Costs

If a citizen envisages going to court or wishes to enforce a court judgment information must be available on the costs of proceedings in the relevant Member State.

Litigation costs in civil and commercial matters are governed by national legislation and costs are not harmonised at EU level. Thus, costs vary from one Member State to another.

To obtain detailed information on costs of proceedings in the Member States, as well as on several case studies carried out on behalf of the European Commission, please select one of the flags listed on the right hand side.

If you do not have sufficient financial resources to meet the costs of a court case you can apply for legal aid.

Additional information can be obtained from the attached study (available in English and French only) undertaken to identify the sources of costs of civil judicial proceedings in each Member State by:

  • defining the proportion of each identified source of cost on the overall cost of civil judicial proceedings,
  • comparing the costs incurred by litigants in different Member States,
  • identifying variations in sources of costs and costs amounts,
  • identifying how transparency of the costs of judicial proceedings and the limitation of differences in sources of costs and costs amounts can foster greater access to justice,
  • making recommendations for possible actions at the EU level, possibly through the establishment of minimum standards, to facilitate access to justice by improving the transparency of costs of civil justice,
  • generally, identifying links, where appropriate and relevant, between costs of justice and access to justice for the citizens, and
  • identifying specific issues pertaining to cross-border disputes.

The study provides a snapshot of the situation in the European Union at a precise moment in time - December 2007.

Related Attachments

Study on the Transparency of Costs of Civil Judicial Proceedings in the EU PDF (2615 Kb) en – English version

Study on the Transparency of Costs of Civil Judicial Proceedings in the EU PDF (2665 Kb) fr – French version

Annex 1: Results of the public questionnaire PDF (1700 Kb) en

National report - Belgium PDF (829 Kb) en

National report - Bulgaria PDF (566 Kb) en

National report - Czech Republic PDF (703 Kb) en

National report - Denmark PDF (560 Kb) en

National report - Germany PDF (565 Kb) en

National report - Estonia PDF (872 Kb) en

National report - Ireland PDF (400 Kb) en

National report - Greece PDF (849 Kb) en

National report - Spain PDF (640 Kb) en

National report - France PDF (1312 Kb) en

National report - Italy PDF (772 Kb) en

National report - Cyprus PDF (555 Kb) en

National report - Latvia PDF (742 Kb) en

National report - Lithuania PDF (950 Kb) en

National report - Luxembourg PDF (551 Kb) en

National report - Hungary PDF (533 Kb) en

National report - Malta PDF (742 Kb) en

National report - Netherlands PDF (702 Kb) en

National report - Austria PDF (829 Kb) en

National report - Poland PDF (396 Kb) en

National report - Portugal PDF (781 Kb) en

National report - Romania PDF (544 Kb) en

National report - Slovenia PDF (723 Kb) en

National report - Slovakia PDF (872 Kb) en

National report - Finland PDF (504 Kb) en

National report - Sweden PDF (457 Kb) en

Last update: 16/02/2021

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