The work of INSOL Europe, written by Marc C. Udink (2005)

Marc Udink reports that our organization is in very good health and reveals plans for INSOL Europe website and sponsorship.

Our organisation is very much alive, as was illustrated during the Cork conference. Attendance was at an all-time high and the content was both practical and highly technical.

The academic wing of INSOL Europe was launched at the conference; this group of eminent academics will be led by Professor Sebastian Kortmann. The core group, which comprises academics from all main European jurisdictions, will meet at the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, to discuss the ways in which they can add value to INSOL Europe.

In the next months, together with the EU, we will set up an EU regulation monitoring committee. This will enable us to track and monitor the effects of EU policies. We have not yet been successful in rolling-out the strategy of regional national seminars under the INSOL Europe label.

We have contacted a conference organiser willing to assist us, but we also need the national organisations to join forces in this effort and I would like to ask for your support in this.

Our organisation is not only expanding its scope; it is growing. We are devising a system by which national organisations are able to join us, with all their members, and share in the benefits and knowledge that membership of INSOY Europe brings.

INSOL Europe website
A second generation of our website is well underway and this will enable us to share knowledge better and faster. Links to other European websites and databases are being included, to give us access to the knowledge of other professions and organisations. I strongly recommend the EU link provided, which will give you the opportunity to participate in the EU internet consultations.

Another useful resource, which can be accessed from the website, is the new EU report A Fresh Start. This report seeks to analyze the demotivation and stigmatization of entrepreneurship as a result of bankruptcies.

A new academic publication European Insolvency Principles was launched in Brussels recently, and I received the first copy. These principles are relevant to our practice and give an in-depth insight into the different jurisdictions and the general elements that we share. Further details can be found on our website.

Forthcoming events Prague, 2004
The joint bicentennial conference with INSOL International will be held in Prague in October 2004. The exciting programme of events is sure to guarantee high-level discussions, and will be useful to both practitioners and policy makers. I believe you cannot afford to miss this opportunity.

Amsterdam, 2005
The INSOL Europe conference will be held in Amsterdam in 2005. We are now, together with the Dutch organisation INSOLAD, selecting the venue. Further details will follow.

Sponsors
In this climate of interest and activity, we are able to attract corporate sponsors for the INSOL Europe organisation and for our eurofenix newsletter. The Financial Times, which has a longstanding and splendid tradition in this respect, has sponsored our conference. We welcome our sponsors and are grateful for their support, which will help us in growing our organisation. A full list of sponsors appears on page 16 of eurofenix.

Spring 2004

Marc Udink, secretary general of INSOL Europe.