The proposed foundational principles for the 2027 Federal Budget have drawn significant criticism from various quarters. The CDU-affiliated interest group, the CDU Economic Council, argued that the plan presented by Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil of the SPD is balanced only on paper. According to General Secretary Wolfgang Steiger, the proposal contains “many ideas for new revenue” but almost no cuts, characterizing it not as a path toward consolidation, but as a “financial policy badge of poverty”. Steiger warned that the budget gaps will not be closed, and the planned debt repayment is merely postponed, noting that both expenditures and net borrowing are significantly increasing. He added that the overall plan is disastrous, particularly because it fails to establish genuine, growth-promoting structural reforms, or even excludes them.
Concerns were also voiced by the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). A DGB board member, Stefan Körzell, stated that the proposed budget principles constitute a “broad assault on the social state” and do not contribute sufficiently to economic recovery. Körzell further criticized the government’s approach, noting that to balance the budget, the federal government is mandating a round of cuts across all sectors with the exception of defense. He warned that this action is “creating additional uncertainty” and harming the necessary recovery of consumer demand and purchasing power.
