#62024CJ0198EU Court clarifies when creditors can freeze bank accounts across borders
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
The judgment clarifies when a creditor can ask for a European Account Preservation Order to freeze a debtor’s bank account before enforcement becomes harder. The Court says the risk does not have to come only from the debtor hiding or moving assets. It can also come from legal barriers in the debtor’s home country that would make a future judgment difficult to enforce. This matters for cross-border claims, especially against companies based in Member States with rules that block recognition or enforcement of certain foreign judgments. Creditors may be able to point to those barriers as evidence of urgency when seeking an account freeze.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.
Key Changes
- Confirms that urgency for a European Account Preservation Order can be based on more than past debtor conduct.
- Allows courts to consider legal barriers in the debtor’s Member State when assessing enforcement risk.
- Gives creditors in cross-border disputes a clearer route to seek account freezes where future enforcement may be blocked or seriously delayed.
Obligations
What this law requires
For European Account Preservation Order applications under Regulation (EU) No 655/2014 Article 7(1), urgency may be established where there is a real risk that, without the preservation order, later enforcement of the creditor’s claim will be impeded or made substantially more difficult.
The real risk required by Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 655/2014 does not have to arise only from the debtor hiding, moving, or dissipating assets; courts may also consider legal obstacles to enforcement in the debtor’s Member State of domicile.
A creditor may rely on national rules in the debtor’s Member State that make actions inadmissible or require refusal of recognition or enforcement of certain foreign judgments as evidence that enforcement would be impeded or substantially more difficult.
Courts considering an account preservation order must assess the circumstances relied on by the creditor, including past actions of the debtor and obstacles to enforcement in the debtor’s Member State, when determining whether the Article 7(1) urgency condition is met.