College Lecturer Dr Felix Steffek has been invited by the European Commission to join the Group of Experts on Restructuring and Insolvency Law. The group is currently working to support a harmonised restructuring and insolvency law in the EU.
Dr Felix Steffek is Co-Director of the Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (3CL), and was recently awarded a J M Keynes Fellowship.
This new role will see Felix working with the group on the preparation of a potential legislative proposal containing minimum standards for a harmonised restructuring and insolvency law in the European Union. They will focus on those legislative needs that remain after the EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings (2015) and the Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency (2019). In particular, the group is tasked to consider special rules for small and medium-sized enterprises, improvements to make restructuring and liquidation proceedings more effective and efficient, the qualification of insolvency practitioners and the responsibility of directors in the vicinity of insolvency.
Dr Steffek said: ‘I am honoured and delighted to contribute to the EU Expert Group on Restructuring and Insolvency Law. The EU Insolvency Regulation and the EU Restructuring and Insolvency Directive are important milestones and have improved the EU insolvency framework significantly. However, there are still considerable opportunities for further progress.’
The Expert Group is led by the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST). In addition, the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) is associated with this initiative. Major policy objectives are the free movement of capital in the internal market, better enforcement of claims in insolvency and a second chance after the bankruptcy of natural persons.