Ex-post evaluation of Late Payment Directive

This is the final report of the evaluation of the Late Payment Directive 2011/7/EU. The study considers the following evaluation dimensions: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and complementarity, and EU added value. The Directive continues to be relevant and it is generally considered efficient with significant value added for industry stakeholders. Indeed, almost 80% of companies have experienced late payments in the last three years. The Directive does not impose any significant costs to businesses or public authorities. However, there is little evidence that the Directive has had an impact on payment behaviour and the practice of late payment to date. Furthermore, exercise of the rights conferred by the Directive is not widespread due to fear of damaging good business relationships. Rather than legislation, business culture, economic conditions and power imbalances in the market are the driving factors of payment behaviour. Nevertheless, the Directive has been successful in bringing the issue of late payments to the forefront of the political agenda in Europe. Several Member States have implemented soft measures, which have been effective in supporting the objectives of the Directive. Facilitating an exchange of best practices among Member States could enhance diffusion of such practices across the EU. In addition, further guidance on a number of provisions of the Directive would provide clarity, which would facilitate application and enforcement. Finally, harmonised measurement of the incidence and length of late payments across MS would permit monitoring of progress in achieving the goals of the Directive.