Orders for payment in the EU: National procedures and the European Order for Payment

Briefing 04-12-2013

Every year, 1 million small businesses in the EU face problems with collecting cross-border debts, and as much as €600 million in cross-border claims are never satisfied. Domestic orders for payment, which exist in many Member States, are an effective tool for the collection of domestic debts, but often are not practical for cross-border use. Therefore, in order to supplement the existing national measures, the EU legislature has created a European Order for Payment procedure which is available for cross-border claims for money, especially arising from a contract.