Brussels sent a letter of formal notice to Ireland on September 26, accusing the country of not meeting a July 17 deadline to set out how it plans to introduce electronic communications for three aspects of insolvency.
The Directive on Restructuring and Insolvency put an obligation on EU states to make sure that the parties involved in cases of insolvency and the discharge of debt, including the practitioner and the judicial or administrative authority, can do certain things electronically.
These include filing of claims, submission of restructuring or repayment plans, and notifications to creditors.
The directive came into force in July 2019, but member states were given until July 17 of this year to transpose into law the provisions on the use of electronic means of communication.
‘The longer deadline reflected the complexity of introducing electronic communication’
Ireland and Austria have been accused of failing to notify Brussels of what steps they plan to take.
“The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to these member states, which now have two months to respond and complete their transposition,” it said. “In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.”
In a statement, the Department of Justice said Ireland had notified the European Commission in July 2022, within the required deadline, of all the measures it has taken in order to transpose the directive on insolvency.
The deadline was initially set for July 2021, but was extended by a year due to Covid.
The Department said there was a later deadline of July 17 for Ireland to introduce electronic communication into three aspects of the insolvency, restructuring and debt discharge proceedings.
“The longer deadline reflected the complexity of introducing electronic communication on those aspects across member states’ court systems for corporate insolvency, personal insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings,” it said.
“In response to the Commission’s letter, Ireland has two months to communicate its up-to-date transposing measures on Article 28(a) to (c).
“A comprehensive response will be finalised within that period, in consultation with the Courts Service, to set out the up-to-date position on the specific transposition measures proposed.”
Separately, the Commission has also opened infringement proceedings against Ireland and 25 other EU states for failing to fully transpose into law the provisions of the revised Renewable Energy Directive, which relates to simplified and accelerated procedures.