Brett Barton
Brett's recent articles
- Have we lost the art of written communication?
15th July - Get Involved - London 2012
18th March - Directors' remuneration - caution required
21st January
EU - Are straighter bananas the only thing that the EU gives us?
20th May 2010 09:11
Whilst recently preparing for a presentation to professional business advisors regarding the top ten common questions that are asked by business owners facing insolvency, it occurred to me how much the EU has infiltrated the English legal system, seemingly under the radar. The introduction of wide sweeping and ill drafted legislation is a topic that really frustrates me and a frequent topic of my blogs. I’m sure you’ll all agree that SME’s, the backbone of British Industry, are being bogged down in mountains of red tape! You wouldn’t go into a boxing ring against Mike Tyson with your left hand tied behind your back so why would a business want to enter the international trading arena with what amounts to the same restrictions!
Way back in 2002, The EC Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings 2000 came into force throughout the EU. The main purposes of the Regulations are to set rules governing where in the EU insolvency proceedings should be opened, which country’s laws would apply and to ensure that the proceedings are recognised throughout the EU.
These rules were supposed to make it easier to deal with an insolvent company whose affairs are based in more than one EU country. Regrettably this is not the case and eight years on we are still seeing high profile legal actions testing the Regulations, as creditors from different countries battle it out to gain control of an insolvent company’s assets.
This is probably not something that you would come across every day but a key consideration if your client operates in Europe or overseas. Perhaps the new coalition government will provide smaller businesses with a breathing space and take the opportunity to weed out some of the complex and in my view unnecessary legislation imposed by the previous government or at least make sure that any new legislation is well drafted and will stand the test of time.
