Starting October 1, 2026, a new regulation will come into force under which circulars issued by public sector bodies that are not posted on the official websites of the issuing agencies will have no legal effect. The mandatory publication of circulars is one of the key provisions of Law 5293/2026 “Interventions for a more citizen-friendly state,” introduced by Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.
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To implement the provision, the Ministry of Interior issued a circular — signed by Secretary General Ioannis Foustanakis — outlining the procedures that public bodies must follow. Under the new regulation, posting circulars on agency websites is no longer merely a transparency best practice; it becomes a mandatory prerequisite for those circulars to carry any legal force.
Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis issued the following statement on the matter: “The mandatory posting of circulars on the websites of the public bodies that issue them is yet another important step toward transparency, with the goal of better serving citizens and businesses.
For decades, the way the law was applied in practice was largely determined by circulars that citizens had no way of finding. Thousands of circular directives — some still in force, others silently superseded by subsequent legislative amendments — remained scattered across agency archives. Citizens and businesses had no way of knowing which guidelines governed their applications, and often even the civil servants themselves could not determine which directive was still in effect.
We are now establishing a simple and absolute rule: if it isn’t posted online, it doesn’t exist. We have set a deadline of September 30th for public administration to organize its materials and consolidate them into unified documents. From October 1st onward, any circular that has not been posted online will automatically cease to be valid. I would like to thank the Ministry of Interior and its relevant departments for the circular they issued in cooperation with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. This is exactly what a more citizen-friendly state means — a state that does not keep its rules hidden and makes it easier for citizens to understand them.”
A press release from the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office further clarifies the provisions of the Hatzidakis Law (Law 5293/2026). Until now, a circular took effect from the moment it was posted on the government’s “Diavgeia” transparency portal. Going forward, that alone will no longer be sufficient. Every circular must also be posted immediately on the website of the issuing agency. If either of the two postings is missing, the circular has no legal effect and produces no consequences whatsoever.
However, simply posting the circular is not enough. The law requires each agency to do two things: organize its circulars into thematic categories so that citizens can immediately find the ones relevant to them, and clearly indicate which circulars — or specific sections thereof — are no longer in force due to legislative changes. Coordination responsibility lies with the administrative support unit of each public body.
This obligation does not apply only to the core government apparatus. It is binding on all entities exercising public authority, regardless of their legal form — including ministries, decentralized administrations, municipalities, regional authorities, public law legal entities, and independent regulatory authorities.
The September 30, 2026 deadline
The law grants agencies time to adapt. Existing circulars that were in force when the law took effect will remain valid through September 30, 2026 without needing to be posted on agency websites. From October 1, 2026, however, any circular that has not been posted will automatically cease to be valid — with no further action required and no exceptions permitted.
What the circular requires from public agencies
The circular is addressed to all ministries, general and special secretariats, decentralized administrations, first- and second-tier local government organizations, independent authorities, and the Legal Council of the State, with explicit provision for notification to supervised public and private law legal entities. Beyond reiterating the deadlines, it provides two practical directives:
Automated posting. Agencies are advised to connect their websites to the API provided by the “Diavgeia” platform, so that postings occur automatically and the risk of omission is eliminated. The relevant documentation is available at https://diavgeia.gov.gr/api/help.
Issuing new, consolidated circulars. Rather than simply flagging which sections have become obsolete, agencies are encouraged to issue entirely new circulars from scratch — ones that codify all currently applicable directives for each subject area and fully replace all prior circulars on that subject.
This second directive carries significance beyond mere formal compliance. If implemented, each agency will have a single, authoritative guidance document for each subject area — posted online and accessible to all — instead of a succession of layered circulars, each amending the last, that made it virtually impossible for citizens to navigate the regulatory landscape.
