The attachment of bank accounts in the EU

On the 25th of July 2011, the European commission submitted a proposal for an European Account Preservation order ("EAPO"). Currently, when recovering claims from foreign countries, creditors are still faced with obstacles which often prevent them from recovering those claims. The proposal introduces an additional option, in conjunction with the current legislation for national attachment of bank accounts, for the attachment of bank accounts in the EU. By means of this proposal, the European Commission wishes to simplify the recovery of cross-border claims and to increase the effectiveness of the procedure for cross-border enforcement. An EAPO has an immediate effect throughout the European union. Based on the EAPO, a creditor has the option of attaching a foreign bank account in a different member state without further proceedings through serving the EAPO to the bank. Furthermore, an EAPO can be used to obtain information about the debtor's bank accounts if it is unclear whether the debtor has one or more bank accounts in the relevant member state.