Freeze an EU customer’s bank account: the European Account Preservation Order

What the order does

The order freezes funds in the debtor’s bank account up to the amount of the claim. The debtor is informed only after the bank has frozen the account (Article 11), which the regulation calls the surprise effect.

Within three working days the bank declares what it has frozen (Article 25(1)), after which the order is served on the debtor (Article 28). Creditors can use the European order as an alternative to the preservation measures of national law (Article 1(2)). Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1823 sets the forms, and each country sets its own court fees.

Which creditors can apply

The regulation defines a creditor as an individual (natural person), a company (legal person) or another entity domiciled in a member state bound by the regulation (Article 4(6)). Only such creditors can use the order (recital 48). Denmark is outside the regulation.

A company is domiciled where it has its statutory seat, its central administration or its principal place of business, under Article 63(1) of the Brussels I bis Regulation (EU) 1215/2012. The account preservation regulation applies that rule through its Article 4(15). A Dutch private limited company (BV) has its statutory seat in the Netherlands and is therefore domiciled there, also when its owners are based outside the EU.

The case must also be cross-border, which means the bank account is in a different member state from the court or from the creditor (Article 3(1)). A Dutch company applying to freeze a German account meets this condition.

When and on what conditions

The creditor can apply before court proceedings, during them, or after a judgment, a court settlement or an authentic instrument, such as a notarial deed (Article 5).

The creditor must show a real risk that enforcement of the claim will be impeded or made substantially more difficult (Article 7(1)). Before a judgment it must also show that it is likely to succeed on the substance of the claim (Article 7(2)). After an order obtained before proceedings, the creditor starts the main case within 30 days of the application or 14 days of the order, whichever date is later (Article 10(1)).

Before a judgment the court requires the creditor to provide security to cover damage to the debtor, and it waives that requirement only by exception. After a judgment it may require security (Article 12). The creditor is liable for damage that the order causes the debtor through the creditor’s own fault (Article 13(1)). The court decides within 10 working days before a judgment and within 5 working days after one (Article 18).

A creditor with an enforceable judgment, court settlement or authentic instrument can ask the court to obtain the debtor’s bank details. The request goes to the information authority of one country, covers that country only and must state a reason. With a judgment that is yet to become enforceable, the same request is possible when the amount is substantial and the matter urgent (Article 14). Before a judgment, the creditor must already know which bank the debtor uses.

Which court

Before a judgment, the creditor files the application with the courts that have jurisdiction over the substance of the claim (Article 6(1)). After a judgment, the application goes to the courts of the member state that gave it (Article 6(3)). A choice of court in your contract is valid whatever the domicile of the parties (Brussels I bis, Article 25(1)). For the sale of goods, the courts of the place of delivery also have jurisdiction (Article 7(1)(b)).

In the Netherlands the application is filed with the interim relief judge of the district court (voorzieningenrechter van de rechtbank). In Germany it is filed with the court of the main case (Gericht der Hauptsache, section 946(1) of the German Code of Civil Procedure). With a Dutch court clause in your contracts, your Dutch company applies in the Netherlands.

An English-language court and enforcement across the EU

The Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) in Amsterdam has heard international commercial cases in English since 1 January 2019 and gives its judgments in English. It takes a case when four conditions are met (NCC Rules, 5th edition, Article 1.3.1). The parties must have expressly agreed, by a written clause, to litigate before it. The Amsterdam court must have jurisdiction. The dispute must be an international civil or commercial matter. The parties must be free to decide on the subject themselves, and the case must fall outside the scope of the subdistrict court judge (kantonrechter). The summary proceedings judge of the NCC also hears applications for the European order in NCC cases.

A Dutch judgment is recognised automatically in every other EU country and is directly enforceable there (Brussels I bis, Articles 36(1) and 39).

Set it up before you need it

• Sell through the Dutch company, with the contract, the delivery and the invoice in its name.
• Use general terms under Dutch law, with a Dutch court as the chosen court. For the Netherlands Commercial Court, both parties sign an express written agreement, for example a clause in the contract itself.
• Keep a Dutch bank account for the payments and complete bookkeeping, because the court asks for proof of the claim.
• Check the credit of large customers before you ship goods to them.

Sources: Regulation (EU) 655/2014 on the European Account Preservation Order; European e-Justice Portal, European Account Preservation Order, country pages for the Netherlands and Germany; Brussels I bis Regulation (EU) 1215/2012; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1823; De Rechtspraak, Netherlands Commercial Court; German Code of Civil Procedure, sections 916 and 946. Checked on 25 September 2026.