AG Köln; 2019-01-16; 322 F 210/18
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:AGK:2019:0116.322F210.18.00
Date: 2019-01-16
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82019DE0116(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The case concerns an application opposing enforcement by the father (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’), resident in Germany, against his minor daughter (hereinafter ‘the defendant’), resident in Poland. The defendant applied to the Amtsgericht Köln (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 (1) for recognition and enforcement of a Polish maintenance order in Germany, by which the plaintiff was obliged by the Krakow District Court to pay for the maintenance for the defendant.
The Court of First Instance held that the enforcement clause should be affixed to the Polish order. Enforcement proceedings were then initiated against the plaintiff on the defendant’s request as a result of the Polish order in conjunction with the order made at first instance. Subsequently, the plaintiff put forward his application opposing enforcement, claiming that the defendant’s maintenance claim had already been fulfilled by payment.
Consequently, the Court of First Instance stayed proceedings in order to refer the following questions to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 267(2) of the TFEU (2).
1. Does an application opposing enforcement made pursuant to Paragraph 767 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) (3) against a foreign maintenance order constitute a matter relating to maintenance within the meaning of Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009? 2. If not, does an application opposing enforcement made pursuant to Paragraph 767 ZPO against a foreign maintenance order constitute proceedings concerned with the enforcement of orders within the meaning of Article 24(5) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (4)?
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations.
(2) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
(3) Zivilprozessordnung (ZPO).
(4) Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.