European Order for Payment and Small Claims in Romania

Legal position as at: 2 November 2026

At a glance

• Who can use it: creditors in a cross-border case, meaning at least one party is domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than the one whose court hears the claim. A creditor from the UK, the US, India or Switzerland suing a Romanian company in a Romanian court is outside these tools.
• First step: check whether your own court has jurisdiction or whether you must file in Romania, and collect the contract, invoices and proof of delivery.
• The main deadline: the debtor has 30 days from service to oppose an order for payment or to answer a small claim; your own claim must also be brought within the Romanian limitation period.

These EU procedures work only in cross-border cases (Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006, art. 3(1); Regulation (EC) No 861/2007, art. 3(1)). If you are outside the EU and sue a Romanian company in a Romanian court, use the Romanian payment order or an ordinary claim before the Romanian courts.

For a creditor in another Member State, the European Order for Payment, the European Small Claims Procedure and the European Enforcement Order each end with an enforceable title (titlu executoriu), a document a Romanian bailiff can enforce without a separate recognition procedure. For the overall picture, see our guide to debt recovery in Romania.

The three tools compared

All three apply to civil and commercial matters. Denmark takes part in none of the three (Regulation 1896/2006, art. 2(3); Regulation 861/2007, recital 38; Regulation 805/2004, art. 2(3)).

First decision: which court

You can use these procedures in Romania, or in your own country if its courts have jurisdiction. Jurisdiction follows Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 (Brussels Ia). A company is in principle sued where it is domiciled (art. 4(1)), which for a company means its statutory seat, central administration or principal place of business (art. 63(1)). In contract matters it can also be sued at the place of performance; for a sale of goods that is where the goods were or should have been delivered, and for services where they were or should have been provided (art. 7(1)(b)).

A German seller whose contract placed delivery at its own warehouse in Germany, or an Italian service provider who performed in Italy, can therefore apply to its home court and then enforce the result in Romania. A consumer debtor can only be targeted with a European Order for Payment in the courts of the consumer's own Member State (Regulation 1896/2006, art. 6(2)). Applying at home keeps the file in your language; applying in Romania makes sense when no other court has jurisdiction.

If you apply in Romania, the order is issued by the court that would hear the claim at first instance: the district court (judecătoria) for claims up to and including 200,000 lei and the tribunal (tribunalul) above that (Government Emergency Ordinance No 119/2006, art. I^9, art. 1; Civil Procedure Code, art. 94 pt. 1 lit. k) and art. 95 pt. 1). A review under art. 20 of the regulation is heard by the court that issued the order, sitting as a panel of two judges (Government Emergency Ordinance No 119/2006, art. I^9, art. 2).

The European Order for Payment

When it fits

The procedure is designed for pecuniary claims for a specific amount that have fallen due when the application is filed (art. 4). There is no ceiling on the amount. It does not cover insolvency proceedings, matrimonial property, succession or social security, and non-contractual claims are excluded unless the parties agreed on them, the debtor admitted the debt or they are liquidated debts arising from joint ownership of property (art. 2(2)).

It suits unpaid invoices where you expect silence rather than a fight. The order is issued solely on the information you provide, without the court verifying it (art. 12(4)(a)).

How it runs

Step 1. You file standard form A (art. 7(1)), stating the parties, the amount with interest, penalties and costs, the interest rate and period, the cause of action, a description of the evidence, the ground for jurisdiction and why the case is cross-border (art. 7(2)), with a declaration that the information is true (art. 7(3)).

Step 2. The court examines the form, possibly by an automated procedure (art. 8), and issues the order using form E, normally within 30 days; time you take to correct the form does not count (art. 12(1)).

Step 3. The order is served on the debtor, who has 30 days from service to pay or lodge an opposition using form F (art. 12(3), art. 16(1) and (2)). The debtor does not have to give reasons (art. 16(3)).

Step 4. If no opposition arrives in time, the court declares the order enforceable using form G and sends it to you (art. 18).

If the debtor opposes

The case then continues before the courts of the same Member State, under the European Small Claims Procedure if the claim qualifies or under ordinary national procedure, unless you asked in the appendix to form A for it to be closed (art. 17(1) and art. 7(4)); if you say nothing, it moves to national procedure (art. 17(2)). If you already know the debtor disputes quality, delivery or price, the order procedure only adds a step.

Enforcement in Romania

An enforceable European Order for Payment is recognised and enforced in Romania without a declaration of enforceability (exequatur, a court decision allowing a foreign title to be enforced) and without any possibility of opposing recognition (art. 19). Enforcement follows Romanian procedure, on the same terms as a Romanian decision (art. 21(1)). You give the competent Romanian enforcement authority a copy of the enforceable order that satisfies the conditions for authenticity and, where necessary, a translation into Romanian certified by a person qualified to do so in a Member State (art. 21(2)). No security may be required because you are foreign (art. 21(3)).

The Romanian court can refuse enforcement only if the order is irreconcilable with an earlier decision between the same parties on the same cause of action, or to the extent the debtor has already paid (art. 22(1) and (2)). It cannot review the substance (art. 22(3)). A debtor who was served too late through no fault of its own, or who was prevented by force majeure, may seek a review in the Member State where the order was issued (art. 20).

The European Small Claims Procedure

When it fits

The procedure applies where the claim does not exceed EUR 5,000 when the court receives the claim form, excluding interest, expenses and disbursements (Regulation 861/2007, art. 2(1)). It excludes, among other matters, insolvency, arbitration, employment law and most tenancies of immovable property (art. 2(2)).

Unlike the order for payment, it ends in a judgment on the merits, so it suits small claims where the debtor may raise a defence.

How it runs

Step 1. You file standard claim form A with a description of the evidence and any supporting documents, directly, by post, through the electronic means provided for in Regulation (EU) 2023/2844, or by any other means the Member State accepts (art. 4(1)).

Step 2. The procedure is written (art. 5(1)). An oral hearing is held only if the court cannot decide on the written evidence or a party asks for one; the court may refuse that request with written reasons (art. 5(1a)).

Step 3. The court dispatches the claim to the debtor within 14 days; the debtor has 30 days from service to respond (art. 5(2) and (3)).

Step 4. Within 30 days of the response the court gives judgment, asks for further details, takes evidence or summons the parties to a hearing (art. 7(1)). If the debtor does not answer in time, the court gives judgment on the claim (art. 7(3)).

Enforcement in Romania

The judgment is enforceable notwithstanding any appeal, without security (art. 15(1)), and is enforced in Romania without exequatur (art. 20(1)). You present a copy of the judgment and certificate form D, which the court issues free on request, with a translation where necessary (art. 20(2) and art. 21(2)); no Romanian representative or postal address is needed other than with the enforcement agents (art. 21(3)). Refusal is limited to irreconcilability with an earlier judgment (art. 22), and the debtor may ask for enforcement to be limited, secured or stayed while a challenge or review is pending (art. 23).

The European Enforcement Order

The European Enforcement Order is not a way to start a claim. It is a certificate for a judgment, court settlement or authentic instrument you already have on an uncontested claim: one the debtor admitted, settled before a court, never objected to, or agreed to in an authentic instrument (Regulation 805/2004, art. 3(1)). The court of origin certifies it on application at any time if, among other conditions, it is enforceable there and the minimum procedural standards of the regulation were met (art. 6(1)). It is then enforced in Romania without exequatur (art. 5), on a copy of the judgment, a copy of the certificate and, where necessary, a translation (art. 20(2)). Refusal is possible only for irreconcilability with an earlier judgment, with no review of the substance (art. 21).

Brussels Ia also removed exequatur for judgments in proceedings started on or after 10 January 2015 (art. 39 and art. 66(1)), but under it the debtor can still rely on all the refusal grounds of art. 45, including public policy and defective service. That route is explained in our article on enforcing a foreign judgment or arbitral award in Romania.

The Romanian national alternatives

A foreign creditor can also use Romanian national procedures before a Romanian court:

• the payment order (ordonanța de plată), for money claims that are certain, liquid and due (creanțe certe, lichide și exigibile: the debt is beyond doubt, its amount is determined or determinable, and it has fallen due, as art. 663(2) to (4) defines these terms), arising from a contract and evidenced in writing (Civil Procedure Code, art. 1014(1)); see our article on the Romanian payment order;
• the national small claims procedure, for claims up to 50,000 lei excluding interest and costs (Civil Procedure Code, art. 1026(1), as amended by Law 57/2025 from 15 May 2025).

The national procedures run before a Romanian court. The European ones use standard forms and let you apply to your own court where it has jurisdiction. When the debtor is likely to dispute the claim and it exceeds the small claims limits, an ordinary claim is often the more direct route; see our guide to suing a Romanian company.

Documents a foreign creditor needs

• the contract, delivery notes or proof of services, invoices, and correspondence showing the debt is due and unpaid, including any acknowledgment by the debtor;
• the debtor's exact name, registered office and registration number from the Romanian trade register;
• your own calculation of interest; for the Romanian statutory rate between professionals see our article on late payment interest in B2B claims;
• for enforcement in Romania: the enforceable order or judgment, the certificate the regulation requires, and translations into Romanian where needed;
• if you instruct a Romanian lawyer, a Romanian power of attorney (împuternicire avocațială).

Documents issued in a Member State under Brussels Ia need no legalisation or similar formality (Regulation 1215/2012, art. 61).

What can go wrong

• Opposition. A bare opposition turns an order for payment into ordinary proceedings in the court where you filed (Regulation 1896/2006, art. 17).
• Service. If the Romanian debtor was not served in time to arrange its defence, through no fault of its own, it may obtain a review and the order or judgment may fall (Regulation 1896/2006, art. 20; Regulation 861/2007, art. 18).
• Wrong claim type. Claims not yet due, unliquidated damages and most non-contractual claims do not fit the order for payment (Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006, art. 2(2)(d) and art. 4).
• Insolvency. Insolvency proceedings fall outside both regulations (Regulation 1896/2006, art. 2(2)(b); Regulation 861/2007, art. 2(2)(e)); once the debtor is insolvent you file your claim in the insolvency instead, see our article on filing a claim when a Romanian debtor becomes insolvent.
• Time limits. Romanian limitation rules may bar an old claim; see our article on limitation of commercial debts in Romania.
• No assets. A title does not pay by itself if the debtor has nothing to enforce against. Enforcement is covered in our article on bank accounts, real estate and shares, and freezing assets before judgment in our article on interim measures.

When to take advice

The choice between the European procedures, the Romanian payment order and an ordinary claim depends on the amount, whether the debtor is likely to dispute it, where you can sue and where the debtor's assets are. We act for foreign creditors in that choice, in filing in Romania and in enforcing European titles through Romanian bailiffs. We describe our collection work on the debt collection page and our litigation work on the commercial litigation page.

In a first e-mail to office@pantilimon.ro, send the contract, the invoices, the correspondence with the debtor, the debtor's name and registration number, and any clause on courts or arbitration. Our fees are agreed in writing before work starts.

This article is general information and is not advice for a specific case; it is based on Romanian law as at 2 November 2026.