One of the most significant institutional interventions in the area of private debt enters full operational mode on Monday, July 27, 2026: the Out-of-Court Debt Settlement Mechanism, with the Ministry of Economy lowering the minimum eligible debt threshold to €5,000. The digital platform of the General Secretariat for the Financial Sector and Private Debt Management is opening its doors to new beneficiaries, offering a powerful safety net to hundreds of thousands of households and self-employed professionals.
Out-of-court debt settlement now available from €5,000: how it works
Until recently, the Out-of-Court Debt Settlement Mechanism was widely regarded as a tool designed almost exclusively for large businesses or individuals carrying substantial debt. The reason was the strict minimum debt threshold required for eligibility, which had been set at €10,000. As a result, thousands of debtors with smaller obligations were left without coverage, exposing them daily to the risk of sudden bank account seizures, forced collection measures, and property auctions.
With the implementation of the new Law 5313/2026, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance made a structural change, cutting the minimum eligible debt amount exactly in half — down to €5,000. This reduction frees up an enormous pool of small debtors. In practical terms, a citizen carrying a total debt of €6,000 or €7,500 — which may be spread across the tax authority (AADE), the social security fund (e-EFKA/KEAO), or a consumer loan — will gain the legal right to access the platform starting next Monday.
Who benefits
“With more than 64,000 debt settlements totaling around €20 billion, the Out-of-Court Mechanism has already won the public’s trust as an objective and reliable tool for debt resolution,” said the Secretary General for the Financial Sector and Private Debt Management in a statement to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).
“By lowering the eligibility threshold from €10,000 to €5,000, we are now giving small debtors the opportunity to settle their outstanding obligations and protect their assets from enforcement measures. This expansion of eligibility opens the door for approximately one million potential public debtors to join the out-of-court process and receive a comprehensive solution. It also demonstrates in concrete terms that the government has heard and acted on a longstanding demand from the market and from households,” emphasized Theoni Alampasi.
The benefits of enrollment for small debts
Enrolling in the Out-of-Court Mechanism — even at the minimum threshold of €5,000 — comes with the same powerful benefits that have applied to larger debtors up to now:
- Suspension of seizures: upon final submission of the application on the platform, all forced collection actions or asset freezes by the tax authority (AADE) or private creditors are automatically suspended.
- Extended repayment horizon: debt can be broken down into up to 240 installments (20 years) for obligations owed to the state, and up to 420 installments (35 years) for debts owed to banks and funds.
- Debt write-down (haircut) possibility: if the debtor’s income and asset profile allows it, the algorithm may propose a write-down on surcharges or even on the principal amount.
The rules and what to watch out for
Despite the significant facilitations, the process is governed by clear rules that require careful attention in order for a settlement application to be successful:
First, the minimum monthly installment on the platform is now set at €50, making the arrangement accessible for any household budget.
Second, this tool applies exclusively to total debt exceeding €5,000. Debts even one euro below this threshold (e.g., €4,999) remain outside the platform’s scope and must be addressed through the Standing Arrangement or the emergency settlement scheme.
In all cases, the debtor does not choose how many installments to pay — they either accept or reject the solution proposed by the platform, based on their financial profile. This also means that before initiating the process, the debtor must consent to having their income and asset data cross-checked, so that the platform’s algorithm can calculate how much they are able — and required — to pay each month in order to repay their debt.
Source: ANA-MPA
