EU Finance Ministers of the eurozone meet on 21 June 2018 in Luxembourg to discuss all elements needed to ensure a successful completion of Greece's economic adjustment programme by August. These elements are related to the surveillance framework that will apply after the programme, the size of the final tranche of financial support by the ESM and the possible debt measures.
EU Ministers for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) meet on 21 and 22 June 2018 in Luxembourg to discuss several legislative proposals, including the coordination of social security systems, work-life balance and transparent and predictable working conditions. They also hold a debate on the employment and social policy aspects of the 2018 European Semester exercise. On the second day, Health ministers hold a debate on the proposed regulation on health technology assessment. They also discuss the future of health in the EU.
Written by Carla Stamegna (1st edition),
In 2012, the Commission proposed to recast the 2000 Insolvency Regulation in order to address the cross-border aspects of insolvency in the EU. Adopted in 2015, the recast regulation introduced clear rules on the jurisdiction and law applicable to a debtor’s insolvency proceedings and made mandatory the recognition of those proceedings in other EU Member States. Its remit was expanded to include not only bankruptcy but also hybrid and pre-insolvency proceedings, as well as debt discharges and debt adjustments for natural persons (consumers and sole traders).
In late 2016, as a further step and a follow up to the Insolvency Recommendation of 2014, the Commission proposed to adopt a directive on business restructuring, which would provide new legal tools to rescue viable businesses in distress and give honest but bankrupt entrepreneurs a second chance. The proposal focuses on three key elements: common principles on early restructuring tools, which would help companies to continue operating and preserve jobs; rules to allow entrepreneurs to benefit from a second chance through a discharge of debt; and targeted measures allowing Member States to increase the efficiency of insolvency, restructuring and discharge procedures. The initiative is a key deliverable under the capital markets union action plan. It will also contribute substantially to addressing the high levels of non-performing loans in banks’ balance sheets. The draft report was presented to the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) in September 2017. In May 2018 the Council reached agreement on part of the proposal.
Versions
Sergio Gaetano Cofferati (S&D, Italy)
Kosma Złotowski (ECR, Poland)
António Marinho E Pinto (ALDE, Portugal)
Jiří Maštálka (GUE/NGL, Czech Republic)
Joëlle Bergeron (EFDD, France)
Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)
Next steps expected:
Vote in committee on the draft report