Case C‑508/12

Walter Vapenik

v

Josef Thurner

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesgericht Salzburg)

‛Area of freedom, security and justice — Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 — European enforcement order for uncontested claims — Requirements for certification as an enforcement order — Situation in which the judgment was given in the Member State of the creditor in a dispute between two persons not engaged in commercial or professional activities’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber), 5 December 2013

Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Creation of an enforcement order for uncontested claims — Regulation No 805/2004 — Enforcement orders which may be certified — Judgment given on the basis of a contract concluded between two persons not engaged in commercial or professional activities — Not included

(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 805/2004, Art. 6(1)(d); (Council Regulation No 44/2001, Arts 15(1) and 16(1) and (2))

Article 6(1)(d) of Regulation No 805/2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims must be interpreted as meaning that it does not apply to contracts concluded between two persons who are not engaged in commercial or professional activities.

It is clear from the wording of that provision that a consumer is a person who has concluded a contract for a purpose which can be regarded as being outside his trade or profession. That provision does not state whether or not the status of professional of the consumer’s contracting party plays a role in defining the other party as a ‘consumer’. In that connection, and in order to ensure compliance with the objectives pursued by the European legislature in the sphere of consumer contracts, and the consistency of EU law, account must be taken, in particular, of the definition of ‘consumer’ in other rules of EU law and, more specifically, in Regulation No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. Taking account of the objective of protecting consumers laid down by those provisions, which aim to compensate for the imbalance between parties in contracts concluded between a consumer and a professional, their application cannot be extended to persons with respect to whom that protection is not justified. If, in the context of Regulation No 805/2004, a definition were to be adopted, which is wider than that in Regulation No 44/2001, that might lead to inconsistencies in the application of those two regulations. Consequently, the definition of ‘consumers’ within the meaning of Article 6(1)(d) of Regulation No 805/2004 refers to a person who concludes a contract for a purpose which can be regarded as being outside his trade or profession with a person who is acting in the exercise of his trade or profession.

(see paras 24, 25, 31, 37-39, operative part)