Greece: EFKA debt regulation sees low uptake due to privacy concerns

A regulation under Law 5078/2023, designed to allow self-employed individuals and farmers to settle debts with e-EFKA and proceed to retirement, is seeing limited uptake in Greece. Despite increasing debt thresholds to €30,000 for non-salaried workers and €10,000 for farmers, many eligible citizens are hesitant to participate.

The primary obstacle is the requirement for applicants to waive bank and tax secrecy. To qualify, authorities must conduct a full review of the individual's financial status, including bank accounts and total deposits. Many debtors prefer to remain outside the retirement process rather than grant access to their private financial data.

Data from e-EFKA shows that over a period of more than two and a half years, 12,377 applications for the program have been submitted. Of these, 7,345 (59.34%) were approved, 3,160 (25.53%) were rejected, and 1,872 remain pending.