Justice, consumers and gender equality

← Justice, consumers and gender equality

Service of document

Overall State of play:

Evaluation: Finalised;31.05.2018; part of the impact assessment: SWD (2018) 289
Commission proposal: Adopted; 31.05.2018 – COM (2018)379
Legal Act - Adopted, Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast),

State of play, main conclusions, outlook

Regulation No. (EC) 1393/2007 has proven to be a useful instrument in serving documents across borders in the EU. It provides for expedite channels and clear rules for transmitting documents from one MS to another, compared to the cooperation mechanisms contained in the Hague Convention, which the Regulation replaced. The Regulation establishes a fundamental component of judicial cooperation, access to justice and protection of the rights of defence. The Regulation regulates a key procedural issue necessary for the mutual recognition of judgments.

The Regulation has undergone detailed assessments over the past few years on its implementation in studies, in reports by the Commission and discussions in the European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters.

From these assessments, it was concluded that, notwithstanding its overall success, the Regulation needs to be modernised to take into account new technologies (e.g. electronic transmission of documents), to further promote the use of the more direct and cheaper methods of judicial assistance (such as the service by post) and to reinforce the right of the defence for parties with residence in another Member State.

In order to address these challenges, the Commission has proposed a legislative act on the modernisation of the instrument. To be able to provide pertinent and up-to date data the initiative, the Commission carried out an impact assessment accompanied by an evaluation.

Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast) became applicable partially 01.07.2022 and the part related to the decentralised IT-system will become applicable from 01.05.2025.

State of Play:

Finalised; part of the impact assessment: SWD (2018) 289; 31.05.2018

Scope:

Regulation No. (EC) 1393/2007

Evaluation findings:

The results of the ex post evaluation of Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 showed that the implementation of the Regulation has helped to improve the effectiveness of the service of documents. Nevertheless, according to some of the evidence gathered, the Regulation still results in some problems, such as delays or confusion for the parties involved. Therefore, the Regulation has not fully achieved its general, specific and operational objectives.

State of Play:

Adopted – COM (2018) 378; 31.05.2018

Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

The proposal aims to improve the smooth functioning of the area of freedom, security and justice, and of the internal market, by increasing the efficiency and speed of the cross-border service of documents. It will achieve this by adapting Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 to technical developments, exploiting the advantages of electronic service digitalisation and increasing the efficiency of existing methods of service. The initiative reinforces legal certainty and thereby helps to avoid delays and undue costs for citizens, businesses and public administrations and addresses shortcomings in the protection of parties’ procedural rights.

Estimated savings and benefits

The envisaged electronic transmission of documents would ensure a safe electronic communication and exchange of documents between the users of the system, provide for automatic recording of all steps of the workflow and ensure the genuine identity of the participants. The impact assessment accompanying the proposal (SWD(2018) 287) estimates that the introduction of electronic transmission of documents could amount to potential savings of about € 30-70 million per year across the EU.

In addition, increased confidence of courts and citizens in using cheaper alternative methods of serving documents across borders may reduce costs linked to this type of judicial assistance significantly. Currently, six Member States charge fees for the service of incoming documents in a mandatory manner and at least another five in an optional manner. Costs range from € 30 to € 150 per service. By contrast, the cost of cross-border service of documents by post (by way of registered letters with acknowledgment of receipt) is between € 5 and € 20.

By amending the provisions on the procedural rights of the parties (Article 8 and Article 19 of the Regulation), the proposal also addresses the issue of the insufficient protection of the defendant against the effects of default judgments. It can be expected that these amendments will reduce the number of instances in which default judgments are issued against defendants residing in a Member State, who did not learn of the proceedings initiated against them abroad. According to the estimates of the impact assessment, decreasing the volume of default judgments by 10% in the EU would result in saving up €480 million per year, as a consequence that citizens had to spend less on judicial reliefs.

State of Play:

Adopted, Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast)
The regulation became applicable partially as of 01.07.2022 and the part related to the decentralised IT-system will become applicable from 01.05.2025