27.6.2014 Official Journal of the European Union L 189/59 REGULATION (EU) No 655/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 May 2014 establishing a European Account Preservation Order procedure to facilitate cross-border debt recovery in civil and commercial matters THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular points (a), (¢) and (f) of Article 81(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3), Whereas: (1) The Union has set itself the objective of maintaining and developing an area of freedom, security and justice in which the free movement of persons is ensured. For the gradual establishment of such an area, the Union is to adopt measures relating to judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications, particularly when necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market. (2)  In accordance with Article 81(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), such measures may include measures aimed at ensuring, inter alia, the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments between Member States, effective access to justice and the elimination of obstacles to the proper functioning of civil proceedings, if necessary by promoting the compatibility of the rules on civil procedure applicable in the Member States. (3)  On 24 October 2006, by way of the ‘Green Paper on improving the efficiency of the enforcement of judgments in the European Union: the attachment of bank accounts’, the Commission launched a consultation on the need for a uniform European procedure for the preservation of bank accounts and the possible features of such a procedure. (4)  In the Stockholm Programme of December 2009 (%), which sets freedom, security and justice priorities for 2010 to 2014, the European Council invited the Commission to assess the need for, and the feasibility of, providing for certain provisional, including protective, measures at Union level, to prevent for example the disappearance of assets before the enforcement of a claim, and to put forward appropriate proposals for improving the efficiency of enforcement of judgments in the Union regarding bank accounts and debtors assets. (5)  National procedures for obtaining protective measures such as account preservation orders exist in all Member States, but the conditions for the grant of such measures and the efficiency of their implementation vary considerably. Moreover, recourse to national protective measures may prove cumbersome in cases having cross- border implications, in particular when the creditor seeks to preserve several accounts located in different Member States. It therefore seems necessary and appropriate to adopt a binding and directly applicable legal instrument of the Union which establishes a new Union procedure allowing, in cross-border cases, for the preservation, in an efficient and speedy way, of funds held in bank accounts. () OJ C 191, 29.6.2012, p. 57. (%) Position of the European Parliament of 15 April 2014 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 13 May 2014. () OJ C 115, 4.5.2010, p. 1.