In the context of the June infringements package disclosed today in Brussels, the European Commission has issued letters of formal notice to Portugal and Slovakia for failing to comply with their obligations under the directive on late payments, as confirmed by the European Court of Justice.
A year ago, Brussels called on these two countries to meet their obligations under this EU legislation. However, the measures announced by Portugal and Slovakia since the rulings have not sufficiently improved the resolution of the issue, the institution states.
Portugal and Slovakia now have two months to respond and address the deficiencies highlighted by the European Commission. Failing to provide a satisfactory response could result in proceedings moving to the EU Court of Justice and potentially lead to financial sanctions.
The directive in question mandates that public authorities pay their invoices within 30 days (60 days for authorities providing healthcare).
“Late payments negatively impact businesses, reducing liquidity, hindering growth, and weakening resilience. Additionally, they limit a company’s ability to adopt greener practices and embrace digital transformation,” explains Brussels.
The institution emphasizes that “businesses, especially SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], rely on regular payments to operate and pay their employees.”
Furthermore, under the June infringements, the European Commission has initiated another infringement procedure against Portugal, alongside Belgium, to implement electronic customs systems.
According to the EU executive, these two countries have not adopted the temporary storage system for air transport, and in Portugal’s case, the national import system has also not been implemented.
“Member States were required to establish and operationalize these systems, ensuring the full migration of the relevant economic operators’ systems by December 31, 2023,” the institution recalls, noting, however, “deficiencies” that need to be addressed within two months.
These systems are aimed at supervising goods entering the EU.
