Directive (EU) 2026/799 of 1 April 2026, which harmonises certain aspects of insolvency law and is also known as Insolvency II, has been published. Approved by the European Parliament on 10 March 2026 and by the Council on the following 30 March, the Directive forms part of the process launched by Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring and discharge of debt, intervening on those junctures of insolvency law where divergences between national legal systems generate the greatest uncertainty and costs for operators.
The European legislator starts from the awareness that the persistent differences between national insolvency laws have a negative impact on the functioning of the internal market and of the capital markets union, hindering the movement of capital and access to credit. The chosen approach is that of a minimum and selective harmonisation: not a full uniformity of national systems, but a convergence on certain key institutions, in order to make the outcomes of proceedings more predictable and to reduce the asymmetries between Member States.
In terms of content, the Directive intervenes in six main areas. As regards avoidance actions, it introduces a harmonised core of rules that makes it possible to render ineffective the acts detrimental to creditors carried out before the opening of the proceedings. It regulates powers of direct access to bank account information for the tracing of assets and defines the pre-pack procedure as an instrument for the transfer of the business as a going concern, with adequate guarantees of transparency and control.
The Directive also addresses the duties of directors in the phase close to insolvency, requiring the management bodies to act promptly and introducing forms of liability for the harm caused to creditors in the event of delay. The framework is completed by the rules on creditors' committees and by the introduction of standardised information tools, aimed at making national systems more comprehensible and comparable.
The topic closely concerns those who lead a business in Europe: it is precisely to the duties and protections of CEOs and managers in light of the new Directive that the Legal Afternoon Session organised by Confindustria Ungheria on 11 June is dedicated (see the section The Association).
Article by the Confindustria Delegation to the European Union.
