Commission: Refers Greece to the European Court of Justice for delayed payments by hospitals

The Commission referred Greece to the European Court of Justice for the improper implementation of the Late Payments Directive (Directive 2011/7/EU).

In particular, as stated in a Commission announcement, the referral is due to the “wrong practices” of the Greek state hospitals towards their suppliers.

These hospitals do not honor the obligation to pay their debts immediately when suppliers agree to waive their rights to interest, contrary to existing law, he adds.

The Directive obliges public authorities to pay their invoices within 30 days or within 60 days for public Health Authorities.

“Late payments have a negative impact on businesses as they reduce their liquidityprevent growth, harm resilience and potentially hinder their efforts to become greener and more digital.

In today’s economic context, businesses and especially SMEs rely on regular payments to operate and invest.

The Commission considers that the efforts made by the authorities so far have been insufficient and for this reason it is referring Greece to the Court of Justice of the EU”, notes the announcement.

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