On 17 January 2017, Regulation No 655/2014, establishing a European Account Preservation Order (‘EAPO Regulation’), entered into force. As its name suggests, this instrument introduced the first cross-border civil interim measure, which allows the provisional attachment of bank accounts. This course provides a comprehensive analysis of the EAPO Regulation from both a theoretical and practical perspective. The course will identify first-hand difficulties and challenges that courts and practitioners might encounter while using the EAPO Regulation.

The course will scrutinise each of the phases of the procedure, from the EAPO application to the stage when debtors can challenge the EAPO. Besides explaining the EAPO Regulation, the seminar will also have two case studies tackling different aspects of this procedure that participants will have to solve.

Overall, this course will give participants a practical understanding of the EAPO procedure and how to approach some of its essential aspects in an effective manner.

What will you learn

By the end of this course, participants will attain a good understanding of the following aspects:

• how to assess whether a claim falls within the material and territorial scope of the EAPO Regulation;
• which are the prerequisites to obtaining an EAPO and how to satisfy them;
• how to obtain information about the debtors’ bank accounts;
• how to identify the responsible authorities for the enforcement of the EAPO;
• how debtors can contest the EAPO or its enforcement;
• the role of national law in the configuration of the EAPO proceeding

Course methodology/highlights

The course combines a theoretical explanation of the EAPO along with case studies that participants must solve with the guidance offered by the trainers. The course has an interactive character, giving room for participants to intervene in each session, while trainers will often ask questions intended to trigger discussions among participants.