Subject files - Late Payments Regulation - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

The report aims to improve the payment culture among all actors and boost competitiveness, in particular for SMEs. It puts in place stricter maximum payment terms of 30 days in both B2B and G2B transactions, where the public authority is the debtor, thus, standardising timely payments among companies and authorities. MEPs want to ensure companies have the flexibility to negotiate terms of up to 60 calendar days in B2B transactions, as long as it is expressly agreed in the contract. For the retail sector, payment terms of up to 120 days are proposed.

The Rapporteur said "Unreliable cash flows can jeopardize SMEs and micro-enterprises, limiting growth, innovation and EU's competitiveness. With this regulation, we are not only protecting the smaller companies, which are the backbone of our economy, but above all, we introduce predictability and fairness for all European companies. It is a major push towards fostering a better payment culture, beneficial for the entire European economy".