Brussels, 19/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Companies and consumers have everything to gain from the simplification of European Small Claims Procedure (for civil and commercial disputes) proposed by the European Commission on Tuesday 19 November. Companies and consumers will be able to claim more when filing a claim, at a reduced cost and much more efficiently.
The key change proposed by the Commission would raise the ceiling for filing a claim under the procedure to €10 000, up from the current €2 000 included in the European regulation adopted in 2007 (EC Regulation No. 861/2008). Small businesses will be the big winners of this change - as currently only 20% of business claims fall below the €2 000 threshold. Consumers will also be able to benefit from the change, given that around a fifth of their claims for their money back are for amounts worth more than €2000.
“No consumer or business claim is too small for justice to be served. Having listened to consumers and businesses, today the Commission is proposing rules that will make a truly European procedure more effective and relevant to daily life. At a time when the European Union is facing big economic challenges, improving the efficiency of justice in the EU is key to restoring growth and boosting trade. Today, we are acting to simplify the procedure for resolving low-value disputes in our Single Market. Consumers and SMEs should feel at home when they buy cross-border".
The Commission also intends to widen the definition of what is a 'cross-border' case in order to help more consumers and businesses resolve their cross-border disputes.
The third innovation consists of capping court fees: Under the existing small claims procedure court fees can be disproportionate, in some cases even exceeding the value of the claim itself. The Commission's proposal will ensure that court fees do not exceed 10% of the value of the claim, and the minimum fee cannot be higher than €35.
It also contains the provision allowing court fees to be paid online by credit card. The proposal is also expected to cut paperwork and travel costs because the new rules will enable claimants to launch the procedure online: email will become a legally valid means of communication between the parties involved, and teleconferencing or videoconferencing will become natural tools in oral hearings, wherever these are necessary. It should be pointed out that legal decisions will be made in the consumers' country of residence or in the country where the defendant company is based, if the consumer so wishes. (AN/trans.fl)