Brussels, 28/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - A decisive conciliation meeting is taking place on Wednesday between the Council and European Parliament on the draft directive aimed at strengthening the fight against late payments in commercial transactions, an issue of particular importance for small and medium-term enterprises. One of the main goals of the amendments adopted on second reading was precisely to ensure better protection against abuses from which SMEs suffer (see EUROPE of 20/21 December 1999, page 14), SMEs for which governments never stop stressing their essential role in job-creation.
The conciliation procedure launched early March (See EUROPE of 9 March, p.9) had revealed that certain differences remained. Parliament intends to strengthen the "anti-abuse" clauses in the directive; regarding SMEs, the obligation not to exceed payment deadlines regarded as "normal", especially on the part of large companies and public companies, must be affirmed.