European civil procedure has emerged as an independent and dynamic field of policy making, research and teaching. Influenced by human rights law, EU consumer law, and resulting from the extended EU competence in judicial cooperation since the Treaty of Amsterdam, national procedural systems have been increasingly Europeanised.
This volume offers a comprehensive overview of the main developments shaping civil justice in Europe. It analyses the harmonisation of cross-border litigation through EU regulations on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement, service of documents, and taking of evidence, as well as the creation of European procedures such as the Order for Payment, Small Claims Procedure, and Account Preservation Order.
Beyond these core instruments, the book explores collective redress, ADR and ODR, specialised courts, legal aid, costs and funding, and soft-law harmonisation. It concludes with perspectives on EU enlargement, non-European jurisdictions, and the broader challenges facing civil justice today.
Xandra Kramer is Professor of Private Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Utrecht University, and Director of the European Civil Justice Centre. Her research focuses on European civil procedure, access to justice, and dispute resolution. She leads several international research projects on the harmonisation and digitalisation of civil justice, including on sustainable cost and funding mechanisms for litigation. Her work combines comparative, empirical, and policy perspectives and has significantly influenced the debate on the Europeanisation of civil procedure.
Stefaan Voet is Professor of Civil Procedure at KU Leuven. His research interests include collective redress, comparative civil procedure, and judicial cooperation in the European Union. He has published extensively on procedural harmonisation, consumer protection, and the design of effective enforcement mechanisms. Beyond academia, he serves as an expert for national and international reform projects and contributes regularly to policy discussions on the future of European civil justice.
Adriani Dori is an affiliated researcher in European civil procedure and EU law at Erasmus University Rotterdam and the European Civil Justice Centre. Her work focuses on judicial policies and reforms, access to justice, and the Europeanisation of national procedural systems. She is involved in international projects on consumer protection and sustainable litigation funding, examining how European integration and innovation in civil justice influence access to remedies for individuals and businesses.
