Ex officio Application of EU Consumer Law in the Enforcement of the ESCP Judgments

The main aim of the European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP) is to simplify citizens’ access to justice by accelerating adjudication in small value disputes in cross-border cases, decreasing the costs of the proceedings and simplifying the recognition and enforcement of ESCP judgements rendered in another Member State. Therefore, the ESCP is organised as a summary and formal procedure. In ESCP, national courts are bound to respect and promote fundamental rights and principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including the right to a fair trial and the principle of an adversarial process. At the same time, it is particularly important that in the ESCP, the principle of effectiveness and effective judicial protection is respected. In their numerous judgments, the European Court of Justice, emphasises these very principles as being crucial for effective EU law enforcement, particularly in the context of consumer legal disputes where substantive and/or procedural law of the Union is applicable. The ECJ’s interpretation has often been that, because of effective protection of consumers, national courts must, under particular preconditions, ex officio apply the consumer law of the EU. The ECJ has defined a whole series of procedural rules to be complied with when applying EU consumer law ex officio. However, a question arises whether, due to specific procedural rules governing the ESCP, it is possible that national courts, when enforcing ESCP judgments, ex officio apply the EU consumer law. In the article various aspects of ex officio application of EU consumer law in the ESCP are considered, particularly in the context of the recent ECJ case law on ex officio application of EU consumer law in enforcement procedures. The main aim of the article is to analyse specific measures by which the European standards of effective court protection of EU consumer rights in the ESCP enforcement procedures can be ensured.