Payment times between professionals

Payment terms between professionals are governed by Article L.441-6 of the Commercial Code which sets at 30 days from receipt of the goods or performance of the service requested, the payment period applicable in 'absence of contrary provisions agreed by the parties. The parties may agree to a period which may not however exceed sixty days from the date of issue of the invoice or, by derogation, forty-five days end of the month from the date of issue of the invoice under reserve that this period is expressly stipulated by contract and that it does not constitute a manifest abuse with regard to the creditor.

For certain sectors such as road transport of goods or the rental of vehicles, the agreed payment terms may in no case exceed thirty days from the date of issue of the invoice.

The framework for payment deadlines for commercial transactions has been common to all Member States of the European Union since the adoption of Directive 2011/7 / EU of February 16, 2011 on the fight against late payment in transactions. commercial[I], late payment being a widespread practice in Europe.

Despite the improvement in payment conditions in France, the rules relating to the control and sanctioning of cases of non-compliance with payment deadlines are intended to be increasingly severe over the course of the reforms. The DGCCRF, which has the power to directly sanction in the matter, was set as an objective in 2017 by the Minister of the Economy of « maintain sustained control pressure in this area, to reach the threshold of 2 controls carried out in mainland France and in the overseas departments and territories ”[ii]. The increase in the number of checks has been accompanied by an increase in the severity of penalties.

While the Hamon law[iii] capped the administrative fine at an amount of 375 euros for legal entities, the Sapin II law[iv] increased this amount to 2 million euros. Added to this is the practice of Name and Shame implemented by the Sapin II law and which imposes the systematic publication of administrative sanctions on various media depending on the circumstances such as the website of the DGCCRF, that of the company sanctioned or of press organizations. The vote of an amendment to the PACTE bill during its examination in 1rd reading to the National Assembly reinforces the dissuasive nature of this device by introducing the obligation for companies to publish, at their own expense, information about their conviction in the local press.

 

[I] European Parliament and Council, Directive on the fight against late payment in commercial transactions, February 16, 2011, n ° 2011/7 / EU

[ii] Observatory of payment deadlines, Annual Report 2017, Banque de France, p.79

[iii]  Law n ° 2014-344 of March 17, 2014 relating to consumption

[iv] Law n ° 2016-1691 of December 9, 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life

Pierre_de_Montalembert

Pierre de Montalembert

Partner

With 40 years of experience working as a lawyer in business law, Pierre de Montalembert mainly advises companies but also a few foundations and individuals.