The European order for payment procedure is an alternative way for the claimant to pursue his claim in cross-border civil and commercial matters.

The procedure is governed in the first place by Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure (hereinafter: EuOPR), and in procedural matters not expressly governed by the EuOPR, the national law shall be applied – in Hungary Act L of 2009 on the order for payment procedure (hereinafter: Fmhtv.) and Act III of 1952 on the Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter: Pp.).

In Hungary, the procedure falls within the competence of civil law notaries. Applications shall be submitted only in paper form and only to the civil law notary, who produces the documents in paper form and makes them served to the parties. Application can be submitted to any civil law notary.

Scope of application

The EuOPR applies to pecuniary claims for a specific amount that have fallen due arising out of cross-border civil and commercial matters. The EuOPR shall not apply to claims for acts and omissions in the exercise of State authority, to rights in property arising out of a matrimonial relationship, wills and succession, and – with certain exceptions – to claims arising from non-contractual obligations. Contrary to the Hungarian payment order procedure, claims falling under the scope of EuOPR can be collected regardless of the value of the claim.

A case is of cross-border nature if at least one of the parties is domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than the Member State of the court (in Hungary: civil law notary) seized. European order for payment procedure cannot be initiated in Denmark.

In Hungary, the procedure can be initiated as follows:

claimant	defendant	EOP in Hungary
Hungarian	Hungarian	cannot be initiated
from third country	Hungarian	cannot be initiated (but can be initiated in a Member State other than Hungary!)
from EU Member State	Hungarian	can be initiated
Hungarian	from EU Member State	can be initiated
from EU Member State	from EU Member State	can be initiated
from third country	from EU Member State	can be initiated
from EU Member State	from third country	can be initiated
Hungarian	from third country	cannot be initiated (but can be initiated in a Member State other than Hungary!)
from third country	from third country	cannot be initiated

The rules on jurisdiction are mainly governed by Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, but Council Regulation (EC) 4/2009, international agreements and the law of the court seized (lex fori, in case the defendant is domiciled in a third state) is also applicable. If the claimant collects a claim arising out of a consumer contract and the defendant is the consumer, jurisdiction is determined by Article 6 (2) of EuOPR which provides that only the courts in the Member State in which the defendant is domiciled shall have jurisdiction.

The procedure

The European order for payment procedure is initiated by an application. The application shall be submitted using standard form “A” as set out in Annex I of EuOPR. The standard form “A” is available in every official language of the European Union and is accessible on the e-justice portal: https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_european_payment_order_forms-156-hu.do.

The application must be filled in in the language or one of the languages accepted by the court (in Hungary: the civil law notary) to be seized. In case the application is submitted to a Hungarian civil law notary, the application must be filled in in Hungarian and a copy of the application filled in in the official language of the Member State where the defendant is domiciled or habitually resident should also be submitted, since the civil law notary has to send a copy of the application to the defendant as well (the translation can be arranged through the e-justice portal). It is not necessary to attach any evidence or attachment to the application; however the evidence supporting the claim shall be described in the application.

There is no right of appeal against the rejection of the application.

If the examination of the application does not result in rejection, the civil law notary issues, as soon as possible and normally within 30 days of the lodging of the application, a European order for payment using standard form “E” as set out in Annex V of EuOPR, together with a copy of the application.

The European order for payment is served according to the rules of Fmhtv. and Pp. in Hungary and according to Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 in other Member States.

If the defendant submits a statement of opposition, the proceedings continue before the competent courts of the Member State of origin – in case of a European order for payment issued by a Hungarian civil law notary, before the competent Hungarian court.

If the defendant doesn’t submit a statement of opposition, the European order for payment becomes enforceable which is declared by the civil law notary using standard form “G”.

Enforcement in Hungary or in another state

Enforcement of an enforceable European order for payment can be applied for in the Member State where the defendant has enforceable assets. Enforcement procedures are governed by the law of the Member State of enforcement.

If enforcement is applied for in another Member State, the European order for payment declared enforceable in Hungary using standard form “G” can be used directly – i.e. without the European order for payment being declared enforceable in that Member State – to apply for enforcement at the competent court in the other Member State (with the exception of Denmark).

Enforcement can be applied for in other states as follows:

country		enforcement can be applied	legal base
EU Member State (except Denmark)		directly	Article 19 EuOPR
Denmark	procedure initiated before 10 January 2015	after the exequatur procedure	Regulation (EC) 44/2001
	procedure initiated after 10 January 2015	directly	Regulation (EU) 1215/2012
Iceland, Norway, Switzerland		after the exequatur procedure	Lugano Convention
any other third country		after recognition and exequatur procedure	international agreement, law of the third country

If enforcement is applied for in Hungary on the basis of a European order for payment issued in Hungary, the rules of Act LIII of 1994 on judicial enforcement shall be applied and the civil law notary issuing the European payment order issues a certificate of enforcement.

Fee

Procedural fee must be paid for the civil law notary. For further information on the fee please refer to, A közjegyzői díjszabás A közjegyzői díjszabás (A közjegyzőről > A közjegyzői tevékenység > A közjegyzői díjszabás) .