EU Commission Survey
Every year, between 18 and 40 billion invoices are exchanged in the EU,
more than 500 every second. At least 50% of these invoices are paid late
than the agreed terms or the terms imposed by the law.
“Late payments” in transactions between businesses, or with a public body, are a significant problem for European businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they can lead to cash flow issues, increased financing costs, inability to grow and invest, redundancies, and even business failures.
The Late Payment Directive has been in force since 2011 and lays down the rules to combat late payments between in commercial transactions between public sector and businesses, and between businesses. In September 2023, the Commission proposed a new Regulation to replace the rules on combatting late payments set out in the 2011 Directive on late payments. The proposal and its current state of play can be found at: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/cs/procedure-file?reference=2023/0323(COD)
The European Parliament adopted its First Reading position on the Commission’s proposal for a regulation for late payments in April 2024 with 459 votes in favour.
The proposal has been pending in the Council since September 2023. Several Member States have called for the Commission to withdraw the proposal and replace it with a recast of the current Directive.
This survey aims to collect information on the following aspects:
- interested parties’ views on policy measures to combat late payments;
- the impact of late payments on interested parties. The information collected will provide an update on the state of payment behaviour in the EU, its impact on businesses, and help understanding how to tackle the issue of late payments.
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