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

• Published date: 31 July 2007
• Subject Matter: giustizia e affari interni,justicia y asuntos de interior,justice et affaires intérieures
• 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

02007R0861 — EN — 14.07.2017 — 003.001

---

This text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. The Union's institutions do not assume any liability for its contents. The authentic versions of the relevant acts, including their preambles, are those published in the Official Journal of the European Union and available in EUR-Lex. Those official texts are directly accessible through the links embedded in this document

►B REGULATION (EC) No 861/2007 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 July 2007 establishing a European Small Claims Procedure (OJ L 199 31.7.2007, p. 1)

Amended by:

		Official Journal
		No	page	date
M1	COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 517/2013 of 13 May 2013	L 158	1	10.6.2013
►M2	REGULATION (EU) 2015/2421 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 December 2015	L 341	1	24.12.2015
►M3	COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2017/1259 of 19 June 2017	L 182	1	13.7.2017

Corrected by:

C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 141, 5.6.2015, p. 118 (861/2007)

---

▼B

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

of 11 July 2007

establishing a European Small Claims Procedure

CHAPTER I

SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation establishes a European procedure for small claims (hereinafter referred to as the ‘European Small Claims Procedure’), intended to simplify and speed up litigation concerning small claims in cross-border cases, and to reduce costs. The European Small Claims Procedure shall be available to litigants as an alternative to the procedures existing under the laws of the Member States.

This Regulation also eliminates the intermediate proceedings necessary to enable recognition and enforcement, in other Member States, of judgments given in one Member State in the European Small Claims Procedure.

▼M2

Article 2

Scope

1. This Regulation shall apply, in cross-border cases as defined in Article 3, to civil and commercial matters, whatever the nature of the court or tribunal, where the value of a claim does not exceed EUR 5 000 at the time when the claim form is received by the court or tribunal with jurisdiction, excluding all interest, expenses and disbursements. It shall not extend, in particular, to revenue, customs or administrative matters or to the liability of the State for acts and omissions in the exercise of State authority (acta jure imperii).

2. This Regulation shall not apply to matters concerning:

(a) the status or legal capacity of natural persons;

(b) rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship or out of a relationship deemed by the law applicable to such relationship to have comparable effects to marriage;

(c) maintenance obligations arising from a family relationship, parentage, marriage or affinity;

(d) wills and succession, including maintenance obligations arising by reason of death;

(e) bankruptcy, proceedings relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies or other legal persons, judicial arrangements, compositions and analogous proceedings;

(f) social security;

(g) arbitration;

(h) employment law;

(i) tenancies of immovable property, with the exception of actions on monetary claims; or

(j) violations of privacy and of rights relating to personality, including defamation.

▼B

Article 3

Cross-border cases

1. For the purposes of this Regulation, a cross-border case is 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 or tribunal seised.

▼M2

2. Domicile shall be determined in accordance with Articles 62 and 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ).

3. The relevant moment for determining whether a case is a cross-border case is the date on which the claim form is received by the court or tribunal with jurisdiction.

▼B

CHAPTER II

THE EUROPEAN SMALL CLAIMS PROCEDURE

Article 4

Commencement of the Procedure

1. The claimant shall commence the European Small Claims Procedure by filling in standard claim Form A, as set out in Annex I, and lodging it with the court or tribunal with jurisdiction directly, by post or by any other means of communication, such as fax or e-mail, acceptable to the Member State in which the procedure is commenced. The claim form shall include a description of evidence supporting the claim and be accompanied, where appropriate, by any relevant supporting documents.

2. Member States shall inform the Commission which means of communication are acceptable to them. The Commission shall make such information publicly available.

3. Where a claim is outside the scope of this Regulation, the court or tribunal shall inform the claimant to that effect. Unless the claimant withdraws the claim, the court or tribunal shall proceed with it in accordance with the relevant procedural law applicable in the Member State in which the procedure is conducted.

4. Where the court or tribunal considers the information provided by the claimant to be inadequate or insufficiently clear or if the claim form is not filled in properly, it shall, unless the claim appears to be clearly unfounded or the application inadmissible, give the claimant the opportunity to complete or rectify the claim form or to supply supplementary information or documents or to withdraw the claim, within such period as it specifies. The court or tribunal shall use standard Form B, as set out in Annex II, for this purpose.

Where the claim appears to be clearly unfounded or the application inadmissible or where the claimant fails to complete or rectify the claim form within the time specified, the application shall be dismissed. ►M2 The court or tribunal shall inform the claimant of such dismissal and whether an appeal is available against such dismissal. ◄

▼M2

5. Member States shall ensure that the standard claim Form A is available at all courts and tribunals before which the European Small Claims Procedure can be commenced, and that it is accessible through relevant national websites.

▼B

Article 5

Conduct of the Procedure

▼M2

1. The European Small Claims Procedure shall be a written procedure.

1a. The court or tribunal shall hold an oral hearing only if it considers that it is not possible to give the judgment on the basis of the written evidence or if a party so requests. The court or tribunal may refuse such a request if it considers that, with regard to the circumstances of the case, an oral hearing is not necessary for the fair conduct of the proceedings. The reasons for refusal shall be given in writing. The refusal may not be contested separately from a challenge to the judgment itself.

▼B

2. After receiving the properly filled in claim form, the court or tribunal shall fill in Part I of the standard answer Form C, as set out in Annex III.

A copy of the claim form, and, where applicable, of the supporting documents, together with the answer form thus filled in, shall be served on the defendant in accordance with Article 13. These documents shall be dispatched within 14 days of receiving the properly filled in claim form.

3. The defendant shall submit his response within 30 days of service of the claim form and answer form, by filling in Part II of standard answer Form C, accompanied, where appropriate, by any relevant supporting documents, and returning it to the court or tribunal, or in any other appropriate way not using the answer form.

4. Within 14 days of receipt of the response from the defendant, the court or tribunal shall dispatch a copy thereof, together with any relevant supporting documents to the claimant.

5. If, in his response, the defendant claims that the value of a non-monetary claim exceeds the limit set out in Article 2(1), the court or tribunal shall decide within 30 days of dispatching the response to the claimant, whether the claim is within the scope of this Regulation. Such decision may not be contested separately.

6. Any counterclaim, to be submitted using standard Form A, and any relevant supporting documents shall be served on the claimant in accordance with Article 13. Those documents shall be dispatched within 14 days of receipt.

The claimant shall have 30 days from service to respond to any counterclaim.

7. If the counterclaim exceeds the limit set out in Article 2(1), the claim and counterclaim shall not proceed in the European Small Claims Procedure but shall be dealt with in accordance with the relevant procedural law applicable in the Member State in which the procedure is conducted.

Articles 2 and 4 as well as paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to counterclaims.

Article 6

Languages

1. The claim form, the response, any counterclaim, any response to a counterclaim and any description of relevant supporting documents shall be submitted in the language or one of the languages of the court or tribunal.

2. If any other document received by the court or tribunal is not in the language in which the proceedings are conducted, the court or tribunal may require a translation of that document only if the translation appears to be necessary for giving the judgment.

3. Where a party has refused to accept a document because it is not in either of the following languages:

(a) 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

(b) a language which the addressee understands,

the court or tribunal shall so inform the other party with a view to that party providing a translation of the document.

Article 7

Conclusion of the...