Heiploeg judgment - Annotation to EU Court of Justice 28 April 2022

1. Introduction

Bankruptcy judges of the Netherlands: give us the pre-pack! With a contribution under this title in the Tijdschrift voor Insolventierecht over ten years ago, Tollenaar introduced the so-called pre-pack, the quietly prepared restart. I would do the Supreme Court a disservice by labeling it as (only) a bankruptcy judge, but the fact is that with its referral ruling in this case it seemed to be doing everything in its power to save the pre-pack from destruction and to breathe new life into it. The question is whether he succeeded, because the preliminary questions he put to the European Court have since been answered, but these answers once again raise questions about how to proceed with the pre-pack and even with the ordinary restart in Dutch insolvency practice.

I choose to briefly summarize the history of this judgment. This is not easy, because much has happened, both in the case law, and in the legislative field.

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