Infringement decisions: the Commission pursuing legal action against Romania which have not yet transposed the rules on electronic invoicing in public procurement

In its monthly package of infringement decisions, the European Commission (‘Commission’) is pursuing legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. These decisions, covering various sectors and EU policy areas, aim to ensure the proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses.

e-Invoicing: Commission calls on 12 Member States to transpose new rules

On 21 May 2019, the Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to 12 Member States (Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) that have not yet transposed EU rules on electronic invoicing in public procurement (Directive 2014/55/EU)) or implemented the European e-Invoicing standard.

By 17 April 2019, public authorities engaging in public procurement in the EU should have complied with the European standard on e-Invoicing and been able to receive and process electronic invoices accordingly.

The EU standard helps to ensure the timely and automatic processing of companies’ e-Invoices and payments, makes it easier for companies to manage their contracts in any Member State and raises the attractiveness of public procurement for businesses.

To help Member States with the implementation of the new standard, the Commission invested over €33 million in grant funding to support the uptake of innovative e-Invoicing solutions, such as end-to-end automation, robotics and the use of artificial intelligence, including through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) on the e-Invoicing Building Block.

The 12 Member States have two months to respond to the arguments raised by the Commission; otherwise, the Commission may decide to send a reasoned opinion to them. In the meantime, the Commission stands ready to continue to help Member States in this process.