Debtor in possession or debtor under supervision? The legal position of the concordat debtor under Turkish law and the lessons of EU Directive 2019/1023

OpenAlex İngilizce

Abstract The legal position of the concordat debtor under Article 297 of the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law has acquired growing comparative significance in light of EU Directive 2019/1023 on Preventive Restructuring Frameworks. This article demonstrates that the Turkish concordat debtor is, in functional terms, already a debtor in possession (DIP) within the meaning of the Directive. The default DIP status, graduated court‐ordered restrictions and commissioner supervision model of Turkish law map directly onto the PRD's core architecture, reflecting a shared Continental European legal tradition. Within the spectrum of EU national implementations, Turkish law sits closest to the French and Austrian models and diverges most markedly from the Dutch WHOA and German StaRUG. Notwithstanding this structural convergence, the article identifies significant operational gaps between the two frameworks and develops concrete de lege ferenda proposals for legislative reform, with the aim of advancing Türkiye's ongoing harmonisation with the EU acquis in the field of preventive restructuring law.