The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union, because it does not correctly apply the rules of the Late Payments Directive (Directive 2011/7/EU).
As the Commission states:
Late payments negatively impact businesses by reducing their liquidity, preventing their growth, hampering their resilience and potentially derailing their drive to become greener and more digital. In today’s economic environment, businesses — and especially SMEs — rely on regular payments to operate and invest.
The Late Payments Directive obliges public authorities to pay their invoices within 30 days (or 60 days for health authorities). Public authorities, by meeting these payment deadlines, set an example to combat the late payment mentality.
The Commission is referring Greece to the Court of Justice of the EU over the practices of Greek public hospitals regarding payments to their suppliers, which are in breach of the Late Payments Directive. These hospitals do not comply with the obligation to pay their debts promptly when suppliers agree to waive their rights to interest, in violation of established case law.
In November 2023 the Commission had already referred Greece to the Court of Justice of the EU for another late payment case, which concerned excessive late payments by Greek public hospitals (INFR(2019)2298). Payment delays by public hospitals hamper the competitiveness and resilience of businesses operating in the health sector, especially SMEs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these businesses played a key role in quickly resupplying hospitals, helping them stay operational.
Record
Late payments cause administrative and financial burdens, which are particularly acute when businesses and customers are located in different EU countries. Inevitably, cross-border trade is affected. To tackle this problem, Directive 2011/7/EU on combating late payments in commercial transactions introduced strict measures which, when properly implemented by EU countries, make a significant contribution to employment, growth and improved liquidity of businesses.
Member States have a particular responsibility to ensure that public authorities pay on time for the goods and services they procure. The Commission is supporting Member States to enforce the provisions of the Directive more effectively, including implementing stronger monitoring and enforcement tools. Currently, the Commission is setting up a European Payments Observatory for Trade Transactions, as announced in the Industrial Strategy Update adopted in May 2021. In addition, in September 2023 the Commission also presented a review of the Late Payments Directive, alongside proposal for a regulation to combat late payments in commercial transactions. This review is part of a series of initiatives to address the needs of SMEs, as announced by the President of the Commission in her State of the Union address in 2022. The review aims to address regulatory gaps and gaps, promote more timely payments and in achieving a better balance between large and small operators.
Source: Reporter.gr
