GERB-SDS, PP file separate constitutional challenges against 2026 budget

GERB-SDS and We Continue the Change (PP) have filed separate petitions with the Constitutional Court challenging different aspects of Bulgaria's 2026 budget, which enters into force on 1 August.

GERB-SDS argues that the State Budget Act is unconstitutional in its entirety because it sets a budget deficit of 5.7% of GDP, exceeding the 3% ceiling laid down in the Public Finance Act.

PP, meanwhile, is challenging specific provisions of the State Budget Act and the State Social Security Budget Act. The petition, submitted by MPs led by party leader Asen Vasilev and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Stoyu Stoev after securing the signatures of more than 50 MPs, contests provisions concerning the mechanism linking magistrates' salaries to MPs' pay, the abolition of the mechanism for setting the minimum wage, changes to the calculation of pensionable service, and medical examinations.

GERB-SDS MP Vladislav Goranov said that if the Constitutional Court declared the State Budget Act unconstitutional, the previous budget extension law would remain in force, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

• Bulgarian MPs adopt Budget 2026 in the middle of the year

Editor: Ivo Ivanov

English editor: E. Radkova