The European Commission is referring Italy to the Court of Justice in Strasbourg for late payments by the public administration to companies, which violate EU rules. Indeed, according to a 2001 directive, public administrations must pay for goods and services purchased within 30 days or, in exceptional circumstances, within 60 days of receiving the invoice. And any late payment entitles you to default interest and a minimum of 40 euros as compensation for recovery costs.
The Brussels lens on this issue is nothing new. The EU opened infringement proceedings against Italy three years ago and last February sent a further warning to Rome. All useless: despite "the efforts made", according to Brussels the average payment times of the Italian PA remains at "100 days", moreover "with peaks that can be significantly higher". So in the end the referral to the Court of Justice was triggered.
The European Commission explains in a note that the regulation on payments of the Public Administration is of "great importance" and it is therefore necessary that the rules are strictly respected. "Punctuality of payments is particularly important for SMEs - explains Brussels - who trust in a positive cash flow to ensure their financial management, their competitiveness and, in many cases, their survival".
The Community Executive "recognizes the efforts made by the Italian government" in recent years "to improve the situation following the start of the infringement procedure with a letter of formal notice in June 2014 and the subsequent sending of the reasoned opinion in February 2017" . However, the measures taken so far have not been sufficient.
