Recital (7)

For the purposes of this Directive, the notion of legal acts under the rules on avoidance actions should be interpreted broadly in order to cover any deliberate behaviour with legal effects that is of detriment to the general body of creditors, irrespective of whether the legal effects or the detriment is intended, including where the person performing the legal act has no fraudulent purpose, notwithstanding the provisions in other areas of law. However, acts that are performed by a person who does not act consciously or who otherwise acts without exercising their free will should not be considered as legal acts under this Directive. Member States should be able to provide that the notion of legal act also includes omissions, as it is of no significant difference whether creditors suffer a detriment as a consequence of an action or of the non-action of the party concerned. Furthermore, the rules on avoidance actions should cover not only legal acts performed by the debtor, but also legal acts performed by the debtor’s counterparty or by a third party.