Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001761/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Kostas Papadakis (NI)
Law 5193/2025 on the ‘Strengthening of the Capital Market and other provisions’, led the New Democracy Government – inter alia – to assign the management and collection of the overdue debts that professionals and self-employed persons had with the National Social Security Agency [EFKA]/Social Security Debt Collection Centre [KEAO] to private debt management companies. Specifically, it invokes the objective of improving the ‘management’ and ‘collectibility’ of due insurance contributions.
Assigning the collection of insurance debts to private companies aligns Greek legislation with EU guidelines, the memorandum obligations and directives of the ECB and the European Commission, with the stated aim of reducing bad loans. Subsequently, with the European Directive (EU) 2021/2167 on credit servicers and credit purchasers, the operation of servicers has been institutionalised at EU level.
The transfer of insurance debts – especially the individual insurance debts of self-employed persons – to private managers will mean the intensification of extortionate collection practices, the threat of auctions and reinforced insecurity for thousands of small professionals.
In view of this:
- 1.What is the Commission’s position on the fact that EU guidelines and directives are shaping a legal framework that will lead hundreds of thousands of freelancers to become prey to the claws of debt collectors, funds and servicers, facing the risk of auctions and evictions from their workplaces?
- 2.What is the Commission’s position on the fact that state social security services are being transformed into a field of activity for business groups and that registers of insured persons are being handed over to all kinds of exploitation by private individuals, with all that this entails for personal data?
Submitted: 30.4.2025