MEPs adopted, on Tuesday 23 April, their position on the Late Payment Regulation, which is set to replace the directive currently in force. The text was adopted by a large majority (459 votes in favour, 96 against and 54 abstentions) despite a series of amendments tabled that called into question the text adopted by the Committee on the Internal Market (IMCO) (see EUROPE 13375/21).
Of these amendments, only one was adopted: the introduction of an exception for the book sector, which could be completely exempted from the regulation. According to two parliamentary sources, several representatives of French interests in this sector have been lobbying MPs hard in recent weeks.
Questioned by Agence Europe, the rapporteur of the text, Róża Thun Und Hohenstein (Renew Europe, Polish), expressed her disappointment at the adoption of this exemption, supported by several members of her own group: “I can only congratulate the book sector lobbyists, that they managed to win so many votes. I would have preferred that they stick to the terms we have proposed, I don’t think that would have been harmful to the book sector”.
Ms Thun Und Hohenstein called on the EU Council to adopt the text quickly, stressing its importance for SMEs. Her Greens/EFA colleague Claude Gruffat was satisfied with the adoption of the text as a whole. “Even if everything isn’t perfect, it’s a great satisfaction”, he said.
Parliament’s position offers flexibility to corporate debtors, in that the 30-day deadline can be extended by a further 30 days by contract. In addition, the delay is automatically extended to 120 days for slow-moving or seasonal products.
The SME envoy for SMEUnited said he was satisfied with the compromise adopted in plenary, which, for him, provided clarity.
EuroCommerce, on the other hand, was disappointed with the vote: “Dictating payment terms that apply to the whole economy does not work. The decisions on which payment terms to use must remain with the businesses that know their trade-offs in a negotiation”, said the EuroCommerce Director General ,Christel Delberghe. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)