The Commission proposal seeks to establish a common EU-wide standard for e-invoices that all contracting authorities must accept, within 4 years from the entry into fore of the directive, even though they may continue to use other national standards and systems. This complements the public procurement modernisation package to be voted in plenary shortly, which will make e-procurement mandatory by 2018.
The Rapporteur Birgit Collin-Langen welcomed the proposal as a means to achieve greater interoperability and to boost the digital internal market. She stressed however several weaknesses, including, notably, the short and unclear time-table for transposition by MS and the proposed procedure for adoption of the standard. To address these points, the Rapporteur proposes including a test phase, publication of the standard by means of an implementing act and longer and differentiated implementation deadlines. Due to the extremely narrow time-table, the draft report sets out the main arguments, whilst further legal verification is on-going. Shadows from all Groups expressed their broad support. The Rapporteur of the Committee of the Regions, Ms C. Segersten Larsson, also supported the Rapporteur. Reporting on the CoR draft opinion and on the Swedish e-invoicing experience, she emphasised the need for sound preparation and realistic implementation time frames. Representatives of the Commission services acknowledged Parliament's concerns but underlined the need to act quickly.
Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP