At the end of June, PPMI research team together with its two academic experts completed a study on The use of flanking measures in the EU and their implementation to the Lithuanian context. The study on soft measures complementing legal insolvency frameworks was commissioned by the European Commission, Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS), with the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania being the beneficiary of the study. The purpose of this study was to increase the effectiveness of the Lithuanian insolvency framework by suggesting a system of flanking measures for Lithuania based on best practice examples from the EU.
The key challenge the research team came across was the absence of an agreed definition of flanking measures and their types as well as the differences in legal, institutional and cultural settings between Member States that already implement best practice measures and Lithuania.
The study employed several different research methods, including:
- desk research,
- a survey of responsible authorities and insolvency professionals in the EU MS (around 45 respondents),
- 30 interviews with experts from the EU, and
- 6 interviews with experts from Lithuania.
As a result of the study, for the first time an overview of existing flanking measures in the EU was produced, covering a comprehensive range of various types of flanking measures and providing varied examples from across the EU. The types of flanking measures included:
- Training services,
- Information frameworks,
- Early warning tools,
- Early warning advisory services,
- Hybrid measures,
- Tax incentives,
- Enhanced institutional framework.
In addition, the research team produced a detailed description of 10 most effective and interesting flanking measures that are successful in MS that implement them. The overview of existing flanking measures and an in-depth analysis of select measures is going to be very useful for other MS seeking to implement or further develop flanking measures.
Finally, the research team proposed a system of flanking measures for Lithuania with recommendations for their implementation. At the end of the project, a conference was held, where the results of the study were presented and the proposed system of flanking measures for Lithuania was discussed.
The study and the conference served as the basis for the follow-up discussions among Lithuanian stakeholders who are going to implement a system of flanking measures in Lithuania taking into account the insights provided by the study team.
