than 200 billion. According to Handelsblatt, the constitutional debt brake is still met, because loans in special funds do not count toward it and certain defence debt is exempt.

Infrastructure special fund57.8

Bundeswehr special fund29.6

Infrastructure special fund

57.8 billion euros

Bundeswehr special fund

29.6 billion euros

Data from the article text

The electricity tax remains unfunded

Whether the electricity tax can be cut to the European minimum for all households and companies next year is still unresolved. RP Online puts the cost of the coalition-agreement project at around five billion euros, while the relief for individual citizens would only be a few euros a month. On the evening of Wednesday, 11 November, the coalition had already agreed to leave the cut out for now because the financing is missing, and the plastic tax is off the table for the moment. The Union hopes to settle the question with the SPD at the coalition committee on Tuesday, 17 November. Ideas reported include drawing on surpluses in the EEG account for renewable energy support, cutting programmes in the Climate and Transformation Fund, or the CSU dropping its plan to expand the Mütterrente. Handelsblatt reports that the SPD is likely to view the first two options critically. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is pushing the cut, and Green MP Katrin Uhlig criticised the government:

“The electricity tax is increasingly becoming a symbol of a federal government that makes big announcements but does not act.”

Session delays and procedure

The committee's session was due to begin at 11:00 on Thursday, 12 November, but an internal note from committee chair Lisa Paus, seen by Politico, said IT restrictions were slowing the handling of many late amendments, pushing the start back to at least 14:00. The sessions traditionally run into the early hours, and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) was expected to be the last minister to answer for his budget. Paus, a Green MP and former federal family minister, said ministers should arrive at least an hour early, and that lateness can cost them money in their budget line:

“For the corresponding minutes there are corresponding deductions in the budget.”

CDU/CSU budget committee member Andreas Mattfeldt described the process as a line-by-line review in which every minister has to defend their budget again.

Opposition criticism

Opposition budget negotiators said the budget generally rests on shaky foundations. Left Party parliamentary group chief Sören Pellmann said the budget is socially unfair and that too much money flows into rearmament. He also said:

“This budget is a future killer, and nothing that is oriented toward the future and gives hope.”