German 2027 Budget: EUR 110bn Defence, EUR 56bn Procurement, EUR 85bn Outside the Debt Brake
Berlin, 8 September 2026
Key points
- Lars Klingbeil opened the Bundestag's budget week on 8 September with a 2027 federal budget of EUR 555.4 billion and net borrowing of EUR 118.7 billion, EUR 85.4 billion of it under the constitutional exemption for defence and security spending and EUR 33.4 billion under the ordinary debt rule
- The defence chapter, Einzelplan 14, rises EUR 27.1 billion to EUR 109.7 billion, with EUR 55.8 billion earmarked for military procurement; about EUR 30 billion more is planned from the Bundeswehr special fund, which the ministry expects to be exhausted by the end of 2027
- Handelsblatt puts support for Ukraine at about EUR 11.6 billion; Klingbeil: "Defending yourself without new debt is like flying to the moon without a rocket"
- The defence chapter is debated on the afternoon of 9 September; all chapters go to the budget committee after the closing debate on 11 September
Germany's finance minister tabled the 2027 federal budget on 8 September: EUR 555.4 billion in spending, EUR 118.7 billion in net borrowing, and a defence chapter of EUR 109.7 billion, more than half of it, EUR 55.8 billion, for military procurement.
The borrowing splits along the line the Basic Law amendment of March 2025 drew: EUR 33.4 billion under the ordinary debt rule and EUR 85.4 billion under the exemption for defence and security spending above one per cent of GDP. Einzelplan 14 grows by EUR 27.1 billion on 2026, and the EUR 55.8 billion procurement line sits alongside about EUR 30 billion still to be drawn from the EUR 100 billion special fund of 2022, which the ministry plans to have spent by the end of the year. Handelsblatt puts military and other support for Ukraine at about EUR 11.6 billion. Klingbeil, in the tabling speech: "Defending yourself without new debt is like flying to the moon without a rocket."
The defence chapter is debated on the afternoon of 9 September, the first day of the sectoral debates; the whole budget goes to the budget committee after the general debate on 11 September, with the committee's adjustment session and the final reading to follow in the autumn.
2027 is the year procurement stops resting on a fund and starts resting on a vote. The special fund was a one-off law with a fixed ceiling; from 2028 the procurement line is carried entirely by exemption borrowing that the Bundestag authorises budget by budget, so the number BAAINBw can contract against becomes an annual political decision rather than a stock to be drawn down. The exemption borrowing already exceeds the ordinary borrowing by two and a half to one in the first budget to run without a fund behind it, and the committee's autumn adjustments, not Tuesday's headline, will show whether the EUR 55.8 billion survives contact with the rest of the chapter; Signal No. 141 carries the tabling figures alongside the delivery decisions the same day imposed on the Bundeswehr's own stocks.
