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Recent data presented by the European Commission shows that every year in the EU approx. 200 000 companies are subject to bankruptcy proceedings, of which 25% have a cross-border dimension. Today the European Parliament gave its green light to new rules on cross-border insolvency proceedings, which will facilitate the restructuring of these companies. Moreover, the rules will allow a clear designation of the competent court, preventing "forum shopping", which means finding the court that could provide a more favorable judgment.

"The financial and economic crises showed us that we need more efficient and effective rules on cross-border insolvency procedures that will not only be fair for both creditors and debtors but also give honest entrepreneurs a chance to restructure companies so they can operate better in the future," said the Rapporteur, Tadeusz Zwiefka MEP, EPP Group spokesperson in the Legal Affairs Committee.  Due to the changes in regulation, a new procedure will be established for groups of companies, which are subject to insolvency proceedings before different national courts. The system will be an optional instrument, meaning that within 30 days of receiving notification of the request to open the coordination proceedings, the liquidator of a company may decide to opt-out if he considers this to be more beneficial for the represented company.  "We wanted to ensure that all possible abuses in the field of jurisdiction are avoided. In this context the result of the negotiations can be seen as reasonable and beneficial for all interested parties," added MEP Zwiefka.  Furthermore, the new rules will create an electronic register for better monitoring of cross-border insolvency proceedings in the EU and also a standard claim form, available in all official EU languages.  The vote ends the EU legislative procedure and the regulation will enter into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.