Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Added1a. In commercial transactions between undertakings, where expressly agreed in the contract, the payment period referred to in paragraph 1, may be extended up to 60 calendar days. [Am. 40]

RemovedArticle 17 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall ensure that invoice and credit management tools, including factoring and similar financing services, as well as financial literacy trainings and any other initiatives that tackle late payment are available and accessible to small and medium sized enterprises, including on the use of digital tools for timely payments.

Added1b. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in transactions between undertakings for the purchase of slow moving or seasonal goods, the payment period may be extended up to 120 calendar days from the date of the receipt of the invoice or an equivalent request for payment by the debtor, provided that the debtor has received the goods.

RemovedArticle 17 a (new): Article 17a / European Observatory of late payments / 1. The Commission shall set up an Observatory of Late Payment (The Observatory) by ... [OP: date of application of this Regulation]. / 2. The Observatory shall monitor payment as well as late payment practices within the Union in order to collect and share expertise, best practices and identify potential harmful practices, as well as effectiveness of enforcement authorities in carrying out their tasks, with a view to provide the Commission with advice and expertise on the evolution of payment and late payment practices. / 3. Member States shall communicate to the Observatory: / a) lists of goods and services subject to the procedure of acceptance or verification set out in Article 3(2). / b) aggregated data containing information referred to in Articles 13(3a), 14(1), 14(2) and 16a(3); / c) information regarding enforcement authorities, number of complaints and investigations and measures taken; / 4. The Observatory shall issue annual reports, opinions and written contributions related to the implementation of this Regulation, including the assessment and guidelines for the effective enforcement of this Regulation. / 5. The Observatory shall be chaired by the Commission and shall be composed of representatives of relevant experts and stakeholders. The composition of the board shall ensure a balanced representation of all interested stakeholders.

AddedPrior to the date of application of this Regulation, the Commission shall adopt and publish technical guidance documentation concerning the practical details for the application of this paragraph as regards the goods falling under the definition of slow moving goods laid down in Article 2(9b) and the definition of seasonal goods laid down in Article 2(9c). Such technical guidance documentation shall in particular address diverging payment practices put in place by different economic operators consisting in a risk of fragmentation of the internal market. [Am. 41]

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 1896/2006

Added2. A procedure of acceptance or verification, by which the conformity of the goods or services with the contract is to be ascertained, may be exceptionally provided for in national law only where strictly necessary due to the specific nature of the goods or services. In that case, the contract shall describe the details of the procedure of acceptance or verification, including its duration. [Am. 42]

RemovedArticle 17 b (new), Article 7, Article 12 and Article 16: Article 17b / Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 / Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 is amended as follows: / (1) Article 7 is amended as follows: / (a) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: / "5. The application shall be submitted electronically." / (b) paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: / "6. The application shall be signed electronically in accordance with Article [2(2)] of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market . This signature shall be recognized in the Member State of origin without any further conditions being imposed. Member States shall introduce alternative electronic communication systems that allow secure identification of users. In this case, an electronic signature shall not be required." / (2) Article 12(1) is replaced by the following: / "1. If the conditions set out in Article 8 are fulfilled, the court shall issue a European order for payment using form E as set out in Annex V within 14 days of the lodging of an application. In calculating the 14-day period, the time taken by the claimant to complete, correct or amend the application shall not be taken into account." / (3) Article 16(2) is replaced by the following: / "2. The statement of opposition shall be sent to the defendant within 14 days from the date of service of the order for payment."

Added3. Where the contract provides for a procedure of acceptance or verification, in accordance with paragraph 2, for the purposes of this Regulation, the maximum duration of that procedure shall not exceed 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the goods or services by the debtor, even if such goods or services are supplied prior to the issuance of the invoice or an equivalent request for payment. In this case, the debtor shall initiate the procedure for acceptance or verification immediately upon reception from the creditor of the goods and/or the services that are the object of the commercial transaction. The payment period shall not exceed 30 calendar days after such procedure has takenbeen concluded or after receipt of the invoice, or an equivalent request for payment, if the latter takes place later. [Am. 43]

RemovedRegulation (EC) No 861/2007

Added4. The payment period set out in paragraph 1, 1a and 1b is the maximum payment period and is without prejudice to a shorter period which may be provided for in national law. [Am. 44]

RemovedArticle 17 c (new), Article 7, Article 13 and Article 18: Article 17c / Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 / Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 is amended as follows: / (1) Article 7 is amended as follows: / (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: / "1. Within 14 days of receiving the defendant's or claimant's replies within the time limit laid down in Article 5(3) or (6), the court shall give judgment or proceed as follows: / (a) invite the parties to provide further information relating to the claim within a specified period, which shall not exceed 14 days; / (b) take evidence in accordance with Article 9; / (c) summon the parties to an oral hearing, which shall take place within 14 days of the summons." / (b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: / "2. Member States shall introduce alternative electronic communication systems that allow secure identification of users. In this case, an electronic signature shall not be required." / 2. In Article 13, the following paragraph is added: / "4a. The documents referred to in Article 5(2) and (6) and judgments given in accordance with Article 7 shall be served by electronic means from 1 January 2027. Service shall be evidenced by an acknowledgement of receipt stating the date of receipt. All correspondence other than that referred to in paragraph 1 between the court and the parties or other persons involved in the proceedings shall be transmitted by electronic means with acknowledgement of receipt. Member States shall provide the technical means necessary for this by 1 January 2…

Added4a. Member States shall introduce appropriate measures to improve public authorities payment practices towards undertakings. In this regard, Member States shall consider introducing measures to ensure that an undertaking which is a creditor within the meaning of Article 2(9) is able to obtain upon request to the public authority, which has not paid the amount due within the maximum payment period set out in paragraph 1, the offsetting of the amount due against any outstanding amount that the creditor has towards the same public authority. [Am. 45]

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 1: By [OP: please insert the date = 4 years after the entry into force of this Regulation] and every 3 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit a report on its implementation to the European Parliament and the Council.

AddedArticle 4 Payments to subcontractors in public procurement

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 1 a (new): The report shall assess the following: / (a) the impact of the scope as laid down in Article 1, including the impact on specific sectors and on specific business models; / (b) the impact of the measures implemented, in particular regarding the payment periods as laid down in Article 3, on increasing the cash flow and liquidity on the market; / (c) the effectiveness of the enforcement authorities as laid down in Articles 13, 14 and 15; / (d) the potential benefits, of introducing EU wide e-invoicing, to shortening payment periods on the market;

Added1. For public works contracts falling within the scope of Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU, and 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, contractors shall provide evidence to contracting authorities or contracting entities within the meaning of those Directives that, where applicable, they have paid their direct subcontractors involved in the execution of the contract within the deadlines and under the conditions set out in this Regulation. The evidence may take the form of a written declaration by the contractor and shall be provided by the contractor to the contracting authority or contracting entity prior to, or at the latest together with, any request for payment.

Change 2

ChangedArticle2. 18Where –the paragraphcontracting 1authority bor (new):contracting Memberentity Stateshas shallnot providereceived the Commissionevidence withas theprovided necessaryfor informationin forparagraph the1 preparationor has information of thata report,late includingpayment informationby regardingthe main contractor to its direct subcontractors, the investigations,contracting inspections,authority decisions,or proceedingscontracting andentity publicationsshall ofnotify the enforcement authoritiesauthority referredof toits inMember ArticleState 14(1).thereof without delay.

Change 3

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 1 c (new): The report shall include an evaluation of the impact of this Regulation on the commercial transactions and of the impact of the European Observatory of late payments on monitoring late payment practices in the EU.

AddedArticle 5 Interest for late payment

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 1 d (new): The report shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal, if necessary and appropriate.

Added1. In case of late payment, the debtor shall be liable to pay interest for late payment to the creditor, except where the debtor is not responsible for the payment delay. [Am. 46]

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 1 a (new): However, from [the date of application of this Regulation] until [24 months after the entry into force of this Regulation], it shall continue to apply to the situations where micro-undertakings referred to in Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/34/EU and self-employed are debtors.

Added2. Interest for late payment shall be automatically due by the debtor to the creditor, without the creditor needing to send a reminder, where the following conditions are satisfied:

RemovedArticle 20 – paragraph 2: 2. It shall apply from [OP: please insert the date = 18 months after the date of entry into force of this Regulation], subject to Article 19, second subparagraph.

Added(a) the creditor has fulfilled its contractual obligations and obligations provided for by law;