European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council creating a European order for payment procedure (7535/3/2006 - C6-0227/2006 - 2004/0055(COD))
Date: 2006-10-25
Institutions: Committee on Legal Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: civil procedure, civil proceedings, claim, drafting of EU law, injunction

20.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 313 E/165

TEXTS ADOPTED

Wednesday 25 October 2006

P6_TA(2006)0439

Peace process in Spain

European Parliament resolution on the peace process in Spain

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

1.
Endorses the statement by the European Council of 23 and 24 March 2006, under the Austrian
Presidency, that ‘the European Council welcomed the reports of the President of the Spanish Government
on the announcement of a permanent ceasefire made by the terrorist group ETA’;

2.
Supports the statement on 22 March 2006 by the President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell,
to the effect that ‘this is good news for Spanish society and the whole of Europe, which shows that terror-
ism can be fought by the force of democracy; this is a time to show calmness and caution, a time to
remember the many victims of terrorism, a time for hope, for all democratic political forces to join
together’;

3.

4.

5.

Calls on the Council and the Commission to take appropriate action;

Condemns violence as being morally unacceptable and absolutely incompatible with democracy;

Expresses its solidarity with the victims of terrorism;

Supports the fight against terrorism and the peace initiative in the Basque Country undertaken by the

6.
Spanish democratic institutions within the framework of their exclusive competences;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments

7.
of the Member States.

P6_TA(2006)0440

European order for payment procedure ***II

European Parliament
legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a
regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council creating a European order for payment
procedure (7535/3/2006 — C6-0227/2006 — 2004/0055(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Council common position (7535/3/2006 — C6-0227/2006),

— having regard to its position at first reading (1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the

Council (COM(2004)0173) (2),

— having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to Rule 62 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the recommendation for second reading of

the Committee on Legal Affairs

(A6-0316/2006),

(1) Texts Adopted, 13.12.2005, P6_TA(2005)0499.
(2) Not yet published in OJ.

C 313 E/166

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.12.2006

Wednesday 25 October 2006

1.

2.

Approves the common position as amended;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

P6_TC2-COD(2004)0055

Position of the European Parliament adopted at second reading on 25 October 2006 with a view
to the adoption of Regulation (EC) No … /2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council
creating a European order for payment procedure

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 61(c) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

The Community has set itself the objective of maintaining and developing an area of freedom, secur-
ity and justice in which the free movement of persons is ensured. For the gradual establishment of
such an area, the Community is to adopt, inter alia, measures in the field of judicial cooperation in
civil matters having cross-border implications and needed for the proper functioning of the internal
market.

According to Article 65(c) of the Treaty, these measures are to include measures eliminating obstacles
to the good functioning of civil proceedings, if necessary by promoting the compatibility of the rules
on civil procedure applicable in the Member States.

The European Council meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999 invited the Council and the
Commission to prepare new legislation on issues that are instrumental to smooth judicial coopera-
tion and to enhanced access to law and specifically made reference, in that context, to orders for
money payment.

On 30 November 2000, the Council adopted a joint Commission and Council programme of mea-
sures for implementation of the principle of mutual recognition of decisions in civil and commercial
matters (3). The programme envisages the possibility of a specific, uniform or harmonised procedure
laid down within the Community to obtain a judicial decision in specific areas including that of
uncontested claims. This was taken forward by the Hague Programme, adopted by the European
Council on 5 November 2004, which called for work to be actively pursued on the European order
for payment.

The Commission adopted a Green Paper on a European order for payment procedure and on mea-
sures to simplify and speed up small claims litigation on 20 December 2002. The Green Paper
launched consultations on the possible objectives and features of a uniform or harmonised European
procedure for the recovery of uncontested claims.

The swift and efficient recovery of outstanding debts over which no legal controversy exists is of
paramount importance for economic operators in the European Union, as late payments constitute
a major reason for insolvency threatening the survival of businesses, particularly small and medium-
sized enterprises, and resulting in numerous job losses.

(1) OJ C 221, 8.9.2005, p. 77.
(2) Position of the European Parliament of 13 December 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council
Common Position of 30 June 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Position of the European Parlia-
ment of 25 October 2006.
(3) OJ C 12, 15.1.2001, p. 1.