Harmonising Insolvency Law in the EU: New Thoughts on Old Ideas in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

(2021) 30(3) International Insolvency Review (Forthcoming)

24 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2021

See all articles by Emilie Ghio

Emilie Ghio

University of Edinburgh

Jennifer L. Gant

University of Derby - School of Law and Criminology

Gert-Jan Boon

Leiden University - Leiden Law School

David Christoph Emke

Independent

Line Langkjaer

Aarhus University – Aarhus BSS, Department of Law

Eugenio Vaccari

University of Essex - School of Law

Date Written: May 28, 2021

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis, which hit the world with full force in 2020, represents one of the greatest health and economic crises in recent history. The pandemic paralysed the world economy, forcing many countries around the globe to take emergency measures. Countries’ emergency responses to the crisis uncovered a tension between the continuous phenomenon of global economic interdependence and the tendency for nation-state governance during the crisis. Although this dichotomy was quite acute in the European Union (EU) at the onset of the pandemic – reflected overall by Member States’ preferences for national solutions over common multilateral solutions – governments eventually converged towards similar responses to the spread of the virus. These responses to the crisis included partial or total isolation of populations, travel bans, and the temporary closure of non-essential businesses. This so-called phenomenon of ‘copycat coronavirus policies’ was the result of regulatory emulation, which occurred spontaneously, with limited direct impetus from the EU. Our paper investigates whether insolvency and restructuring laws, policies, and measures followed a similar pattern. The study focuses on six selected European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK). From a methodological perspective, our contribution relies on a case study approach. Building on the findings of this case study, our paper, then, draws more general conclusions on the process of harmonisation across the EU.

Keywords: harmonisation; european integration; preventive restructuring; insolvency; corporate rescue; younger academics; early career research; EU law

JEL Classification: G3, K4

Suggested Citation

Ghio, Emilie and Gant, Jennifer and Boon, Gert-Jan and Emke, David Christoph and Langkjaer, Line and Vaccari, Eugenio, Harmonising Insolvency Law in the EU: New Thoughts on Old Ideas in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic (May 28, 2021). (2021) 30(3) International Insolvency Review (Forthcoming), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3855429 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3855429

Emilie Ghio

University of Edinburgh ( email )

Edinburgh
Great Britain

Jennifer Gant (Contact Author)

University of Derby - School of Law and Criminology ( email )

Kedleston Road
Derby, Derbyshire DE22 1GB
United Kingdom

Gert-Jan Boon

Leiden University - Leiden Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 9520
2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

David Christoph Emke

Independent

Line Langkjaer

Aarhus University – Aarhus BSS, Department of Law

Bartholins Allé 16
Aarhus C, 8000
United States

Eugenio Vaccari

University of Essex - School of Law

Colchester, Essex CO43SQ
United Kingdom

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