1. Introduction

Effective mechanisms for the cross-border recognition and enforcement of civil judgments has long been a priority for the European Union, since judicial cooperation is a prerequisite for the functioning of the internal market. For a long time, EU legislation balanced judgment creditors’ with judgment debtors’ rights by combining a harmonized procedure for requesting a declaration of enforceability in the Member State of enforcement (exequatur) with limited grounds for refusal of recognition and enforcement. Since the introduction of the principle of mutual recognition in 1999, the EU legislature’s focus has shifted towards simplification or even abolition of this procedure. This move towards simplification has resulted in the removal of formal requirements for enforcement in another Member State of judgments falling within the scope of the Brussels I bis Regulation, which is to say most civil and commercial judgments. For some categories of judgments, it has also, more controversially, resulted in the abolition of the grounds of refusal of enforcement and recognition that were previously available. This book examines these developments for their conformity with European fundamental rights law, specifically the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights (EU CFR). This is an important and timely issue, since the European Union increasingly presents itself as a fundamental rights organisation. The topic of mutual recognition of judgments also raises profound questions about the nature of European integration and the role of fundamental rights in that respect.