Introduction
According to Article 1 ESCP, the Regulation aims to simplify and speed up litigation concerning small claims in cross-border cases, and to reduce costs. It is available as an alternative to national (small claims) procedures. Advantages of the ESCP are that it provides a uniform procedure, conducted through standard forms. Additionally, the resulting judgment is automatically enforceable in other EU Member States.
On the contrary, judgments obtained in national procedures in civil and commercial matters require a declaration of enforceability (exequatur) under the Brussels I Regulation, or – for uncontested claims – certification in the Member State of origin under the European Enforcement Order Regulation (EEO).
There is another European procedure available that automatically results in a judgment that is enforceable in the other Member States: the European Order for Payment Procedure (EOP) However, that procedure is limited to uncontested claims. The ESCP provides an adversarial procedure for, in principle, contested claims.
