The principles outlined in the European Commission's proposal for a Directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law is not expected to lead to extensive reform of Belgian rules since Belgian law already provides a clear set of rules that give creditors and trustees instruments to avoid contestable acts in the context of bankruptcy, which, in some cases, go further than the principles set out in this Proposal.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many measures have already been taken to support the economy as much as possible during these turbulent times. It is already clear that the impact will be enormous and that the cash buffer built up by some companies will not be enough to survive this crisis. Measures such as deferrals on paying tax and social debts, temporary unemployment due to economic reasons and the Belgian State’s guarantee scheme for bank loans will not suffice for some.
De wet betreffende de continuïteit der ondernemingen (hierna de “WCO”) behoeft geen introductie. Sinds haar inwerkingtreding in 2009 werd ze veelvuldig toegepast teneinde ondernemingen in moeilijkheden een laatste kans te bieden om een faillissement te voorkomen.
De Europese Commissie heeft op 15 mei 2014 de definitieve versie van de Europese verordening betreffende het beslag op bankrekeningen goedgekeurd. Deze verordening is het resultaat van jarenlange besprekingen en kadert in het plan tot versoepeling van de invorderingsprocedures tussen Europese lidstaten.
Article 37 of the Act on Continuity of Enterprises states that "claims against the debtor related to services provided by its co-contractor during a judicial reorganization are to be qualified as privileged claims in a subsequent bankruptcy". Both the doctrine and case law are divided as to how this article should be interpreted, in particular whether or not only a direct co-contractor of the debtor can invoke the privileged nature of its claim. This discussion is particularly relevant with regard to claims for advance business tax, VAT claims and other tax debts.