Greece today: platform workers would be presumed employees under a draft bill, Fitch keeps Greece at BBB, and the €500 public-sector bonus is first paid in December 2027

Greece's AI and platform-work bill: who has to prove a rider is not an employee?

The Ministry of Labour (Υπουργείο Εργασίας και Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ypourgeio Ergasias kai Koinonikis Asfalisis) posted a 47-article bill on artificial intelligence and platform work for public consultation on opengov.gr, the government's consultation website, on 5 November 2026.¹ The bill transposes Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on platform work, and comments on consultation #1413 are open until 23:00 on Thursday 19 November 2026.¹ Under Article 6 of the draft, any contract between a digital labour platform and a person working through it is presumed to be dependent employment where the facts indicate direction and control.¹ A platform that wants to rebut that presumption "bears the burden of proving" that the relationship is not dependent employment, in our translation of Article 6, paragraph 5.¹ΕΛ The presumption would apply in court proceedings on a worker's status, but not in tax, criminal or social-security proceedings.¹ The same draft amends parental leave in Article 27 and carer's leave in Article 28.¹ By our reading, Article 33 extends to 31 December 2027 the adjustment of pensionable earnings, insurable earnings and contribution amounts by the annual change in the Consumer Price Index, and moves the start of the next reference period to 1 January 2028.¹ Mononews describes that next stage as the switch to a wage index, now postponed to 2028.² The bill is a draft, not law.¹ Our explainer on the AI and platform-work bill quotes Articles 6, 11 and 12, and our explainer on the wage index covers Article 33.

Out-of-court debt mechanism: more applications in October 2026, fewer restructurings

Final applications to Greece's out-of-court debt mechanism (εξωδικαστικός μηχανισμός, exodikastikos michanismos), the platform through which borrowers ask financial institutions and the state to restructure their debts, reached 4,144 in October 2026.⁴ The Ministry of National Economy and Finance (Υπουργείο Εθνικής Οικονομίας και Οικονομικών, Ypourgeio Ethnikis Oikonomias kai Oikonomikon) calls that a six-month high in its October 2026 report, published on 6 November 2026.³⁴ Borrowers started 7,003 new applications in October 2026.³⁴ New successful restructurings fell to 1,965 in October 2026, covering €523.82m of original debt, against 2,237 and €640m in September 2026 as reported by Taxheaven.⁴⁵ The ministry does not explain the fall.³ By the end of October 2026 the mechanism had produced 72,232 successful restructurings covering €21.77bn of original debt, figures iefimerida reproduced from the ministry.⁴⁶ Our analysis of the October figures sets out who owes the debt and how much of it is being repaid.

Greek exports up 15.9% in nine months, but mostly from fuel

Greek exports rose 15.9% to €41,863.8m in January–September 2026, from €36,132.1m a year earlier, on provisional figures published on 6 November 2026 by ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi), the Hellenic Statistical Authority, known as ELSTAT.⁷ Excluding petroleum products, Greek exports rose 7.8% over the same nine months.⁷ By our calculation, petroleum products account for about 62% of the €5.73bn rise in exports.⁷ In September 2026 alone, imports rose 15.5% and exports 11.6%, so the monthly trade deficit widened by 21.7% to €3,317.5m, the figure Capital.gr led its report with.⁷⁸ ELSTAT revises provisional trade figures every month until the annual figures are final.⁷ Our analysis of the export figures explains why exporters' associations give a larger fuel figure.

myDiesel: ΑΑΔΕ's first payment to petrol stations

ΑΑΔΕ (Ανεξάρτητη Αρχή Δημοσίων Εσόδων, Anexartiti Archi Dimosion Esodon), Greece's tax authority, has made its first myDiesel payment to petrol stations: €208,509.36 to 918 stations for 1,490 sales verified up to 4 November 2026, Ethnos and Proto Thema reported on 6 November 2026.⁹¹⁰ The payment refunds stations the excise duty of €0.41 a litre that they take off professional farmers' diesel at the pump, plus the VAT on it.⁹¹⁰ Sixty-two stations were left out of the first payment because they had not declared an IBAN, Ethnos reports.⁹ ΑΑΔΕ's myDiesel FAQ, version 1.2 of 3 November 2026, says a farmer's voucher is valid for 5 hours from issue and can be issued in advance.¹¹ Our guide to myDiesel explains who qualifies and how the annual cap works.

Fitch keeps Greece at BBB with a stable outlook, press reports say

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Greece's long-term foreign-currency rating at BBB with a stable outlook, To Vima and the English edition of OT (Οικονομικός Ταχυδρόμος, Oikonomikos Tachydromos) reported on 7 November 2026.¹²¹⁴ We could not reach Fitch's own rating commentary, so the figures here come from press reports. To Vima, OT and Greek City Times all report that Fitch puts Greece's public debt at 146.1% of GDP in 2025.¹²¹³¹⁴ To Vima and OT report Fitch's forecast of a general government surplus of 0.6% of GDP in 2026 and growth averaging 2% a year over 2026–2028.¹²¹⁴ All three give a current-account deficit of 6.5% of GDP in 2026.¹²¹³¹⁴ To Vima says the decision completes Fitch's scheduled reviews of Greece for 2026.¹²

Will Greek retirement ages rise in 2027? The deputy minister says no

Anna Efthymiou, Greece's deputy minister of labour, said on 6 November 2026 that retirement ages will not rise in 2027.¹⁵¹⁶ "There will be no increase in the age limits for 2027," she said, in our translation of the quote reported by Larissanet, which credits Newsit.¹⁵ΕΛ Newsit reports her as saying that European projections are not decisions.¹⁶ According to Larissanet, she said the projections are based on demographic and actuarial data reviewed every three years.¹⁵ Our explainer on the retirement-age review sets out the 2010 rule that links Greek retirement ages to life expectancy and the European Commission's latest projections.

When is the €500 Christmas allowance for public-sector staff first paid?

The €500 Christmas allowance for public-sector staff in the government's tax bill is first paid on 16 December 2027, PowerGame reported on 7 November 2026.¹⁷ Article 28 of the bill as tabled in Parliament on 4 November 2026 grants €500, paid by separate payroll "only on 16 December each year", in our translation.¹⁸ΕΛ The allowance covers a 12-month reference period from 1 December of the previous year to 30 November of the payment year, and staff paid for only part of it get one-twelfth of €500 for each full calendar month.¹⁸ If 16 December falls on a holiday or non-working day, the allowance is paid on the previous working day.¹⁸ PowerGame gives the first reference period as 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2027.¹⁷ The bill is not law until Parliament votes it and it is published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ, Fyllo Efimeridas tis Kyverniseos).¹⁸ Our explainer on the 2027 tax and benefits bill covers its other measures.

In brief: benefit payments, the Athens Marathon and the heating platform

• e-ΕΦΚΑ (Ηλεκτρονικός Εθνικός Φορέας Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ilektronikos Ethnikos Foreas Koinonikis Asfalisis), the national social-security body, and ΔΥΠΑ (Δημόσια Υπηρεσία Απασχόλησης, Dimosia Ypiresia Apascholisis), the public employment service, will pay €64.5m to 59,600 beneficiaries from 9 to 13 November 2026, Ethnos and Proto Thema report.¹⁹²⁰ e-ΕΦΚΑ pays €20m in lump-sum retirement benefits (εφάπαξ, efapax) to 900 people; ΔΥΠΑ pays €20m in unemployment and other benefits to 33,000 people, €3m in maternity-leave pay to 4,200 mothers, €20m to 19,000 people in subsidised employment programmes and €1.5m to 2,500 people in community-work programmes.¹⁹²⁰ By our calculation, those amounts add up to €64.5m and 59,600 beneficiaries; Ethnos gives only the period, not day-by-day dates.¹⁹
• The 43rd Athens Marathon runs on Sunday 8 November 2026 from 08:30 to 18:15, and the main road closures in central Athens start at 14:00 on Saturday 7 November 2026, according to the Hellenic Police announcement carried by enikos and Athens Voice.²¹²² Our brief of 6 November 2026 lists the closed roads and bus changes.
• The finance ministry said on 14 October 2026 that it expected myΘέρμανση, the heating-allowance application platform on myAADE, to open by 10 November 2026, and AlfaVita repeated that expectation on 6 November 2026.²³²⁴ Applications close on 4 December 2026 under joint ministerial decision Α.1230/2026.²⁵ Our guide to the 2026–27 heating allowance sets out who qualifies and how to apply.