Santaló Goris on the European Account Preservation Order: Book and Roundtable
The procedure for obtaining a European Account Preservation Order (EAPO) pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 655/2014 is the most recent of the uniform European procedures adopted by the EU. Its introduction followed the establishment of the European Small Claims Procedure under Regulation (EU) No 861/2007 and the procedure for a European Order for Payment in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006. Unlike the latter texts, the EAPO Regulaton contemplates a provisional measure allowing the attachment of the debtor’s bank accounts.
As scholars and practitioners working in this area know, the EAPO Regulaton leaves a number of aspects to national procedural rules. Depending on the circumstances, this occurs where the Regulation refers to the law of the forum and where the provisions of the Regulation simply fail to address certain aspects of the procedure. As a result, the procedure varies, to some extent, from one Member State to another. Additionally, for this reason, several details concerning the way in which the EAPO Regulation is applied in a specific jurisdiction may not not be immediately visible to interested parties or practitioners in other countries.
Various EU studies and publications looked into the operation of the EAPO Regulation, These include the deliverables of the IC2BE project (Informed Choices in Cross-Border Enforcement), which resulted in an insightful publication edited by Jan von Hein and Thalia Kruger, and the EFFORTS project (Towards more Effective Enforcement of Claims in Civil and Commercial Matters within the EU), focused national implementation and domestic case law. The Regulation also formed the object of various commentaries, such as those edited by Gilles Cuniberti and Sara Migliorini (here), Elena D’Alessandro and Fernando Gascón Inchausti (here), and by Nicolas Kyriakides, Heikki A. Huhtamäki and Nicholas Mouttotos (here), just to name those in English.
The latest publication on the EAPO Regulation is a book by Carlos Santaló Goris (Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Luxembourg) entitled The Application of the European Account Preservation Order in Germany, Luxembourg and Spain. A Comparative – Empirical Analysis.
The book is based on the author’s PhD and explores in great detail the integration and application of the EAPO within the domestic civil procedural system of three Member States: Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain.
The work, carried out with attention to detail, combines a theoretical perspective that examines how the procedure is embedded in the national procedural rules of the studied jurisdictions, while the empirical part focuses on the use and application of the European procedure by the national courts. These national pictures are then compared to highlight similarities and differences in the functioning of the EAPO across the studied Member States. Throughout the book, Carlos Santaló Goris also provides useful insights from the practices and data of other Member States than the main studied jurisdictions. This adds to the richness of the information available and the useful knowledge readers can find in one place.
Features and Interaction between the European and National Procedural Rules
Chapter 2 reflects not only on the process of adopting the EAPO, but also on its features and interaction with other European Private International instruments such as the Brussels I-bis and the Maintenance Regulation. The author looks into the way the EAPO was received within the national framework of the studied systems: the implementation legislation, other national instruments with a similar purpose of attaching the debtor’s bank account(s), where useful information can be found at the institutional level, how familiar various stakeholders are with the EAPO and where do they take their information about the EAPO. This type of information is helpful to understand certain practices and be aware of the institutional and legislative background. This initial part of the book is followed by a detailed analysis of the various stages of the EAPO procedure.
Chapters 2-8 offer a comparative perspective on the various steps and uses of the EAPO.
Looking at How EAPO Works and What it Can Offer
Chapter 3 focuses on the scope of the regulation and the areas included or excluded from its application. The analysis is a joy to go through because of the level of depth and detail that scholars and practitioners will find useful for their work in relation to the EAPO procedure. The author leaves no stone unturned; he considers scenarios, reflects on the practice of the national courts of the selected jurisdictions, the scholarly opinions and interpretations, the CJEU case law, and other national case law from other Member States (e.g Lithuania, Poland) that are of interest for the interpretation of a concept or provision, or simply adopts a different interpretation.
Chapter 4 of the book focuses on the application of the EAPO and contains a very comprehensive discussion concerning the concepts of periculum in mora and fumus boni iuris, how the courts approach it in Germany, Luxembourg and Spain, the evidence used for proving such situations, and the matter of security payment. This is music for practitioners’ ears, especially those seeking to use or apply these provisions. They can find in one place information that is scarce elsewhere or difficult to find.
Another aspect that is useful to know more about is the practice of the courts and in which circumstances the applications for EAPOs have led to successful requests to obtain information about the debtor’s bank accounts. Chapter 5, which discusses this part, is a rich source of information as to the position of the German, Luxembourgish and Spanish courts, but also of those in other Member States receiving such requests from the studied jurisdictions (e.g. Italy, France) or from other Member States (e.g. Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia). The chapter also contains interesting statistics on the EAPO requests received by information authorities, the storage of transferred information, and the notification to the debtor of the disclosure.
Chapter 6 is dedicated to the examination of the EAPO application by the court. The chapter meticulously goes through all the relevant aspects of the court assessment. This information is relevant to both the parties and the courts. Very useful analysis concerns the matter of establishing international jurisdiction and the practice of the courts in this respect, the relevant elements in the examination of the application, the payment of court fees, maintaining the inaudita aleta parte character of the order, the use of representation, the deadline for issuing a decision on the EAPO, the way the EAPO is issued based on the outcome of the procedure, and the appeal against the decision to reject the EAPO applications. The last part of the analysis is dedicated to the statistics of the use of the EAPO before national courts in the three jurisdictions.
Chapter 7 focuses on the next step of the procedure, the enforcement of the issue EAPO and its subsequent service on the debtor. The research carried out shows that most EAPO enforcement is carried out abroad, and this entails certain steps for the transmission of the order to the competent enforcement authority, which seem not always to be known in practice. This means that errors are registered at this stage. A good part of the chapter focuses on the implementation of the EAPO and the actual process of attachment of funds, the rank of the EAPO, the preservation of funds, exceeding and exempted amounts, the information of the debtor over the EAPO and attachment of his or her accounts, as well as the service procedure when this has to be notified abroad in another EU Member State or in a third country. These are all very useful matters to consider and be familiar with when using the EAPO.
The last part of the analysis – Chapter 8 – focuses on the specific mechanism the debtor has to challenge the order or ask for alternative security, and the liability of the creditor for damages the debtor might suffer. Here, valuable references to national case law can be found, as well as statistics related to such requests to revoke, terminate or limit the enforcement of such orders. The last part of the chapter is dedicated to the liability of the creditor and how this is handled through the lens of the German, Luxembourgish, and Spanish law.
The concluding part is a reflection on all the valuable research and insights the book brings to the forefront for anyone interested in understanding the EAPO, using the procedure, or applying it. It also contains relevant thoughts about policymaking paths and aspects that can be improved from a practice, organisational and/or legislative perspective.
Roundtable on The Application of the EAPO Regulation in Luxembourg: 7 Years On
On 27 November 2025, the University of Luxembourg will be hosting a hybrid event to discuss the work of Carlos Santaló Goris and the application of the EAPO in Luxembourg. The event will run from 5 to 7 pm CET, The following practitioners from Luxembourg will be aming the speakers: Ottavio Covolo (Senior Associate at NautaDulilh), Magedeline Mounir (Counsel at Arendt & Medernach), and Alexandra Thépaut (Jurist at Étude CALVO & Associés).
The event will be carried out in French. For those interested in attending in person or online, registration is available here.