The European Order for Payment (EOP) Regulation applies only in the cross-border cases. Article 3 of the EOP Regulation defines such a case as one in which at least one of the parties is domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than the Member State of the court seized. The same cross-border cases definition is established in European Small Claim Procedure (ESCP) Regulation.

In certain situations, this provision gives access to the EOP and ESCP to non-EU applicants (i.e. who are not domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State) too: if the debtor is domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than that of the competent court, also a non-EU applicant can lodge an application for an EOP and ESCP, since the conditions of Article 3 related to the parties are met.

Also, the creditor domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than that of the competent court may apply for European Order for Payment or European Small Claim Procedure against a defendant domiciled or habitually resident outside the European Union.

Domicile should be determined pursuant to the notion of domicile as it is determined by the Regulation on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (“Brussels I Regulation”). In practice, the domicile or habitual residence of the parties is determined on the basis of the information provided by the claimant in form A. Given that an initial examination of an application may be made by an automated procedure it is sufficient to verify that the indicated address of one of the parties is in a different Member State from that of the court before which the matter has been brought. However, if the court has doubts regarding the accuracy of the information provided, it may choose to ask the claimant to rectify or complete the application.

The domicile or habitual residence of the parties is evaluated when an application for an EOP or ESCP is submitted. The appropriate moment for determining whether the cases is to be considered as cross-border cases have to be when the application is made and not when the events upon which the claim is founded took place.

If you need the assistance in bringing the cross border cases to the respective European Union country court, please feel free to reach us.