The government is seeking to put a definitive end to a long-standing issue that has plagued tens of thousands of widow’s pension beneficiaries for 10 years, with the new legislative measure announced in Parliament by the Minister of Labor, Niki Kerameos, announced from the floor of Parliament.
This measure follows others that are dismantling the Katrougkalos law—most notably the decision not to cut pensions with a personal differential by up to 18%, the change in contributions for self-employed professionals, and the gradual abolition of the individual adjustment—provides that the widow’s pension will not be cut after a three-year period.
At the same time, it maintains the provision of two national pensions in the cases specified and relieves insured persons of the risk of having to pay retroactive amounts due to the law’s non-application in previous years.
The most significant change concerns the repeal of the provision in the Katrougkalos Law, under which the widow’s pension was to be reduced by 50% after three years if the surviving spouse was working or receiving a pension of their own.
In practice, the percentage of the deceased’s pension paid to the beneficiary would have to be reduced from 70% to 35%. Although the provision was supposed to take effect in 2020 (at least three years after the Katrougkalos Law was passed on May 14, 2016), it was applied to only 8,500 public-sector and OGA pensioners.
In contrast, for approximately 75,000 recipients of survivor’s pensions—the majority of whom come from the private sector— the issue remained unresolved, creating uncertainty both regarding future benefits and the possibility of the EFKA seeking retroactive payments.
Under the new regulation, these approximately 75,000 private-sector widow’s pension beneficiaries are permanently relieved of this threat. They will continue to receive 70% of the deceased’s pension even after the three-year period has elapsed, without any reduction, while any potential obligation to repay amounts for the period during which the cut was not applied will also be waived.
For example, suppose an insured person was receiving a pension of 1,200 euros. The survivor’s pension paid to his or her spouse following his or her death would amount to 70% of that amount, or 840 euros. Under the previous system, if the beneficiary was working or receiving their own pension, the amount would have to be reduced to 420 euros after three years.
Under the new provision, the 840 euros is maintained in full, without any reduction.
Approximately 8,500 recipients of widow’s pensions from the State and the former OGA will also benefit immediately, as the cut had already been applied to them since 2020. Following the passage of the provision, their pensions will be restored from 35% to 70% of the deceased’s pension, with the first increases expected to appear in the September payments.
However, the government does not plan to pay retroactive compensation for the cuts that have already been imposed, a point that is expected to be the subject of legal debate, if not litigation.
For example, a retiree who was receiving a widow’s pension of 350 euros after the cut will see that amount restored to 700 euros, provided that this corresponds to 70% of the deceased’s pension. The increase will be permanent, but it will not be accompanied by a refund of the amounts lost in previous years.
National Pensions
The second significant measure concerns the retention of both national pensions in cases where the accumulation stems from different social security entitlements, as is the case with many widow’s pensions.
This prevents a further reduction in income for approximately 122,000 retirees, who were at risk of losing their second national pension—amounting to an average of about 312 euros per month.
This risk was initially confirmed by the “Tsakloglou circular” in 2022 and subsequently by the recent decision of the Council of State, which clarified that in cases where pensions from different entitlements are combined, only one national pension is paid.
According to Kerameos’s statement, following the new legislative provision—which is expected to pass through Parliament as an amendment by July—there will be no cuts. Thus, for example, a retiree who receives their own primary pension and, at the same time, a survivor’s pension will continue to receive both national pensions corresponding to their different social security entitlements, with no change to their monthly income.
The Minister of Labor attributed the feasibility of this measure to the improved fiscal performance of the social security system. According to the data she presented, in the first four months of 2026, social security fund revenues exceeded the Medium-Term Program target by 517 million euros, a development attributed primarily to the expansion of the digital work card and the increase in declared employment.
Consequently, there is sufficient fiscal space to cover the cost of these measures. According to reports, restoring widow’s pensions from 35% to 70% of the deceased’s pension—for those retirees whose benefits have already been cut—is estimated to cost approximately 48 million euros per year.
It remains to be clarified what the actuarial cost of this measure will be—not only for the refunds but also for the lack of further cuts—since the repeal of the Katrougkalos law has serious fiscal consequences—albeit long-term ones—in addition to political ones.
With this legislative initiative, the ministry aims to definitively resolve a long-standing social security issue, restore legal certainty for recipients of widow’s pensions, and ensure that there will be no further reductions in their benefits.
For thousands of households, this change means either an immediate increase in monthly income or the permanent preservation of current benefit levels, without the fear of future cuts or retroactive claims.