Debt recovery in European Union

27 member states. 27 legal systems. 24 languages. One point of contact. We recover B2B debts across the European Union — from amicable collection to court enforcement.

The European Union was built on the principle that goods, services, capital, and people move freely between member states. What they forgot to mention is that invoices move freely too — they just don't always come back with payment attached. If you're a B2B exporter selling into the EU, you already know the pattern. Your goods cross the border in 48 hours. Your invoice enters the debtor's accounts payable system and vanishes into a parallel dimension where payment runs happen quarterly, "the person handling this" is perpetually on holiday, and the Late Payment Directive is treated as a suggestion rather than a law.

The numbers are striking. According to the European Commission's own data, approximately 60% of B2B invoices in the EU are paid late. The EU Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU) caps payment terms at 60 days for commercial transactions and entitles creditors to 8% above the ECB base rate in statutory interest — plus fixed compensation of €40 to €100 per invoice. These aren't theoretical rights. They're law across all 27 member states. The problem isn't the law. The problem is that fewer than 15% of creditors actually claim statutory interest, and fewer than 8% claim the fixed compensation. The weapons exist. They're sitting in a drawer.

How we recover debts in European Union

Collecting a commercial debt within the EU follows a structured escalation path — and the EU has built specific instruments to make cross-border enforcement faster than most creditors realise. Stage 1 is amicable collection: professional demand letters, telephone contact, and structured negotiation conducted in the debtor's language, referencing the debtor's local law. Approximately 70–75% of commercial claims resolve at this stage when handled by a professional agency with local presence.

Stage 2 deploys national legal instruments. Each EU member state has its own fast-track payment order procedure for documented debts. Germany's Mahnbescheid can be filed online for €32 on a €100,000 claim and resolves in 14 days if uncontested. France's Injonction de Payer is ex parte — the debtor doesn't know about it until the order is granted. Italy's Decreto Ingiuntivo, Spain's Proceso Monitorio, the Netherlands' Kort Geding, Poland's entirely electronic EPU — each is designed for speed. Stage 3 activates EU cross-border instruments: the European Payment Order (EOP), the European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP) for claims up to €5,000, and the European Account Preservation Order (EAPO) — which allows a creditor to freeze a debtor's bank accounts across EU borders without prior warning.

Primary Legal Instrument

The EOP (Regulation 1896/2006) is a standardised cross-border procedure for uncontested monetary claims. A single form is filed, the debtor has 30 days to oppose, and if they don't, the order is enforceable across the entire EU without additional proceedings in the debtor's country.

The EU Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU) gives every B2B creditor in the EU three automatic rights on any overdue commercial invoice. First, statutory interest: 8% above the ECB base rate. On a €100,000 invoice 90 days overdue, that's approximately €2,959 in interest — automatically, without needing a contractual interest clause. Second, fixed compensation: €40 for debts under €1,000, €70 for debts between €1,000 and €10,000, and €100 for debts above €10,000. Per invoice. Automatically. Third, recovery costs: reasonable costs incurred in collecting the debt, including professional agency fees, are recoverable from the debtor.

These rights exist in law. They don't require a contract clause. They apply across all 27 member states. And almost nobody uses them — because creditors don't want to "damage the relationship." The relationship where the debtor isn't paying you. That relationship. Intercol systematically claims Late Payment Directive interest and compensation as part of every EU recovery. The effect on payment speed is immediate: debtors who realise the cost of delay exceeds the convenience of delay tend to prioritise your invoice.