The Application of the European Account Preservation Order in Germany, Luxembourg and Spain: A Comparative-Empirical Analysis

Regulation (EU) 655/2014, establishing a European Account Preservation Order (‘EAPO Regulation’), introduced the very cross-border interim measure at the European Union level. As its name indicates, it permits the direct cross-border attachment of funds in bank accounts. Furthermore, it contains a specific mechanism to search for the debtors’ bank accounts that does not exist in all EU-Member States. Although the EAPO is a self-standing procedure, it combines uniform standards with other aspects of the procedure that depend on national law.

This dissertation studies and compares the application of the EAPO Regulation in three jurisdictions: Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain. It aims to understand the incorporation of the EAPO procedure within a national civil procedural system and the impact national law has on the EAPO procedure as a whole. The comparative approach determines the different ways Member States apply the EAPO procedures. This comparative analysis follows both a theoretical and empirical approach. The empirical approach relies on qualitative and quantitative data on the functioning of the EAPO obtained from stakeholders, case law databases, and institutional statistical data. The empirical side of the research seeks to identify specific issues courts and practitioners encounter in real-life EAPO cases, and whether such issues are the same or different depending on the jurisdiction where the EAPO is applied.

Relying on the outcome of the comparative-empirical analysis, specific policy-making recommendations are designed and intended to improve the application of the EAPO at the EU and the national level.