23/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission adopted on Monday a Green Paper launching a consultation on possible measures to be taken at Community level to create a European order for payment procedure, namely a specific speedy and cost-efficient procedure for claims that are presumed to remain uncontested. The consultation also concerns measures to simplify and speed up small claims litigation, an area where the Commission considers it particularly important to rationalise proceedings and limit their costs to prevent the pursuit of these claims from becoming economically unreasonable. The initiative comes in the context of the European Union's work to create a European area of justice.