Definition of Insolvency

With its Proposal for a Directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law (2022/0408 (COD)), the European Commission is aiming to harmonise national insolvency laws. Terms such as “insolvency” or “inability to pay debts” are used, but have not yet been defined in EU law. However, harmonisation attempts cannot be successful without such definitions. It cannot be assumed that courts and insolvency practitioners in all countries will understand and apply these terms in the same way. On closer inspection, it turns out that national laws differ so much on this point that there can be no question of a common understanding of the term insolvency and its subspecies.

The present book, which is the fruit of a research project, has therefore set itself the task of using detailed questionnaires to record the definitions of the terms “inability to pay debts”, “cessation of payments”, “likely or imminent inability to pay debts”, and “overindebtedness” in the national laws of all EU Member States (and the UK). It quickly became apparent that, although these terms are used in all or at least many States, the understanding of the terms differs widely. There can be no doubt that harmonisation of insolvency law cannot succeed if one does not simultaneously define what is meant by insolvency.

On this basis, proposals for definitions have been drawn up, the adoption of which is recommended to the European legislator. This was done based on a principle-oriented method, in which the basic principles of insolvency law are identified, weighed and balanced, with a view to the regulatory task of the terms examined. This method has already proven its worth in an earlier research project on the harmonisation of transaction avoidance laws and led to the working group's regulatory proposals that were adopted by the European Commission in the proposal for a harmonisation Directive. The present project has also succeeded in developing generally acceptable proposals for the definitions of insolvency and its subtypes on this basis, which, it is hoped, will meet with the approval of the European legislator.

The report is accompanied by impact assessments in which the members of the working group comment on how the adoption of the proposals into European law would affect the laws of the Member States. As it turns out, despite all the differences between the EU Member States, there are no insurmountable difficulties.

About the authors

Reinhard Bork was Dean of the Law Faculty, University of Hamburg in 1993/1994 and Vice Dean (head of the Examination Office) in 2005–2010. He was the Robert S. Campbell Visiting Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford in 2010/2011 and 2015/2016. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Commercial Law Centre, Harris Manchester College, Oxford for 2020–2026, and a Visiting Professor at Radboud University Nijmegen for 2022–2025.

Ben Schuijling is professor of business law at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, director of the Radboud Business Law Institute and senior adviser at Clifford Chance LLP, Amsterdam.

Michael Veder is professor of insolvency law at the Radboud Business Law Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and attorney/adviser at the Amsterdam-based law firm RESOR.

List of contributors

With the cooperation of Nuria Bermejo, Reinhard Dammann, Frederik De Leo, Andreea Deli-Diaconescu, Miodrag Dordevic, Zoltan Fabok, Arthur Galea Salomone, Jasnica Garašić, Frank Heemann, Tuomas Hupli, Anto Kasak, Hristina Kirilova, Christian Koller, Andrie Kypridemou, Kevin Labner, Line Langkjaer, Lasse Lindekilde, Pier Mario Lupinu, Renato Mangano, Flavius Moţu, Simon Murphy, Dávid Oršula, Sarah Paterson, Marek Porzycki, Stathis Potamitis, Anna Rachwał, Hans Renman, Tomáš Richter, Catarina Serra and Madara Sturite.

Digital version available on :

• Strada lex Belgium
• Strada lex Europa

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