INTRODUCTION

The European Enforcement Order (EEO) makes it quicker and easier to have judgments of a court in one EU country recognised and enforced in another for uncontested claims. The EEO Regulation forms part of a series of EU procedural instruments that were launched within the framework of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ).

The adoption of the EEO Regulation in 2004 has been an important step in the elaboration of this Area, since this instrument abolishes exequatur for uncontested claims. This means that the certification of a judgment as an EEO in one Member State can be enforced in another Member State, without having to go through an intermediate procedure in the latter Member State (Art. 5 EEO Regulation). In fact, ‘a judgment certified as a EEO shall be enforced under the same conditions as a judgment handed down in the Member State of enforcement’ (Art. 20 EEO Regulation). This was at that time completely new in the EU and it has paved the way for the full abolishment of exequatur for civil claims in general, a process that culminated with the launch of the Brussels Ibis Regulation.

In this chapter we provide a brief general outline of the EEO, while the following chapters will deal with the practical application of the EEO in the selected Member States. The following topics will be discussed: the scope of the EEO; the optional nature of the EEO; the entity issuing the EEO; the safeguards of the EEO; and the concept of mutual trust in the EEO. We will also discuss the important question whether the EEO in itself still has a raison d’être, given the various developments regarding EU civil procedure instruments such as the Brussel Ibis Regulation.

THE SCOPE OF THE EEO

CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS

The first scope rule of the EEO is that this instrument can be applied only in civil and commercial matters. Art. 2 EEO Regulation states more specifically: