Council Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 of 13 November 2007 on the service in the member states of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters regulates the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents between European Union member states and has applied since 13 November 2008. It provides, inter alia, a procedure for the service of documents via designated "transmitting agencies" and "receiving agencies" without recourse to consular and diplomatic channels, and other methods of service.

The EU Service Regulation applies to all EU member states, including Denmark. (Denmark notified the EC, by letter of 20 November 2007, of its decision to implement EU Service Regulation (OJ 2008 L331/21) and the Danish Ministry of Justice confirmed that Denmark is bound by the EU Service Regulation by statutory order number 1476 of 12 December 2007.)

The EU Service Regulation applied to the UK during the UK-EU transition period, but stopped applying to the UK at the end of the transition period (11.00pm (UK time) on 31 December 2020), except as provided for in part three of the UK-EU withdrawal agreement in relation to procedures pending as at that date.

At the end of the transition period:

For further information on the implications of Brexit for the EU Service Regulation, see Practice note, Brexit: implications for civil justice and judicial co-operation.

Following a review of the EU Service Regulation by the European Commission, Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 on the service in the member states of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast) (Recast Service Regulation) was published in the Official Journal (OJ L 405/40) on 2 December 2020. The Recast Service Regulation applies in member states from 1 July 2022, apart from certain practical aspects of the transmission of documents (Articles 5, 8 and 10) which apply at a later date. For further information, see Service of documents: legislation tracker.