A German manufacturer is owed money by a French distributor. An American software company has unpaid invoices from clients in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. A British engineering firm needs to recover debts across four EU member states simultaneously. Each scenario involves the same goal — getting paid — and completely different legal processes for achieving it.
Europe's 27 EU member states each maintain their own civil procedure codes, enforcement mechanisms, and commercial debt collection practices. The EU has built some harmonising tools — the European Payment Order, the European Enforcement Order — but the reality on the ground remains fragmented. Collecting a debt in Spain is a materially different process from collecting in Germany, France, or Italy.
How European Debt Collection Varies by Country
Spain: fast-track monitorio, slow on enforcement. Spain's monitorio payment order is one of Europe's most efficient initial procedures — approximately 20 days for uncontested claims. Where Spain lags is enforcement of contested judgments, which can take 6–18 months. The amicable phase is particularly important in Spain because resolving before litigation avoids the enforcement timeline entirely. Spanish debt recovery law favours creditors with solid documentation.
Germany: Mahnverfahren efficiency. Germany's Mahnverfahren (dunning procedure) is famously efficient — automated, low-cost, and fast. However, it only works for undisputed debts. The moment a debtor objects, the case enters standard civil proceedings, which are thorough but slow. German courts are precise and procedurally rigorous.
France: injonction de payer with teeth. France's payment order procedure is similar in concept to Spain's monitorio but operates within a different judicial culture. French courts are generally faster on enforcement than Spanish courts, and the huissier de justice (judicial officer) system provides efficient asset seizure mechanisms that creditors in other jurisdictions envy.
Italy: decreto ingiuntivo and patience. Italy's payment order is effective on paper, but the Italian court system's well-documented processing delays mean that contested cases can take years. This makes the amicable phase even more critical than in Spain — and that's saying something.
EU Cross-Border Tools: Theory vs. Reality
European Payment Order (EPO). This is the most practical EU-wide collection tool. It applies to undisputed cross-border claims, can be filed in the creditor's home country, and produces an enforceable order across all EU member states. The limitation: if the debtor contests within 30 days, the EPO converts to ordinary proceedings in the debtor's country, which eliminates the efficiency advantage entirely.
European Account Preservation Order (EAPO). This allows creditors to freeze a debtor's bank accounts across EU borders before or during proceedings. In theory, it's powerful. In practice, you need to know which bank the debtor uses, and the order's effectiveness varies significantly by member state.
Why Local Agents Outperform EU Instruments
The fastest route to recovering a European commercial debt usually isn't an EU instrument — it's a competent local agent in the debtor's country. An agency based in Spain can resolve most amicable cases faster than the EPO process takes to initiate. For contested debts, local knowledge of the court system, enforcement mechanisms, and debtor culture makes the difference between recovery and a multi-year exercise in procedural tourism.
EU instruments work best as backup: you file the EPO while your local agent pursues amicable resolution. If the agent succeeds, you withdraw the filing. If not, you already have a legal process underway.
FAQ
Should I use the European Payment Order or go straight to the Spanish courts?
For debts owed by Spanish companies, the national monitorio procedure is usually faster and more practical than the EPO. The EPO makes more sense when you're collecting from multiple EU countries simultaneously and want a single procedural framework. For a single Spanish debtor, go local.
Can a single agency handle debt collection across all of Europe?
Agencies with established networks across European jurisdictions can coordinate multi-country recovery, but the actual collection work is always done by local agents in each country. What matters is that the coordinating agency has genuine operational relationships — not just a logo on a website — in the countries where your debtors are based.
María Solé
💥 Madrid-based Legal Counsel / Spanish Commercial Law & Cross-Border Enforcement Specialist
