Provisional Account Preservation Measures in European Civil Procedure Law

Abstract

With the Regulations 1215/2012 (Brussels Ia Regulation) and 655/2014 (EAPO Regulation), the European legislator has created two new and very distinct instruments to facilitate cross-border debt recovery in civil and commercial matters. While the Brussels Ia Regulation provides for an easier recognition and enforcement of national interim measures in other EU Member States, the EAPO Regulation creates a single provisional and protective measure enabling creditors to prevent the transfer or withdrawal of the debtors' assets from any bank account located in the EU. This paper provides a comparative analysis of these European legal instruments by evaluating the rules on preconditions, legal remedies and the different effects of national interim measures that shall be recognised and enforced within the Brussels Ia regime and the new EAPO.

Keywords

• European Account Preservation
• Brussels Ia Regulation
• cross-border debt recovery
• provisional and protective measures
• recognition and enforcement of interim measures
• effects of a European Account Preservation Order