In their recent book ‘Definition of Insolvency’, Reinhard Bork, Ben Schuijling and Michael Veder explain why uniform definitions of the term insolvency and its subspecies (inability to pay debts, cessation of payments, likely or imminent inability to pay, and overindebtedness) are necessary to achieve meaningful harmonization in the EU and why harmonization cannot be achieved when the definition of these key terms is left to national law (as the partial general approach does). In the book we have developed a set of uniform definitions of these terms. The book, which benefited greatly from the cooperation with an international working group with experts from all EU Member States, has been published in Open Access and can be downloaded as e-book.
Ben Schuijling and Michael Veder published ‘Definition of Insolvency’
In December 2024, the Council of the EU reached agreement on a ‘partial general approach’ on key elements of the proposal for a directive to harmonize certain aspects of insolvency law. This partial general approach focuses on transactions avoidance, asset tracing, the duties of directors in the event of insolvency and transparency obligations. The key element that was and still is missing in the EU’s proposals is a common, uniform definition of the term insolvency. This is relevant to, at least, transactions avoidance and the duty to file that will be imposed on directors.
Contact information
- Organizational unit
- Radboud Business Law Institute
- About person
- Prof. P.M. Veder (Michael)