A European order for payment declared enforceable is enforced in the other EU states except Denmark without any declaration of enforceability and without any possibility of opposing recognition. You produce to the enforcement authority a copy of the order together with the declaration of enforceability and, where necessary, a certified translation into a language accepted by the state of enforcement; Czechia accepts only Czech. The court of the state of enforcement refuses enforcement on the debtor’s application only exceptionally, for example where payment has been made or an earlier irreconcilable decision exists. The claim itself cannot be reviewed in the state of enforcement.
A Slovak court issued a European order for payment against a company in Brno, the debtor lodged no statement of opposition within the time limit and has not paid. The assets from which recovery is possible are in Czechia. At this point creditors often assume that the decision must first be “recognised” by a Czech court. That is not the case with a European order for payment, but the formal requirements must be met precisely, or enforcement will be delayed.
Declaration of enforceability in the state where the order was issued
The debtor has 30 days from service of the order to lodge a statement of opposition (Article 16(2)). If no statement of opposition reaches the court within that period, allowing an adequate time for it to arrive, the court without delay declares the order enforceable using Form G and sends it to the claimant (Article 18(1) and (3)). That copy is the basis of enforcement. It is therefore worth keeping track of when the order was served on the debtor. Where a European order for payment is issued by a Czech court, it must for instance be served into the addressee’s own hands and substitute service is excluded (Section 174b(1) of Act No. 99/1963 Coll.).
Recognition without further proceedings
A European order for payment which has become enforceable in the Member State of origin shall be recognised and enforced in the other Member States without the need for a declaration of enforceability and without any possibility of opposing its recognition.
Enforcement is then governed by the law of the state in which it takes place, and the order is enforced under the same conditions as a domestic enforceable decision (Article 21(1)). In Slovakia such an order is a foreign enforceable title enforceable in the Slovak Republic (Section 45(2)(b) of the Enforcement Code) and the enforcement court is the Banská Bystrica District Court (Section 49).
What to produce and when a translation is required
To the enforcement authority of the state of enforcement you produce a copy of the order declared enforceable which satisfies the conditions necessary to establish its authenticity and, where necessary, a translation into the official language of the state of enforcement or into another language which that state has indicated it can accept (Article 21(2)). The translation must be certified by a person qualified to do so in one of the Member States.
In Czech and Slovak matters this has a practical consequence. According to the information on the European e-Justice Portal, Czechia accepts only Czech for this translation and Slovakia only Slovak. If the enforcement authority requires a translation, a Slovak order for enforcement in Czechia is translated into Czech and a Czech order for enforcement in Slovakia into Slovak, even though the parties understand one another. Poland accepts only Polish. No security or deposit may be required of a foreign creditor merely because it is a foreign national or is not domiciled in the state of enforcement (Article 21(3)).
How the debtor can defend itself
The defences in the state of enforcement are narrow. The court refuses enforcement on the debtor’s application where the order is irreconcilable with an earlier decision on the same subject matter between the same parties and the irreconcilability could not have been raised in the proceedings on the order, and also to the extent the debtor has already paid (Article 22(1) and (2)). The substance of the order cannot be reviewed in the state of enforcement (Article 22(3)). If the debtor applies in the state of origin for review of the order in the exceptional cases under Article 20, for instance because the order, served without proof of receipt, did not reach it in time to arrange its defence, the court in the state of enforcement may limit enforcement to protective measures, make it conditional on the provision of security, or in exceptional circumstances stay it (Article 23).
How to proceed
Before you lodge an application for enforcement, check that you have Form G, the date of service of the order on the debtor and, should it be needed, a certified translation into the language of the state of enforcement. We prepare both the application for the order and the subsequent enforcement under the European order for payment service. For debtors between Slovakia and Czechia, enforcement follows on seamlessly through cross-border debt recovery, and for Polish debtors through debt recovery in Poland. If you are only now preparing the order, begin with the question on which court to apply to.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 12 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
