Page - 183 - in Austrian Law Journal, Volume 2/2021

ALJ 2021 From debt to discharge 183 was created.5 The IO applies to natural persons, regardless of their entrepreneurial or consumer status, as well as to legal entities. It pursues two main objectives: Best possible satisfaction of creditors and giving the debtor a chance of a debt discharge.6 In Austria, the term "insolvency proceedings" ("Insolvenzverfahren") is used as an overall expression for bankruptcy proceedings ("Konkursverfahren") and reorganisation proceedings ("Sanierungsverfahren"). These are not separate proceedings, but rather procedural processes within the unified insolvency proceedings. The bankruptcy proceedings serve as a prototype of the unified insolvency proceedings; thus, reorganisation proceedings are basically “regular” insolvency proceedings with certain special provisions.7 The reorganisation proceedings are limited to natural persons who are entrepreneurs and to legal entities (§ 166 IO).8 For consumers, there is a special kind of bankruptcy procedure called debt settlement proceedings (“Schuldenregulierungsverfahren”). The general provisions of §§ 1 to 165 IO, the general procedural provisions of §§ 252 to 263 IO and the provisions of §§ 264 to 269 IO apply to all types of proceedings. Only specific provisions are limited to one of the procedural forms.9 In all types of proceedings, the debtor can achieve debt discharge by means of a reorganisation plan (“Sanierungsplan”).10 For natural persons, there are two more instruments for debt discharge: the settlement plan (“Zahlungsplan”) and the proceedings for income levy (“Abschöpfungsverfahren”), the latter being an ultima ratio solution taking place following the actual insolvency proceedings. The settlement plan and the proceedings for income levy are open to all natural persons, regardless of whether they run an entrepreneurial business or not.11 However, differences between entrepreneurs and non- entrepreneurs are made regarding the structure of the procedure.12 Consumers can offer a settlement plan or a reorganisation plan within the framework of debt settlement proceedings.13 As many debtors in individual enforcement proceedings are in fact already insolvent, the Austrian legislator has recently modified the transition between individual enforcement – regulated in the Enforcement Act14 ("Exekutionsordnung", hereinafter EO) – and general 5 Nunner-Krautgasser, Allgemeines zum Insolvenzrecht: Grundlagen, Verfahrensarten, Schicksal des Schuldnerunternehmens und Rechtsdurchsetzung, in Nunner-Krautgasser/Reissner (Eds), Praxishandbuch Insolvenz und Arbeitsrecht2 (2019) 1 (6 et seq); Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 (2018) Rz 29; Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 (2018) Rz 20. 6 Mohr, Privatinsolvenz3 (2018) Rz 1. 7 Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 398; Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 22. 8 Kodek, Insolvenzrecht2 (2019) Rz 538; Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 483; Rechberger/Seeber/Thurner, Insolvenzrecht3 Rz 30. 9 Feuchtinger/Lesigang, Praxisleitfaden Insolvenzrecht4 (2015) 119; Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 22. 10 Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 20 et seq. 11 Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 (2018) 1. 12 Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 483; Schneider, Privatinsolvenz3 1. 13 Dellinger/Oberhammer/Koller, Insolvenzrecht4 Rz 483. 14 Exekutionsordnung RGBl 1896/79.