EU Governments could face fines for late payments

Late payment is a major drain on the European economy and the cause of 1 in 4 bankruptcies, wiping out an estimated 450 000 jobs every year. Small businesses are most vulnerable because they depend on timely receipts to maintain cash flows, especially now banks are reluctant to issue loans.

The European Commission has drafted legislation introducing tougher penalties against late payments.

Under the proposed directive, authorities – and publicly funded bodies – would face a 5% fine for bills that aren’t paid within 30 days. They would also have to pay interest on the amount due and compensate businesses for costs incurred trying to collect late payments.

Full details are available from the press release here.

Use of Public-Private Partnerships for initiatives in the European Economic Recovery Plan

The European Commission has published a press release regarding the implementation of the research elements of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the "Factories of the Future", "Energy-efficient Buildings" and "Green Cars" initiatives included in the European Economic Recovery Plan.

The press release outlines the following advantages that it is believed the PPP approach will lead to:

“In the PPP approach, we see the following advantages:

• a leading role for industry in the definition of the strategic priorities and the implementation of the research;
• a multi-annual integrated work programme with a pre-defined budget, ensuring continuity and allowing industry to make long-term investment plans,
• a cross-thematic approach going from basic and applied research through to validation and large-scale demonstration, with an increased emphasis on impact and exploitation; and
• increased opportunities to support innovation in SMEs.”

The full press release is available here.