Directive 2011/7 - Combating late payment in commercial transactions (recast) - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
Contents
official title
Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (recast) Text with EEA relevance| Legal instrument | Directive |
|---|---|
| Number legal act | Directive 2011/7 |
| Original proposal | COM(2009)126  |
| CELEX number i | 32011L0007 |
| Document | 16-02-2011; Date of adoption |
|---|---|
| Publication in Official Journal | 23-02-2011; Special edition in Croatian: Chapter 17 Volume 002,OJ L 48, 23.2.2011 |
| Effect | 15-03-2011; Entry into force Date pub. +20 See Art 14 |
| End of validity | 31-12-9999 |
| Transposition | 16-03-2013; At the latest See Art 12 |
23.2.2011 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
L 48/1 |
DIRECTIVE 2011/7/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 16 February 2011
on combating late payment in commercial transactions
(recast)
(Text with EEA relevance)
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 Article 114 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (2),
Whereas:
(1) |
A number of substantive changes are to be made to Directive 2000/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (3). It is desirable, for reasons of clarity and rationalisation, that the provisions in question be recast. |
(2) |
Most goods and services are supplied within the internal market by economic operators to other economic operators and to public authorities on a deferred payment basis whereby the supplier gives its client time to pay the invoice, as agreed between parties, as set out in the supplier’s invoice or as laid down by law. |
(3) |
Many payments in commercial transactions between economic operators or between economic operators and public authorities are made later than agreed in the contract or laid down in the general commercial conditions. Although the goods are delivered or the services performed, many corresponding invoices are paid well after the deadline. Such late payment negatively affects liquidity and complicates the financial management of undertakings. It also affects their competitiveness and profitability when the creditor needs to obtain external financing because of late payment. The risk of such negative effects strongly increases in periods of economic downturn when access to financing is more difficult. |
(4) |
Judicial claims related to late payment are already facilitated by Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (4), Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims (5), Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure (6) and Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a European Small Claims Procedure (7). However, in order to discourage late payment in commercial transactions, it is necessary to lay down complementary provisions. |
(5) |
Undertakings should be able to trade throughout the internal market under conditions which ensure that transborder operations do not entail greater risks than domestic sales. Distortions of competition would ensue if substantially different rules applied to domestic and transborder operations. |
(6) |
In its Communication of 25 June 2008 entitled ‘ “Think Small First” — A “Small Business Act” for Europe’, the Commission emphasised that small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to finance should be facilitated and that a legal and business environment supportive of timely payments in commercial transactions should be developed. It should be noted that public authorities have a special responsibility in this regard. The criteria for the definition of SMEs are set out in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (8). |
(7) |
One of the priority actions of the Commission Communication of 26 November 2008 entitled ‘European... |
More
This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.
This dossier is compiled each night drawing from aforementioned sources through automated processes. We have invested a great deal in optimising the programming underlying these processes. However, we cannot guarantee the sources we draw our information from nor the resulting dossier are without fault.
This page is also available in a full version containing the summary of legislation, de geconsolideerde versie, the legal context, de Europese rechtsgrond, other dossiers related to the dossier at hand, the related cases of the European Court of Justice and finally consultations relevant to the dossier at hand.
The full version is available for registered users of the EU Monitor by ANP and PDC Informatie Architectuur.
The EU Monitor enables its users to keep track of the European process of lawmaking, focusing on the relevant dossiers. It automatically signals developments in your chosen topics of interest. Apologies to unregistered users, we can no longer add new users.This service will discontinue in the near future.