The procedure was established by Council Regulation (EC) 805/2004 of 21 April 2004 and came into force on 21 October 2005.
The EEO can be only be used in civil or commercial matters[1] and specifically does not apply to the status or legal capacity of natural persons, rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship, wills and succession; bankruptcy, proceedings relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies or other legal persons, judicial arrangements, compositions and analogous proceedings; social security; arbitration.
However, Article 10 of Regulation 805/2004 requires that any application to rectify or withdraw a European Enforcement Order; whether upon any of the above bases or on any other basis; may only be made by application to the court of origin which made the European Enforcement Order Certificate (EEOC) in the first place – that is to say, any such application to withdraw or rectify an EEOC may only be made before the court of the State of Origin which originally made the EEOC.
The effect of these provisions and the intention, is to prevent judgment debtors challenging European Enforcement Orders in the State of Enforcement without first having recourse to the State of Origin where the EEOC was originally made.
An example of a failure to comply with minimum standards would be where the Court of Origin failed to tick all of the boxes demonstrating that service was properly effected on the judgment debtor.