La sentencia Bondora o la prueba del algodón del proceso monitorio europeo: novedades en el control de oficio de las cláusulas abusivas y reformas en ciernes

Abstract

The Bondora ruling represents a new milestone in the Court’s supervision of national monitoring processes motivated by the frequent incompatibility of their regime with the European regime for consumer protection. The new contribution makes it clear that, the judge hearing a European order for payment procedure may request that complementary documentation be provided in order to verify that the requirement is not based on unfair terms. But Bondora’s interest lies, notably, in that the Court of Justice has been forced for the first time to resolve a question that, due to its subject matter, is dealt with by two European norms with disparate objectives, the Regulation 1896/1996 and the Directive 93/13. Through a conciliatory interpretation, which leaves some loose ends yet to cover, the Court of Justice offers a well-founded answer that preserves consistency with previous decisions and is, politically speaking, very correct. Bondora pinpoints the flaws of the Spanish regime of the European order for payment procedure by not allowing the delivery of additional documentation, which very much points to a future legislative amendment. A good understanding of the double European and national dimension of the European order for payment procedure is key in determining the need and scope of this reform.