Hi,

it’s Monday so we’ll have breakfast together. For a good start: sit comfortably, enjoy your espresso and stay informed on the latest legal news.

Today I’m talking about the Credit recovery in Europe.

Regarding collection of commercial receivables with Law 117 of 2019, the Italian Government has been delegated the task of transposing European directives and implementing other acts of the European Union. In particular, the delegation concerns the adaptation of national legislation to the provisions of Regulation (EU) No. 655/2014, which establishes a procedure for the European Account Preservation Order in order to facilitate cross-border debt recovery in civil and commercial matters.

The European Regulation entered into force as early as 2017 and is directly applicable in all European countries, and with the incoming regulatory measures it will be possible to make full use of it also in Italy.

Other uniform European instruments, such as the European injunctive order Regulation 1896/2006, are already existing but the European Account Preservation Order has features which allow it to be more effective.

First of all because a positive bank account balance belongs to that category of assets which the debtor can easily hide and therefore the speed and surprise factor is essential: the national court to which the order is requested must decide within 5 / 10 days and the debtor is not informed of the application for the preservation order, nor is he summoned to court before the order is issued.

This instrument may be used if the creditor is domiciled in a Member State other than the Member State where the bank account to be seized is held and the Member State of the court handling the application for an Account Preservation Order is other than the Member State where the bank account is held.

Making it easier to recover and pay trade debts is a very decisive element in increasing trade within the European Union, and the European Account Preservation Order should therefore be known and used by all, lawyers and companies operating internationally.