Paris, 2019-10-07

The metropolis of Paris was the venue for this year’s meeting of the EARN network. EARN´s French partner law firm Room Avocats welcomed numerous network members and other guests to its premises not far from the Arc de Triomphe at the beginning of October 2019.

Main emphasis of the two-day meeting were the country-specific actions to implement the EU Restructuring Directive. The directive came into force in July of this year and shall be implemented in all EU member states within two years. The German partner law firm PASCHEN Rechtsanwälte is actively involved in this topic. Among other things, it is the initiator of a joint declaration on claims drawn up by five top associations for the implementation of the Directive into German law with appropriate consideration of creditors’ rights.

Another topic on the agenda was the development of electronic legal transactions in the member states, which differ considerably from one EU country to another. After Portugal, Italy is one of the most advanced nations here, where insolvency proceedings have been processed exclusively electronically for some time and can now be communicated electronically also in other legal proceedings, as attorney at law Dr. Stefanie Mehrens of the Milan law firm Kanzlei Izzi Toniatti Perron-Cabus Martini reported. Spain has also made significant progress in this area, as Luis Sánchez Pérez of the new EARN member Medina Cuadros Abogados informed.

In general, it was noted that the cooperation of the network partners have developed very successfully, which is why the expansion of the EARN network with the admission of partners from other European states should be continued consistently. The next EARN annual meeting in 2020 is already firmly planned.