It is applicable only to cross-border disputes (meaning disputes in which at least one of the parties has their domicile or habitual residence in a Member State of the European Union other than the Member State of the court before which it was brought).

An EOP that became enforceable in the issuing Member State is recognized and enforced in the other Member States without the necessity of a declaration of enforceability and without any possibility of contesting its recognition.

Applicable texts:

Regulation (EC) No. 1896/2006, 12 December 2006, JOUE No. L. 399, 12 December 2006. Regulation (EU) No. 963/2012 of the Commission, 4 October 2012, amending the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No. 1896/2006; JOUE No. L. 283, 16 October 16 2012.
Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 1424 through1425, created by Decree No. 2008-1346 of 17 December 2008, concerning the European procedures for an order to pay and the settlement of small disputes, JORF, 19 December 2008.

The EOP procedure can be used regardless of the amount of the claim. Its purpose is to recover monetary contractual claims, for cash and due on the date on which the request is made.

This procedure is optional, thus the plaintiff may pursue a claim by resort to the national procedure for an order to pay.

Choosing the competent jurisdiction

The choice must be made in conformity with your own case. The legal jurisdiction for issuance of an EOP is, in principle that of the Member State where the defendant has his domicile (it being understood that for legal entities and companies, the domicile is defined according to the place of their registered office, central administration or their principal establishment).

Thirteen other grounds for the court's jurisdiction are opened by the application form (see below Form A, box no. 3).

You want to initiate an EOP procedure before the competent Commercial court

I. Application

1. Complete the Form A application (the languages accepted are French, English, German, Italian, Spanish).

2. Deposit or mail the application to the registry office.

3. The jurisdiction shall examine whether the application seems to be founded as quickly as possible.

4. If the conditions relating to the contents of the application are not met, the court puts the plaintiff in the position of completing or correcting the application (except in the case of an application that is manifestly unfounded or inadmissible). The plaintiff shall respond within the time limit fixed by the court by using the Form C

II. Dismissal of the application or issuance of the EOP

1. in the case of dismissal, the claimant is informed of its bases, it being understood that this dismissal is not subject to appeal (the claimant may pursue the claim by means of a new EOP application or any other procedure provided by French law),

or

2. if the conditions are met, the court shall issue the EOP within a period of 30 days from the date when the application was filed.

III. Notification of the EOP to the defendant(s)

1. A certified complying copy of the application form and the decision is provided by notice to each of the defendants, at the initiative of the claimant. The Form F for opposition to the EOP must be annexed to the notification instrument. This instrument must indicate the court before which the opposition must be made, the time limit granted and the forms in which it must be made

or

2. if the notification is made in person to the defendant, the court bailiff must verbally bring to his knowledge the EOP form information deemed important as well as the information contained in No. 1 above.

IV. Opposition or enforceable EOP

1. The defendant may instate an opposition to the EOP with the original jurisdiction by means of a Form F

2. The opposition is instated at the registry office either by declaration against receipt or by registered mail, within a period of 30 days from the date of notification or the announcement of the EOP to the defendant.

Or

3. When no opposition has been filed within the set time limit, the court clerk shall declare the EOP enforceable and append the enforcement provision to the EOP.

4. The jurisdiction shall send the enforceable EOP to the claimant.

V. Request for review

1. After a period of thirty days, the defendant has the right to request review of the EOP before the issuing court, only under the following circumstances, if:

• the EOP was notified or announced without allowing the defendant to timely prepare his defence;
• the defendant was prevented from opposing the claim due to force majeure or in extraordinary circumstances;
• it is clear that the EOP was wrongfully issued.

2. In case of rejection of the request for review, the EOP shall remain valid.

3. In the case of a justified review, the EOP shall be declared null and void.

VI. Execution

1. The claimant is required to provide to the authorities in charge of the enforcement in the implementing Member State a copy of the EOP with, if necessary, the translation of the EOP into the official language of the implementing Member State or into such language that this implementing Member State will have declared acceptable.

2. When the defendant has requested a review, the competent court of the implementing Member State may choose to:

• limit the enforcement procedure to precautionary measures;
• make enforcement conditional on the provision of such security as it shall determine;
• in exceptional circumstances, suspend the enforcement proceedings.

3. Upon application of the defendant, the enforcement may be refused by the competent court in the enforcing Member State if the EOP is incompatible with a decision rendered or an order issued previously in any Member State or in a third country when:

• the decision rendered or the previously issued order had been between the same parties in a dispute with the same cause of action and that
• the decision rendered or the previously issued order meets the conditions necessary for its recognition in the enforcing Member State, and that
• its incompatibility could not be invoked in the course of the judicial proceedings in the Member State of origin.

4. Enforcement shall also be denied if the defendant has paid the claimant the amount fixed in the EOP.

(N.B. : an EOP may in no case be the subject of a review on the merits in the Member State of enforcement)

Cost of proceedings

Before the Commercial court, the cost for the proceedings are advanced by the claimant and deposited at the registry office no later than fifteen days from the application.

Opposition is received free of charge by the court clerk. The latter then immediately invites the claimant, by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt, to deposit the opposition fees at the registry office within fifteen days of the date of the application.

The application fees for an European order for payment are 39.00 euros (cheques are to be made out to the concerned GREFFE DU TRIBUNAL DE COMMERCE).

1. On the European e-Justice portal, under the heading "Dynamic forms", select the country of jurisdiction before which you wish to initiate an EOP procedure.

2. Complete the Form A application for the relevant country, in its accepted language, and address it to the competent court according to the chosen means of communication.

3. The EOP procedure before a foreign jurisdiction is governed by a combination of Regulation (EC) No1896/2006 and the procedure of the relevant Member State.