Activities of Małgorzata HANDZLIK related to 2009/0054(COD)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating late payment in commercial transactions (recast) PDF (458 KB) DOC (662 KB)
Amendments (22)
Amendment 10 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) SurveysExperience shows that public authorities often require contractual payment periods for commercial transactions that areare often significantly longer than 30 days. Therefore, payment periods for procurement contracts awarded by public authorities should be as a general rule limitin commercial transactions should be as a general rule limited to a maximum of 30 days; in cases where longer payment periods are duly justified in accordance with the principle of necessity or with special provisions of national law and where an explicit agreement has been made between the debtor and the creditor, the payment period could be extended to a maximum of 360 days.
Amendment 18 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3
Article 3
Amendment 26 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – title
Article 5 – title
Amendment 29 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Member States shall ensure that, in commercial transactions leading to the delivery of goods or the provision of services for remuneration to public authorities, the creditor is entitled, without the necessity of a reminder, to interest for late payment equal to statutory interest if the following conditions are satisfied:
Amendment 32 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) SurveysExperience shows that public authorities often require contractual payment periods for commercial transactions that areare often significantly longer than 30 days. Therefore, payment periods for procurement contracts awarded by public authorities should be as a general rule limitin commercial transactions should be as a general rule limited to a maximum of 30 days; in cases where longer payment periods are duly justified in accordance with the principle of necessity or with special provisions of national law and where an explicit agreement has been made between the debtor and the creditor, the payment period could be extended to a maximum of 360 days.
Amendment 38 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Late payment is particularly regrettable if it occurs despite the debtor’s solvency, regardless of whether the debtor is a public authority or a private undertaking. Surveys show that public authorities often pay invoices very late after expiration of the applicable payment period. Public, despite the fact that those authorities may face lighter financing constraints because they may benefit from more secure, predictable and continuous revenue streams than private undertakings. At the same time, they depend less than private undertakings on building stable commercial relationships for the achievement of their aims. Consequently, public authorities may have less incentive to pay on time. In addition, many public authorities can obtain financing at more attractive conditions than private undertakings. Therefore, lLate payment by public authorities not only leads to unjustified costs for private undertakings, but to inefficiency in general. It is therefore appropriate to introduce correspondingly higher dissuasive compensation in case ofHowever, a significant proportion of commercial transactions – particularly those involving small and medium-sized undertakings – are carried out on a business-to-business basis. Accordingly, measures to deter late payment by both public authorities and private undertakings should be introduced in order to improve the current situation.
Amendment 42 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall ensure that: (a) the period for payment fixed in the contract shall not exceed the time limits provided for in paragraph 2(b), unless it is duly justified in accordance with the principle of necessity or in accordance with special provisions laid down by national law and unless it is specifically agreed between the debtor and the creditor, and is duly justified in the light of particular circumstances such as an objective need to schedule payment over a longer periodn any event never exceeds 60 days; (b) the date of receipt of the invoice is not subject to a contractual agreement between debtor and creditor. Member States may, if necessary, deviate from the requirements laid down in paragraph (a) in cases of arrangements for payment by instalments or staggered payments which have been specifically agreed between the debtor and the creditor.
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall ensure that when interest for late payment becomes payable, the creditor is entitled to a lump sum compensation payments amounting to: (a) compensation equal to 52% of the amount due. This compensation shall be additional to the interest for late payment. from the date interest becomes payable; (b) compensation equal to 5% of the amount due after 30 days from the date interest becomes payable. Or. en (The original COM-AM is split into (a) and (b))
Amendment 47 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17 a (new)
Recital 17 a (new)
(17a) A particular cause for concern in connection with late payment is the situation of health services in a large number of Member States. However, the healthcare sector’s problems cannot be solved overnight, because the difficulties experienced by healthcare establishments stem from inherited debt burdens. Healthcare establishments should therefore be afforded greater flexibility in meeting their commitments. Member States should nonetheless make every effort to ensure that payments in the healthcare sector are made within the contractual payment periods.
Amendment 49 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 6 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 6 – introductory part
6. Member States shall ensure that the applicable reference rate in commercial transactions leading to the delivery of goods or the provision of services for remuneration to public authorities:
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – point 4
Article 2 – point 4
(4) “late payment” means failure to pay within the period of payment specified in Article 3(2) or Article 5(2);
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3
Article 3
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Member States shall ensure that, when interest for late payment becomes payable in commercial transactions in accordance with Articles 3 and 5 and unless otherwise specified in the contract, the creditor is entitled to obtain from the debtor any of the following amounts:
Amendment 109 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – points a, b and c
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – points a, b and c
(a) for a debt of less than EUR 10 000, a fixed sum of EUR 40; (b) for a debt of EUR 10 000 or more, but less than EUR 10 000, a fixed sum of EUR 70; (c) for a debt of EUR 10 000 or more, a sum equivalent to 1% of the amount for which interest for late payment becomes payablea fixed sum of EUR 100.
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – title
Article 5 – title
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Member States shall ensure that, in commercial transactions leading to the delivery of goods or the provision of services for remuneration to public authorities, the creditor is entitled, without the necessity of a reminder, to interest for late payment equal to statutory interest if the following conditions are satisfied:
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. For public health institutions and public medico-social institutions, the time limits referred to in Article 5(2)(b)(i), (ii) and (iii) shall be sixty days.
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall ensure that: (a) the period for payment fixed in the contract shall not exceed the time limits provided for in paragraph 2(b), unless it is duly justified in accordance with the principle of necessity or in accordance with special provisions laid down by national law and unless it is specifically agreed between the debtor and the creditor, and is duly justified in the lightn any event never exceeds 60 days. (b) Member States may, if necessary, deviate from the requirements laid down in paragraph (a) in cases of arrangements ofn particular circumstances such as an objective need to schedule payment over a longer periodyment by instalments or staggered payments which have been specifically agreed between the debtor and the creditor. (c) Member States shall ensure that the date of receipt of the invoice is not subject to a contractual agreement between debtor and creditor.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall ensure that when interest for late payment becomes payable, the creditor is entitled to a lump sumcompensation payments amounting to: (a) compensation equal to 52 % of the amount due. This compensation shall be additional to the interest for late payment from the date when interest becomes payable; (b) compensation equal to 5 % of the amount due after 30 days from the date when interest becomes payable.
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 5 a (new)
(5a) The amount of the compensation referred to in paragraph 5 shall not exceed EUR 50 000.
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 6
Article 5 – paragraph 6
6. Member States shall ensure that the applicable reference rate in commercial transactions leading to the delivery of goods or the provision of services for remuneration to public authorities:
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7a The Commission shall publish in the Official Journal and on the Internet details of the current statutory rates of interest applying in all the Member States in the event of late payment in commercial transactions.