Bundestag budget committee approves record 560.9 billion euro 2027 budget, but coalition still fights over electricity tax cut

In brief

• Germany's Bundestag budget committee approved a 2027 federal budget with planned spending of 560.9 billion euros, the largest ever.
• Net new borrowing in the core budget is just under 123 billion euros, and total new debt is expected to exceed 200 billion euros.
• The coalition has not yet decided whether to extend an electricity tax cut to private households.

Record spending plan clears committee

The budget committee of the German parliament approved the draft federal budget for 2027 early on Friday, after more than 15 hours of deliberations that began on Thursday afternoon (Nemeckí poslanci vo výbore schválili rekordný rozpočet. Vo koalícii to však vrie pre daň z elektriny – HNonline.sk) (Nachtsitzung im Haushaltsausschuss: Etat für 2027 steht – tagesschau.de) (Haushaltsausschuss: Bundeshaushalt für 2027 steht – ZEIT ONLINE). Planned spending stands at 560.9 billion euros, about 5.5 billion euros above the government's original proposal (Haushaltsausschuss - Bundesetat für 2027 steht – Deutschlandfunk). If the full Bundestag adopts the plan, the federal government will be able to spend more in a single year than any previous government (Germany news: Parliament agrees on debt-laden 2027 budget – DW).

Borrowing reaches near-record level

Net new borrowing in the core budget was set at just under 123 billion euros, roughly four billion more than the cabinet's first draft (Rozpočtový výbor Bundestagu schválil rozpočet, nové úvery presiahnu 210 miliárd eur – HNonline.sk). Adding credit-financed investment from special funds for infrastructure and the armed forces, total new debt is expected to exceed 200 billion euros, with some estimates near 210 billion. Only the 2021 budget, drawn up during the COVID-19 pandemic, included more new debt, at 215.4 billion euros.

Tax changes and open questions

Coalition partners agreed on Wednesday to drop a planned new levy on plastic packaging, which the government had approved in July. They also postponed a sugary-drinks tax that was due to start in July 2027, pushing it to 2028.

The main dispute remains Chancellor Friedrich Merz's push to lower the electricity tax. Whether the coalition can also extend that cut to private households is still unresolved, and a decision is expected at a coalition committee meeting on Tuesday. The change could still be added during the budget week in the Bundestag.

Opposition politicians criticized the agreement. Greens parliamentary leader Britta Haßelmann accused Merz of weak leadership (Bundeshaushalt 2027: Opposition kritisiert Bundeshaushalt für das kommende Jahr – ZEIT ONLINE).

What comes next

The full Bundestag is scheduled to vote on the 2027 budget in the sitting week from November 24 to 27. Because the figures are provisional, further changes remain possible before the final vote.