Brussels, 23/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - A new EU directive will breathe new life into e-invoicing by public authorities in the domain of public procurement. On Friday 24 January, Coreper endorsed a provisional agreement on e-invoicing reached last week by the European Parliament and the Greek Presidency. Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier welcomed the shift from paper invoices to a fully automated system that will slash costs and combat fraud. The agreement notes that common standards shall be developed and tested by civil services over the next three years in order to harmonise the divergent invoicing systems. Central governments will then have 18 months to adjust to the new rules. Regional authorities will have a longer transition period. They will have 30 months after the official publication of the new rules to change to e-invoicing. The talks were dominated by the transition periods (the minsters wanted longer). E-invoicing is a key element in updating civil services, enabling them to save time and money, and is also crucial to help small businesses gain access to public procurement. At resent, only 15% of invoices in Europe are e-invoices, but wider use of electronic bills could lead to savings of up to €2.3 billion a year. (MD/transl.fl)