Eva Storskrubb

Project summary European Account

Preservation Orders – how will they affect the law?

For the administration of justice to amount to more than rights on paper, judgments must also be enforceable. During civil proceedings, a party may have the opportunity to dispose of assets in order to prevent the enforcement of a judgment. This problem may be particularly acute in cross-border disputes where assets are located in several countries. An account preservation order is a protective measure through which assets are temporarily frozen in order to ensure the enforcement of a possible future judgment.

 

Until now, creditors have in practice had to apply separately for such protective measures in each country in which a debtor may hold assets. Within the EU, considerable difficulties remain in the cross-border recovery of debts. The possibility of obtaining cross-border protective measures has been seen as one way of addressing this problem.

 

The project focuses on the EU Regulation on the European Account Preservation Order, which has made it possible since 2017 to freeze funds held in bank accounts across national borders. The project will examine when a European Account Preservation Order can be sought and how the new European procedure will operate in Swedish courts. The European Account Preservation Order is intended to exist alongside national remedies but also requires supplementary national rules. There is therefore a risk that interpretative difficulties will arise at the interface between the two systems. These difficulties are a central focus of the project.

 

The project will also analyse what the new European Account Preservation Order means for the further harmonisation of procedural rules within the EU.