Cross-border Debt Recovery Blog
by Marco Sposini
Laywer, Milan Bar Association
Worldwide debt recovery news
The Court of Justice on Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims
27 November 2025
The Court of Justice of the European Union, by judgment ECLI:EU:C:2025:923, dated 27 November 2025, in Case C‑643/24 – in proceedings between the company Manuel Costa Filhos Lda., whose registered office is in Vizela (Portugal), and the company OÜ Wine Port of Paldiski, whose registered office is in Tallinn (Estonia), concerning the enforcement in Portugal of a judgment handed down and certified as a European Enforcement Order in Estonia – ruled that Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims must be interpreted as precluding legislation of the Member State of enforcement which enables the judgment debtor, in the context of the enforcement of a court decision delivered and certified as a European Enforcement Order, to oppose that enforcement on the ground that, during the proceedings which led to the delivery of that decision, the document instituting the proceedings was served on the judgment debtor by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, without it being written in, or accompanied by a translation into, either a language which that party understands or the official language of the Member State of enforcement or, as the case may be, one of the official languages of the place where service of that document is to be effected, and without it being accompanied by the standard form set out in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters, which enables that party to be informed of his or her right to refuse to accept the document to be served.
The text is available here