| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2013) 449 final (26.6.13) |
| Publication Date | 26/06/2013 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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A shift towards paperless public administration, particularly in its cross-border dimension, is an important objective for the European Union and the Member States. E-invoicing is a particularly promising area to help achieve this objective. The widely-acknowledged benefits of e-invoicing have led several EU Member States (Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Finland) to require the submission of e-invoices in public procurement in all or part of the public sector. However, these bottom-up initiatives are for the most part based on national standards, most of which are not interoperable. As such, they lead to an increase in complexity and costs for firms wishing to participate in cross-border procurement, and thereby generate market access barriers. The overall result is that the adoption of e-invoicing in Europe is still very limited, accounting for 4 to 15% of all invoices exchanged. An initiative in the area of e-invoicing in public procurement would prevent the further fragmentation of the internal market and facilitate the uptake of e-invoicing. Considering the fact that public procurement covered by the Public Procurement Directives represents roughly 3.7% of EU GDP, the implementation of an initiative aimed at eliminating market access barriers in e-invoicing in public procurement would make the public sector a 'lead market' in this area and spearhead its wider use in the economy. Over the last couple of years, a significant number of actors have called for action at the European level to stimulate the e-invoicing market across the EU, especially with regards to the exchange of invoices by governments. In the Communication "Reaping the benefits of e-invoicing for Europe", the Commission has called for e-invoicing to become the predominant invoicing mode in the EU by 2020. In a resolution in April 2012, the European Parliament called for making e-invoicing compulsory in public procurement by 2016, while Member States have called for measures to promote e-invoicing at the Informal Competitiveness Council of February 2012 and in the European Council Conclusions of June 2012. The occasion therefore seems ripe to undertake the proposed initiative on e-invoicing in public procurement and effectively remove the market access barriers caused by insufficient e-invoicing interoperability. A proposal in this area would also complement the on-going modernisation of EU public procurement rules, a key action under the “Single Market Act I”, in particular with regard to the proposals on a full transition to e-procurement. Finally, action on promoting the uptake of e-invoicing in public procurement is seen by the Commission as a priority. This is reflected in the inclusion of an initiative on e-invoicing in public procurement in the “Single Market Act II” as one of its Key Actions. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2013:449:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry, Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
