Comment: Budget 2027 – this coalition presents a disastrous picture

Lars Klingbeil (SPD) sent a message with his draft budget for the coming year: He and the federal government can not only incur record debts, but also consolidate the budget. In the summer, the finance minister presented a savings list that was intended to plug billions in holes in the budget. A few months later, this list has largely been shredded. Budget consolidation will be canceled in 2027 and record debts will remain.

This Thursday, the Budget Committee in the Bundestag will finally discuss the budget. The leaders of the Union and SPD had been negotiating until recently. The result: many of the measures agreed in the summer will be canceled.

The Union blocked smaller tax increases. The plastic tax is not coming for now, the sugar tax will not be introduced until 2028. In return, the SPD has fended off the small cuts in social benefits: the planned savings in housing benefit or the immediate child allowance have been canceled. Other consolidation measures on Klingbeil's list had long been clear that they were not coming (e.g. the crypto tax) or were set far too optimistically (efficiency savings through digitalization).