Wessels Restructuring Plans (forthcoming) is a European book investigating ‘Preventive restructuring frameworks’, also termed: restructuring plans, which are the subject of Title III, Article 4 – 19, of the Preventive Restructuring Directive 2019/1023. It analyses what a restructuring plan is, including its nature and its legal consequences, and the rules to apply when such a restructuring plan is implemented in one of the EU Member States and is in need for recognition other Member States. The book is divided in nine chapters.
Chapter 1 depicts in quite some detail the current the growth in the first quarter of the 21st century and state of affairs of what is named European insolvency and restructuring law. Chapter 2 explains the central goals of the Preventive Restructuring Directive (PRD 2019/1023) and the characteristics of a ‘preventive restructuring framework’ or ‘restructuring plan’ as presented, followed by Chapter 3 that examines in detail the substantive minimum and procedural standards for preventive restructuring frameworks, to be transposed into the laws of the Member States. Chapter 4 briefly describes the way the implementation of the PRD 2019/1023 in Member States has been realised between 2019 and 2025 and notes that the cross-border effects are barely addressed in either the recitals or the text of the PRD 2019/1023.
In Chapters 5, 6 and 7 turn the page to the private international law architecture of the EU, that can ensure the cross-border effectiveness of restructuring plans, the Insolvency Regulation (EIR 2015), which has been used by the European legislator as the leading legislative instrument in this regard, the Brussels Ibis Regulation and the Rome I Regulation on the law applicable to contractual obligations. Against the background of the distinct characteristics of a preventive restructuring plan, these chapters expose gaps and biases, leading to the conclusion that the present three private international law instruments are insufficiently tailored and specified to the characteristics of preventive restructuring frameworks to establish adequate cross-border effectiveness.
Chapter 8 investigates the basics of a coherent cross-border EU instrument for efficient and effective preventive restructuring frameworks, considering the ongoing paradigm shift within insolvency (from ‘formal insolvency’ to ‘negotiated business rescue’). These underlying features lead to a normative legal figure of ‘restructuring’, the goal of which is to prevent the debtor’s insolvency and ensuring the viability of its business. As a result, restructuring plans contain three distinguished features: (i) their outcome involves a multi-party agreement, (ii) all parties are involved and mutually dependent on information provided and obtained, and (iii) the agreement is unique in its nature.
The icing on the cake, to cap it all, is chapter 9. It provides my own proposal of forty-five recommendations for an EU Restructuring Regulation. These recommendations form the basis for an EU legislative instrument, aimed at providing a coherent and effective cross-border system for restructuring plans.
The law is stated as per April 2026. A table of case law and a comprehensive bibliography is included.
It will be published by Wolters Kluwer, ISBN 9789013188127, forthcoming November 2026.