Amendments to new EC Proposal for a Directive harmonizing certain aspects of insolvency law
In December 2022, the European Commission presented a draft Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law[1], opening discussions on some of the potential changes into national laws, together with the remarks and positions towards the Proposal.
49 entities issued their positions (statements) within this legislative process, and now the European Commission analyses these documents, aiming to propose a Directive by the end of 2024, which date has not been met, though.
Recently, in December 2024, after analysis of these positions (statements), new, amended version was published[2].
In the amended version, the Proposal covers:
1. Avoidance actions
2. Tracing assets
3. Duties of directors
4. And enhancing transparency of national insolvency proceedings through preparing factsheet with practical information on the main features of their domestic laws on insolvency proceedings
The most criticized part – special regime for microenterprises practically without insolvency practitioner involvement, will not be considered in future, but the draft did not reach European Parliament so far.
Unfortunately, the Proposal no longer covers also pre-pack which we hope can still be changed during Polish Presidency in the EU Council, since we believe regulating pre-packaged sale on the European level may create value and be beneficial for all insolvency stakeholders.
Authors of this article co-authored two positions (statements) taken into account in the EU legislative process.
Authors: Paweł Kuglarz; Mateusz Kaliński, LL.M. (Tatara & Partners, Krakow/Warsaw)
[1] Document Brussels, 7.12.2022, COM(2022) 702 final, 2022/0408 (COD), available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12592-Insolvency-laws-increasing-convergence-of-national-laws-to-encourage-cross-border-investment_en, hereinafter: the “Proposal”.
[2] Document available on: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/12/13/insolvency-law-council-settles-on-position-for-core-capital-markets-union-legislation/ and https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-16283-2024-INIT/en/pdf