On Tuesday 28 January, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Italy should have ensured that Italian public authorities respected the payment deadlines laid down in EU public procurement legislation (Case C-122/18).
The European Commission brought the action against Italy before the Court, after having been alerted by business organisations, because of the excessively long delays by Italian public authorities in paying invoices sent to them by companies in connection with public procurement.
The Late Payment Directive (2011/17) requires contracting authorities to pay their suppliers within 30 days, or more, depending on the specific circumstances, but never more than 60 days (see EUROPE 10214/9).
In its judgment, the Court rejects Italy's argument that the directive does not require member states to guarantee effective compliance with those periods by their public authorities in all circumstances. The Court believes that, in view of the large number of commercial transactions in which public authorities are the debtors of undertakings and the costs and difficulties created for undertakings by late payments, the EU legislature imposed increased obligations on Member States in this area.
The European Court also points out that interpreting the directive in such a way as to consider that public authorities do not engage the liability of the member state concerned when they are acting within a commercial relationship (de jure privatorum) would make the directive irrelevant.
Lastly, the fact that the situation involving late payments has improved in recent years could not prevent the Court from holding that Italy had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law at the time the case was referred to the Court in April 2017.
The European Commission welcomed the judgment, stressing that “the survival” of European businesses, especially SMEs, depended to a large extent on the timely payment of the invoices they issue.
Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy), a former EU Commissioner who took part in the inter-institutional negotiations, commented on Twitter that if Italy had complied with “my” directive, we wouldn't have a state in a highly indebted position and companies in difficulty.
To read the judgment, go to: http://bit.ly/2U9HWHg (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)