Summary

The article describes the problems associated with the opening of main bankruptcy proceedings for legal persons according to European Union Council Regulation 1346/2000 on Insolvency Proceedings, which was adopted on 29 May 2000 and entered into force on 31 May 2002.

By introducing relevant court cases and specialty publications from other European Union member states, the author seeks answer to the questions: what is meant in the Regulation on Insolvency by the centre of main interests and by opening proceedings, how the centre of main interests can be determined, and how to resolve the conflict of jurisdictions when the courts of a number of states consider the centre of the debtor’s main interests to be the territory of just their state. There is also discussion of the issue as to whether the decision to open the proceedings, in the meaning of the Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings, should be considered to be the regulation that opens bankruptcy proceedings or the appointment of a temporary bankruptcy trustee. The possible need for a regulation is examined which would obligate the court that is opening the insolvency proceedings to note in its decision to open proceedings the category of the proceeding that has been opened. There is also a brief overview of the database created as a cooperative effort between INSOL Europe and Cimejes GmbH, which contains the court decisions that have been made in European Union member states on the basis of the Regulation.