Case C-215/11

Iwona Szyrocka

v

SiGer Technologie GmbH

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Okręgowy we Wrocławiu)

‛Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 — European order for payment procedure — Application for an order which does not comply with the formal requirements laid down by national law — Exhaustive nature of the requirements to be met by the application — Whether it is possible to claim the interest accrued up to the date of payment of the principal’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (First Chamber), 13 December 2012

Judicial cooperation in civil matters — European order for payment procedure — Regulation No 1896/2006 — Order for payment of interest — National court free to determine the way in which the order for payment form is to be completed in practice

Judicial cooperation in civil matters — European order for payment procedure — Regulation No 1896/2006 — Application for a European order for payment — Scope — Interest claimed from the date on which it fell due until the date on which the principal was paid — Lawfulness

Article 7 of Regulation No 1896/ creating a European order for payment procedure must be interpreted as governing exhaustively the requirements to be met by an application for a European order for payment. There is nothing in the wording of Article 7 to justify the conclusion that the Member States are free to impose additional requirements, existing under national law. Indeed, as is clear from Article 7(2)(c), (3), (5) and (6) of Regulation No 1896/2006, where that provision authorises Member States to apply national law to certain specific aspects of the requirements of an application for a European order for payment, it does so expressly. On the other hand, that provision does not contain any other express or implied reference providing general authorisation for the imposition of additional requirements which exist under the Member States’ domestic law. Moreover, the objective of Regulation No 1896/2006, which is, inter alia, to simplify, speed up and reduce the costs of litigation in cross-border cases concerning uncontested pecuniary claims, would be undermined if the Member States were able generally to impose in their national legislation additional requirements to be met by an application for a European order for payment. Such requirements would lead not only to the imposition of different conditions in the various Member States for such an application but also to an increase in the complexity, duration and costs of the European order for payment procedure. (see paras 27, 28, 30, 31, 36, operative part 1)

Pursuant to Article 25 of Regulation No 1896/2006 creating a European order for payment procedure and subject to the conditions laid down therein, the national court remains free to determine the amount of the court fees in accordance with rules laid down by domestic law, provided that those rules are no less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions and do not make it in practice impossible or excessively difficult to exercise the rights conferred by EU law. It follows that the national court remains free, in principle, to obtain information on the value of the subject-matter of the dispute in accordance with the rules laid down by its national law, inter alia by requesting the claimant to complete the application for a European payment order by indicating the value of the subject-matter of the dispute expressed in national currency, in order to enable the fee for issuing the application to be calculated, provided that the procedural requirements connected with the determination of the court fees lead neither to excessive prolongation of the European order for payment procedure nor to the rejection of the application for such an order. (see paras 33, 35, 36, operative part 1)

Articles 4 and 7(2)(c) of Regulation No 1896/2006 creating a European order for payment procedure must be interpreted as not precluding a claimant from demanding, in an application for a European order for payment, interest for the period from the date on which it falls due until the date of payment of the principal. First, the requirements that ‘pecuniary claims’ within the meaning of Article 4 of Regulation No 1896/2006 must be for a specific amount and have fallen due do not apply to interest. Second, Article 7(2)(c) of that regulation does not require the precise amount of interest claimed to be included in the application for an order for payment and nor does it specify the date up to which such interest may be demanded. Moreover, an interpretation of Article 7(2)(c) of Regulation No 1896/2006 to the effect that it is not possible to claim interest which has accrued up to the date of payment of the principal may increase the duration and complexity of the European order for payment procedure and add to the costs of such litigation and, as a consequence, would not meet the objective of the regulation, which is, inter alia, to introduce a simple, swift and effective mechanism for the recovery of uncontested pecuniary claims, and also to reduce the costs of such litigation. (see paras 40, 41, 42-44, 46-53, operative part 2)

See the text of the decision. (see para. 50)