European Payment Order – Procedure
Conducting the procedure under the European Payment Order requires, most importantly, the filing of a legal action in accordance with provisions of the Civil Procedure Rules and of the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council No. 1896/2006 from the 12 December 2006.
The legal action may concern all civil and commercial matters, except for:
treasury, duty or administrative cases,
claims against the State,
cases concerning monetary rights stemming from marital relations, wills and successions,
bankruptcy, liquidation, relationships linked to companies insolvency,
social security,
claims resulting from extra-contractual obligations, unless they are the subject of an agreement between the parties or the debt has been acknowledged, or they concern marked debts stemming from co-ownership of property.
Moreover, in order to be able to file an action for issuance of the European Payment Order, the uncontested monetary claim must be exigible on the day the action is filed.
Interest can only be claimed up until the judgment day.
The defendant is not being informed in any way that the proceedings have been started until the European Payment Order is actually issued. If all conditions are met, the court – usually within 30 days from the day when the legal action was filed – issues the European Payment Order.
The defendant has the right to raise objections with regard to the European Payment Order within 30 days from the day when it was delivered to him. Raising objections results in a continuation of the proceedings in the applicable Polish court by which the European Payment Order was issued.
If no objections are raised (which is what usually happens), the Polish court declares enforceability of the European Payment Order, which renders it recognized and enforceable in other EU Member States.
The subsequent step is to direct a motion for debt recovery to the relevant debt collector.