Alessandro Palmigiano, book entitled “Small Claims Procedure: The European dispute procedure for small claims”

The European regulation regulating disputes arising with respect to small claims (Small Claims procedure, abbrev. ESCP ) is a transborder judicial procedure introduced by the European Union in 2007, by Regulation CE 861/2007 by the European Parliament and Advisory Commission, which guarantees the judicial co-operation between the member states with respect to civil and commercial matters that do not exceed 2000 € in value.

The need to introduce this procedure is motivated directly by the need and desire to “maintain and develop an area of liberty, security and justice “ and also to “ eliniate the obstacles and good functioning of the civil procedure, as well as the compatability of civil procedures across all member states.”

The ESCP is a valid alternative to the system existant within member states, that removes all of the requirements to validate the recognition of national judgments.