Abstract:

During the Greek economic crisis of the 2010s, one of the most important social and economic issues was the inability of individuals to fulfill their loan obligations to banks. To address the problem, the Greek state took some key legislative measures under Law 3869/2010. It focused on individuals without commercial status and their inability to service the loan exposures they had undertaken.

The paper examines the evolution of resources to the judicial settlement of their debts by these population groups. The examination focuses on two of the thirteen Regions of Greece, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and Central Greece, which have approximately the same population. The examination compares the evolution of macroeconomic parameters to see if the specificities of each region influenced the evolution of appeals.

Initially, the legislative framework, the conditions for inclusion, the scope and the regulatory framework are presented, as well as the main amendments that took place during the validity of the law.

The data collected in the context of a survey in the local Justices of the Peace of the two regions are then presented, namely the number of Applications submitted under Law 3869/2010 per region during the years of the economic crisis 2011-2019. The methodology of the survey, the way in which the survey was conducted, is presented.

The data obtained from the survey conducted in the courts of the two Regions of Greece, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and Central Greece, are then given. Here the evolution of appeals in each region is interpreted. These results are compared with other macroeconomic factors, in particular unemployment and GDP in the two regions.

The analysis of the numbers by region makes the picture of the evolution of the economic crisis clearer and more interesting as it is more targeted at the specific characteristics of each Region.