Many payments in commercial transactions between businesses or between business and public authorities are made much later than agreed, which is costly for businesses, and disrupts the functioning of the internal market. Parliament insisted that the Commission should take appropriate action when Directive 2000/35/EC was adopted to combat late payments, and IMCO took part in revising it during this term, with the Legal Affairs Committee providing an opinion under Rule 50.
The main provisions of the new Directive 2011/7/EU include harmonisation of the payment period by public authorities and enterprises (within 60 days) and compensation for recovery costs and statutory interest rate of at least 8%. IMCO Members strongly supported the Commission's proposal because it aimed to improve the functioning of the internal market during the financial crisis and especially the situation of SMEs. At the moment of writing this Welcome pack, the Commission was checking the correct transposition and implementation of the new directive in the Member States, as it had to be transposed into national law by 16 March 2013.
Rapporteur: Barbara Weiler (S&D)
Shadows: Małgorzata HANDZLIK (EPP), Jürgen CREUTZMANN (ALDE), Heide RÜHLE (Greens/EFA), Edvard KOŽUŠNÍK (ECR), Dennis DE JONG (GUE/NGL) and Matteo SALVINI (EFD).
Source : © European Union, 2014 - EP