The federal budget for next year is ready for a final vote in parliament. The responsible budget committee decided on the final changes to the ministry’s budget that evening. The black-red coalition ministers had to attend reconciliation meetings, which lasted more than 15 hours – and sometimes waited outside the door for hours. The result: even higher Debt than expected.
The key data
Current planned spending is around 524.5 billion euros – four billion more than that Federal Government had intended.
There are even bigger changes to the new debt: The committee gave the green light to borrowing of almost 98 billion euros in the core budget alone – eight billion more than the federal government planned in the first draft. Moreover, there are billions in loans from special funds for them Bundeswehr and infrastructure, so that in the end there will be new debt of more than 180 billion euros. The debt brake enshrined in the Constitution will remain in place due to the easing measures decided this year.
The Green Party’s budget chief, Sebastian Schäfer, criticized that these new opportunities were being used too little for additional investment. “This means that growth opportunities are being criminally squandered,” he told the German Press Agency. Leftist householder Dietmar Bartsch complained that huge debt would produce little growth. “This budget does little to benefit most people and companies. Arms is the only thing that is financially supported.”
In contrast, SPD housekeeper Thorsten Rudolph was satisfied: “With that Federal budget “In 2026, the coalition will consistently continue on its path: record investment for greater growth, responsibility for our country’s internal and external security, and smart steps for social cohesion,” he praised.
The Bundestag is scheduled to make a final decision on the 2026 budget during its session week from November 25 to 28. However, the so-called sweeping meeting of the powerful budget committee is already being seen as a decisive step towards its adoption in parliament.
Recent changes
The Ministry of Finance itself proposed the biggest changes: Ukraine will receive an additional three billion for artillery, drones, armored vehicles, and also for the replacement of two Patriot systems. This would increase aid to Ukraine from 8.5 to 11.5 billion euros. According to the Ministry of Defense, this is the highest contribution to date in strengthening a country attacked by Russia. This can be financed because the debt brake on defense spending has been relaxed.
800 million euros will go to a funding program for climate-friendly heated homes, 50 million euros will go to a barrier-free, age-appropriate conversion program.
Just an hour before the meeting started, Union and… SPD also on billions of dollars in loans for care insurance. This is intended to prevent an increase in contributions. In addition to the 1.5 billion euros already planned, an additional 1.7 billion euros will now flow. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) promised directly that health care and insurance contributions would not increase on January 1. The loan is also not included in the debt brake – but it is not at all clear when long-term care insurance will generate enough money to pay the money back.
Special characteristics of the 2026 APBN
In the federal budget, each ministry has a so-called individual plan with numbers. In the evening session, the new Digital Ministry was included in the budget for the first time – there was not enough time to do this in the first draft budget so soon after the election.
Next year, the new ministry will have a budget of 1.36 billion euros – most of it reallocated from the budget of the ministry whose duties it takes over. The European Union’s budget chief, Christian Haase, stressed that the issue now was “no longer about new signs, but about structures, responsibilities and the means to make this government fit for the future.” Individual plans are numbered 24. This used to be the name of the Federal Minister of Finance’s budget, but has not existed since 1970.
Coalition concerns
For SPD leader and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, this is the second budget negotiation. And even if he has to fend off billions of dollars in additional demands, they may be much easier than anything he faces now. There are huge gaps in budget plans for 2027 and subsequent years – bigger than any government has ever faced.
According to the latest tax estimates, the budget for 2027 alone is still short by 22 to 23 billion euros. As the new year approaches, the heads of the coalition parties – apart from Klingbeil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and CSU leader Markus Söder – want to present an austerity package. Ideas are currently being gathered and cuts to subsidies and program funding are also being discussed.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251114-930-291542/2
