Greek government withdraws Article 23 from debt bill after opposition pressure

Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Markopoulos announced the withdrawal of Article 23 from the private debt bill during a parliamentary committee session on October 30, 2026. The decision followed strong reactions to the provision, which critics said would weaken judicial protections for borrowers.

According to critics, Article 23 would have allowed debt settlement agreements signed between borrowers and banks or servicers to become enforceable titles. This would have enabled funds and servicers to proceed with forced execution, seizures, and auctions without first obtaining a court decision or payment order.

Markopoulos spoke in a high tone during the committee meeting, stating that the government wants to provide solutions and set rules for servicers. He said the government was putting both feet in one shoe to make its political will clear.

Addressing the opposition, Markopoulos challenged lawmakers to vote on the remaining articles of the bill and asked if they had the political courage to take a position. He accused them of creating misleading impressions by focusing on a single article.

PASOK-KINAL lawmaker Milena Apostolaki, responsible for banks and private debt, commented on October 31 that the New Democracy government was forced to withdraw the unacceptable article. She said the move came after opposition intervention and the involvement of bodies present at the committee.

Apostolaki added that the withdrawal of the provocative provision is not enough. She said the government must amend a series of provisions that make the borrower-creditor relationship extremely unbalanced and fail to ensure a real and sustainable second chance for vulnerable and consistent borrowers.

She also noted that the call for a plenary session of the Bar Associations had been blocked beforehand to silence the institutional reaction of the country's legal community.