Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a European Small Claims Procedure

• Coming into Force: 01 January 2008,01 August 2007,01 January 2009
• End of Effective Date: 31 December 9999
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2007/861/oj
• Published date: 31 July 2007
• Date: 11 July 2007
• Official Gazette Publication: Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione europea, L 199, 31 luglio 2007,Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 199, 31 de julio de 2007,Journal officiel de l’Union européenne, L 199, 31 juillet 2007

31.7.2007 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 199/1

---

REGULATION (EC) No 861/2007 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 11 July 2007

establishing a European Small Claims Procedure

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 61(c) and Article 67 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1) The Community has set itself the objective of maintaining and developing an area of freedom, security and justice in which the free movement of persons is ensured. For the gradual establishment of such an area, the Community is to adopt, inter alia, measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications and needed for the proper functioning of the internal market.

(2) According to Article 65(c) of the Treaty, those measures are to include those eliminating obstacles to the good functioning of civil proceedings, if necessary by promoting the compatibility of the rules on civil procedure applicable in the Member States.

(3) In this respect, the Community has, among other measures, already adopted Council Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000 of 29 May 2000 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (3), Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (4), Council Decision 2001/470/EC of 28 May 2001 establishing a European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters (5), Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims (6) and Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure (7).

(4) The European Council meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999 invited the Council and the Commission to establish common procedural rules for simplified and accelerated cross-border litigation on small consumer and commercial claims.

(5) On 30 November 2000, the Council adopted a joint programme of the Commission and the Council of measures for the implementation of the principle of mutual recognition of decisions in civil and commercial matters (8). The programme refers to simplifying and speeding up the settlement of cross-border litigation on small claims. This was taken forward by the Hague Programme (9), adopted by the European Council on 5 November 2004, which called for work on small claims to be actively pursued.

(6) On 20 December 2002, the Commission adopted a Green Paper on a European order for payment procedure and on measures to simplify and speed up small claims litigation. The Green Paper launched a consultation on measures concerning the simplification and the speeding up of small claims litigation.

(7) Many Member States have introduced simplified civil procedures for small claims since costs, delays and complexities connected with litigation do not necessarily decrease proportionally with the value of the claim. The obstacles to obtaining a fast and inexpensive judgment are exacerbated in cross-border cases. It is therefore necessary to establish a European procedure for small claims (European Small Claims Procedure). The objective of such a procedure should be to facilitate access to justice. The distortion of competition within the internal market due to imbalances with regard to the functioning of the procedural means afforded to creditors in different Member States entails the need for Community legislation that guarantees a level playing-field for creditors and debtors throughout the European Union. It should be necessary to have regard to the principles of simplicity, speed and proportionality when setting the costs of dealing with a claim under the European Small Claims Procedure. It is appropriate that details of the costs to be charged be made public, and that the means of setting any such costs be transparent.

(8) The European Small Claims Procedure should simplify and speed up litigation concerning small claims in cross-border cases, whilst reducing costs, by offering an optional tool in addition to the possibilities existing under the laws of the Member States, which will remain unaffected. This Regulation should also make it simpler to obtain the recognition and enforcement of a judgment given in the European Small Claims Procedure in another Member State.

(9) This Regulation seeks to promote fundamental rights and takes into account, in particular, the principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The court or tribunal should respect the right to a fair trial and the principle of an adversarial process, in particular when deciding on the necessity of an oral hearing and on the means of taking evidence and the extent to which evidence is to be taken.

(10) For the purposes of facilitating calculation of the value of a claim, all interest, expenses and disbursements should be disregarded. This should affect neither the power of the court or tribunal to award these in its judgment nor the national rules on the calculation of interest.

(11) In order to facilitate the commencement of the European Small Claims Procedure, the claimant should make an application by filling in a standard claim form and lodging it with the court or tribunal. The claim form should be submitted only to a court or tribunal that has jurisdiction.

(12) The claim form should be accompanied, where appropriate, by any relevant supporting documents. However, this does not prevent the claimant from submitting, where appropriate, further evidence during the procedure. The same principle should apply to the response by the defendant.

(13) The concepts of ‘clearly unfounded’ in the context of the dismissal of a claim and of ‘inadmissible’ in the context of the dismissal of an application should be determined in accordance with national law.

(14) The European Small Claims Procedure should be a written procedure, unless an oral hearing is considered necessary by the court or tribunal or a party so requests. The court or tribunal may refuse such a request. Such refusal may not be contested separately.

(15) The parties should not be obliged to be represented by a lawyer or another legal professional.

(16) The concept of ‘counterclaim’ should be interpreted within the meaning of Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 as arising from the same contract or facts on which the original claim was based. Articles 2 and 4 as well as Article 5(3), (4) and (5) should apply, mutatis mutandis, to counterclaims.

(17) In cases where the defendant invokes a right of set-off during the proceedings, such claim should not constitute a counterclaim for the purposes of this Regulation. Therefore, the defendant should not be obliged to use standard Form A, as set out in Annex I, for invoking such a right.

(18) The Member State addressed for the purposes of the application of Article 6 is the Member State where service is to be effected or to where the document is to be dispatched. In order to reduce costs and delays, documents should be served on the parties primarily by postal service attested by an acknowledgment of receipt, including the date of receipt.

(19) A party may refuse to accept a document at the time of service or by returning the document within one week if it is not written in, or accompanied by a translation into, the official language of the Member State addressed (or, if there are several official languages in that Member State, the official language or one of the official languages of the place where service is to be effected or to where the document is to be dispatched) or a language which the addressee understands.

(20) In the context of oral hearings and the taking of evidence, the Member States should encourage the use of modern communication technology subject to the national law of the Member State where the court or tribunal is situated. The court or tribunal should use the simplest and least costly method of taking evidence.

(21) The practical assistance to be made available to the parties should include technical information concerning the availability and the filling in of the forms.

(22) The information about procedural questions can also be given by the court or tribunal staff in accordance with national law.

(23) As the objective of this Regulation is to simplify and speed up litigation concerning small claims in cross-border cases, the court or tribunal should act as soon as possible even when this Regulation does not prescribe any time limit for a specific phase of the procedure.

(24) For the purposes of calculating time limits as provided for in this Regulation, Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71 of the Council of 3 June 1971 determining the rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits (10) should apply.

(25) In order to speed up the recovery of small claims, the judgment should be enforceable notwithstanding any possible appeal and without the condition of the provision of a security except as provided for in this Regulation.

(26) Any reference in this Regulation to an appeal should include any possible means of appeal available under national

...