At European level, two ways exist to seek enforcement abroad of a judgment. A credit or seeking enforcement abroad of a judgment can choose either to obtain a declaration of enforceability in the Member State whereenforcementissought, or to obtain a EuropeanEnforcementOrder in the Member State where the judgmentisissued, in accordance withRegulation (EC) No 805/2004. This Memo provides information about bothprocedures.
At European level, two waysexist to seek enforcement abroad of a judgment. A creditorseekingenforcementabroad of a judgmentcanchoose:
- Either to obtain a declaration of enforceability in the Member State whereenforcementissought, pursuant to the exequatur procedure laid down in Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters («Brussels I») ;
- Or to obtain a EuropeanEnforcementOrder in the Member State where the judgmentisissued, in accordance withRegulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the EuropeanParliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a EuropeanEnforcementOrder for uncontested claims. This instrument allows the free movement of judgments : itis no longer necessary to use an intermediateprocedure in the Member State of enforcement.
When a creditormakeshischoicebetween the twodifferentways to seekenforcementabroad, heshouldconsiderthat the EuropeanEnforcementOrderenableshim to obtain quick and efficient enforcementwithoutinvolving the courts in the Member State of enforcementin formalitieswhich are connectedwith the declaration of enforceabilitypursuant to the exequatur procedureunderRegulation (EC) No 44/2001. On the other hand, he must beawarethat a EuropeanEnforcementOrdercanonlybeobtained for uncontested claims and thatsuchorderwillonlybegranted if certain conditions are fulfilled.
EJE Websiteoffers information relevant to the implementation of these instruments:
- To enforce a judgment in anotherMember State in accordance with Brussels I EC Regulation (or how to obtain a declaration of enforceability in anotherMember State):
in France 
[1]
in Belgium [2]
in Luxembourg [3]
in Italy [4]
in Scotland [5]
in Poland [6]
in Hungary [7]
- To obtain a EuropeanEnforcementOrder :
- Prerequisite:consult the practice guide the European Commission for the application of the Regulation on the EuropeanEnforcementOrder (http://ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/publications/docs/guide_european_enforc... [8] );
- This practice guide isavailable in all languages of the European Union on the EuropeanJudicial Network website : http://ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/publications/publications_en.htm [9]