On 30 March, the Council of the European Union approved a new directive harmonizing selected areas of insolvency law across the European Union. As Michał Wawrykiewicz, a Member of the European Parliament from Civic Coalition, emphasizes, the new rules are of key importance for increasing the security of business transactions and strengthening trust in the European economy.
On 10 March 2026, the European Parliament adopted the agreement reached with member states in November 2025 on a new directive concerning the harmonization of certain aspects of insolvency law. On 30 March, the document was approved by the Council of the EU.
“The main purpose of these regulations is to stimulate cross-border trade and increase the security of market participants. In situations involving the risk of insolvency, creditors will gain better tools for earlier intervention, as well as more effective ways to trace debtors’ assets,” Michał Wawrykiewicz, who belongs to the European People’s Party, said in an interview with Newseria. “Until now, insolvency regulations have differed significantly across the 27 member states. Harmonization is necessary because it increases the credibility of the European economy and the security of legal and business transactions.”
The new rules are intended to improve the efficiency of insolvency proceedings in member states, among other things by making it easier to secure the assets of insolvent entities and increasing the chances of satisfying creditors’ claims.
According to the MEP, reducing the differences between the legal systems of individual countries is particularly important. As he stresses, the policy of unifying insolvency law is not an example of excessive regulation, but rather a response to market needs, especially in the context of growing cross-border investment. The new rules are intended to create a situation in which the key principles of insolvency proceedings are similar across the entire European Union. As a result, the EU business environment is expected to become more attractive to cross-border investors. As the MEP points out, the initiative to harmonize insolvency law was to a large extent driven by demands from businesses themselves.
“These changes will be entirely beneficial for investment. Businesses will gain greater legal certainty and better tools for debt recovery, as well as for monitoring the financial standing of their business partners. Regardless of whether someone operates in Poland, Germany, France, or Cyprus, they will be dealing with similar regulations. This is a major facilitation for companies operating in multiple markets,” Michał Wawrykiewicz notes. “It is business that has long been signaling the need for such changes. The goal is to make it easier to pursue claims effectively, prevent the dissipation of assets, and respond earlier to the risk of insolvency.”
The new rules are also meant to improve asset traceability, enabling the relevant authorities, at the request of insolvency practitioners, to inspect bank account registers across the European Union in order to identify the assets of insolvent companies. The law will also require each country to publish information about its insolvency regulations, which will then be made available on the EU e-Justice portal. In addition, the new rules impose an obligation on company directors to file for insolvency within three months of the emergence of insolvency conditions.
“In Poland, this period is actually shorter, but not all countries have such regulations. Harmonizing this obligation will make it possible to coordinate insolvency systems across the Union more effectively,” the MEP explains. At the same time, he points out that Poland still has shortcomings in implementing earlier EU regulations. “We still have not fully implemented the so-called Second Chance Directive of 2019. Therefore, it will be necessary to adapt our regulations to both acts in parallel. Still, this is a step in the right direction — it strengthens our commercial law and the credibility of the economy.”
The new directive is expected to be another step toward building a more coherent and predictable legal environment for doing business in the European Union. Member states will have two years and nine months to implement it into national law.
