Diversity of Enforcement Titles in the EU

This book examines the diversity of enforcement titles in cross-border debt collection, focusing on the types, structure, contents and effects of enforcement titles. It offers a comprehensive overview of judgments, court settlements and authentic instruments from a variety of EU Member States. It primarily employs the comparative legal method to draw conclusions on commonalities and differences, as well as prospects for future approximation of laws.

The premise of the research is rooted in the finding that national authorities of EU Member States continue to treat enforcement titles from other Member States with reservations and mistrust despite being committed to the principle of mutual trust. The book identifies the issues of mistrust stemming from the diversity of enforcement titles. The research is based on a rich database of national reports compiled during the course of several large-scale EU Justice Projects.

Divided into five parts, the book offers first some general considerations and presents attempts at a systemisation of enforcement titles. The following parts are then devoted to more specialised approaches toward the different types of enforcement titles. However, the connecting line between all parts of the book are the considerations of cross-border enforcement in the EU (and in a limited manner with third States). Herein, research also addresses critical factors regarding the free movement of judgments in the EU, including those of lis pendens and related actions.

This book provides a valuable contribution to the Theory of European Civil Procedure. Since it is based on a comparative approach and employs both empirical and doctrinal viewpoints, it should also greatly benefit practitioners involved in cross-border dispute resolution. Overall, the findings should be of interest to a broad audience, including policymakers, judges, practitioners and scholars.