In a ruling handed down on Thursday 5 June (Case C-543/24), the Court of Justice of the European Union condemned Belgium for failing to fulfil its obligations under the directive (2011/7) governing late payment in commercial transactions.
The European Court finds that the Federal Government, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region had not complied with the payment deadline set at 30 calendar days after the date of receipt of an invoice (Article 3 of the directive).
On the other hand, the Court rejects the complaint based on the infringement of the provisions providing for compensation for the recovery costs to which a creditor may be exposed in the event of late payment by the debtor (Article 6). It ruled that the Commission’s action was inadmissible on this point, insofar as the letter of formal notice that initiated the procedure did not mention this complaint.
The complaint based on late payment by the municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region was also rejected, as the Commission’s letter of formal notice did not mention the municipal level.
See the judgment of the Court of Justice: https://aeur.eu/f/h7i (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)