Toolkit on the European Account Preservation Order procedure: Scope of application
1. Substantive scope (article 2)
This Regulation applies to pecuniary claims in civil and commercial matters in cross-border cases.
Are excluded from the scope of the regulation:
- Matrimonial relationship;
- Successions;
- Revenue, customs or administrative matters or to the liability of the State;
- Bankruptcy proceedings, social security, arbitration.
The Regulation also does not apply to bank accounts which are immune from seizure under the law of the Member State in which the account is maintained nor to accounts maintained in connection with the operation of any system as defined in point (a) of Article 2 of Directive 98/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and to bank accounts held by or with central banks when acting in their capacity as monetary authorities.
2. Geographical scope (article 3)
2.1. Notion of cross-border dimension
The procedure applies only to matters having cross-border implications.
Article 3 defines cross-border litigation as a case in which the bank account or accounts to be preserved by the Preservation Order are maintained in a Member State other than:
- The Member State of the court seized of the application for the Preservation Order pursuant to Article 6; or;
- The Member State in which the creditor is domiciled.
2.2. Relevant moment for determining whether a case is a cross-border case
Article 3.2 of the Regulation specifies that the date on which the application for the Preservation Order is lodged with the court having jurisdiction to issue the Preservation Order is the relevant moment to determine whether litigation is or not a cross-border case.
