The European Payment Order procedure was
established under Regulation (EC) No. 1896/2006 of
the European Parliament and of the Council. Under
Polish law, the procedure is regulated under the
Code of Civil Procedure in the section devoted to the
European procedure in cross-border cases, Articles
50515 to 50520.
The main purpose of introducing the EPO procedure was to simply, speed up, and limit the costs of
litigation in cross-border cases concerning
uncontested pecuniary claims in civil and
commercial matters between entities from different
EU Member States except Denmark. For the EPO to
be issued, at least one of the parties to the dispute
must be domiciled or habitually resident in a
Member State other than the Member State of the
court hearing the action. An undeniable strength of
the European Payment Order is that an order issued
in one Member State can be enforced in another
Member State without the need for a declaration of
enforceability and without any possibility of
opposing its recognition, which can significantly
The EPO procedure is instituted by filing an
application using standard form A2 with the
competent court. Article 7(2) of Regulation No.
1896/2006 specifies in detail what the application is
required to state, including without limitation:
designation of the parties and the competent court,
amount of the claim and any amounts being pursued
in addition to the main claim, cause of action,
including a description of the evidence, grounds for
the jurisdiction, and the cross-border nature of the
case. Since the information and evidence invoked as
the basis for the claim are not verified by the court in
substantive terms (only applications that are clearly
unfounded are rejected on substantive grounds), the
application includes the claimant’s statement
confirming that the information provided is true to
the best of the claimant’s knowledge and belief and
the claimant’s acknowledgement that intentional
submission of untrue information may result in
applicable sanctions being applied against him. The
application is submitted in paper form or by any
other means of communication, including electronic,
accepted by the Member State of origin and available
to the court of origin.
speed up enforcement and limit its costs.
It is not a rule under the procedure for the claimant
to file the EPO application with a court in his home
country. In turn, given the provisions of Regulation
No. 1896/2006, stating that when a defendant lodges
a statement of opposition, the proceedings continue in accordance with the rules of ordinary civil
procedure under the regulations of the relevant
country, in order to avoid costs and not to engage in
litigation in a foreign state, the claimant may request
in a schedule to the application that the proceedings
be terminated in the event of the defendant’s
opposition.
The court as soon as possible, and normally within
30 days of the lodging of the application (unless, due
to formal defects, the application requires to be
completed or rectified), issues the European Payment
Order. Unless the defendant files a statement of
opposition, the order becomes enforceable, which is
declared by the court using standard form G.
The defendant may lodge a statement of opposition
to the European order for payment with the court of
origin using standard form F, which is supplied to
him together with the European order for payment.
The statement of opposition must be sent to or
lodged with the court of origin within 30 days of
service of the order on the defendant. In the
statement of opposition the defendant indicates that
he contests the claim, without having to specify his
reasons. The opposition is filed in the same form as
the application, i.e. in paper form or by any other
means of communication, including electronic. If a
statement of opposition is entered within the time
limit, the proceedings continue in accordance with
the provisions regulating ordinary civil procedure
unless the claimant has explicitly requested that the
proceedings be terminated in that event.
The European Payment Order which has become
enforceable is enforced on the same terms as any
other enforceable ruling issued in the Member State
in which enforcement of the order is being sought.
MILLER, CANFIELD,
W. BABICKI, A. CHEŁCHOWSKI I WSPÓLNICY SP.K.
ul. Batorego 28-32
81-366 Gdynia
Tel. +48 58 782-0050
Fax +48 58 782-0060
gdynia@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Nowogrodzka 11
00-513 Warszawa
Tel. +48 22 447-4300
Fax +48 22 447-4301
warszawa@pl.millercanfield.com
ul. Skarbowców 23a
53-125 Wrocław
Tel. +48 71 780-3100
Fax +48 71 780-3101
wroclaw@pl.millercanfield.com
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Miller Canfield. It is intended to provide only a summary
of certain recent legal developments of selected areas of law. For this reason the information contained in this publication should not form the
basis of any decision as to a particular course of action; nor should it be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in
individual cases. The services of a competent professional adviser should be obtained in each instance so that the applicability of the relevant
legislation or other legal development to the particular facts can be verified.