The European Order for Payment (Regulation No 1896/2006) This procedure is applied when the accused does not deny the existence of the debt in question. That is what is known as an "uncontested pecuniary claim".
The process is initiated by fulfilling standard forms available in all official EU languages along with many other pieces of information. These forms are available on the website of the European Judicial Atlas in Civil Matters:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/judicialatlasciv... B.
The European Enforcement Order (Regulation 805/2004). The European Enforcement Order is a certificate that accompanies a national judgment, a court settlement or an authentic document that bestows enforceability in another Member State.
This procedure also applies to legal proceedings in which the required party does not dispute the debt, where a national court has established the existence of the claim in question. Normally, in order to obtain an enforceable title, it is necessary to appeal to the court that judged the merits and to comply with the legal provisions applied in the respective Member State. In this procedure, the credit will be considered uncontested if the required party has confessed to the debt in court, in a court-approved transaction or in an authentic document, if he has never contested the existence of the credit, or, if having initially challenged it, he has missed the court hearing (tacit admission).
The European Small Claims Procedure (Regulation 861/2007). This procedure applies to cross-border litigation in which the value of the claim does not exceed two thousand euros, excluding tax fees. It is usually a written procedure, which begins with the fulfillment of a standardized form, to which the required party may respond in
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/judicialatlasciv... lling_pt.htm
The Website of The European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters provides a lot of information on civil justice in the European Union, and on the procedures of each Member State:
http://ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/homepage/homepag... pt.htm
The Judicial Atlas in Civil Matters provides practical information on cross-border actions and contains all forms of a standardized application that may need to be fulfilled. Find out more in
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/judicialatlasciv... index_pt.htm.
What is the appropriate procedure for each case? Is the claim's value lower than 2.000 EUR?If so, you must consider the possibility of using the European Small Claims Procedure. However, if you believe that the debtor will not contest the existence of his claim, you may also use the European Enforcement Order or the European Order for Payment.
It is important to remember that the European Enforcement Order starts with a national judicial procedure (a conviction is already in place) and only then does it become a European case, providing the enforcement of the judgment in a different Member State. On the other hand, the European Order for Payment is, from the get-go, a European procedure.
If you need to bring an action against a person from another Member State, it may be easier to use the European Order for Payment, as the forms and information will be available in their language. If a conviction has already been handed down in your favor, the European Enforcement Order will probably be the most appropriate procedure. If you wish to file a civil action in which the value is higher than two thousand euros, and/or you expect it to be contested, other rules apply, which are explained further on.