§ Baroness Chalker of Wallaseyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list the actions taken by government departments to secure payments by the European Commission to British firms, especially consultants, for work authorised by the European Commission and satisfactorily completed; and whether they have expressed concern at the present delays in payment. [HL3380]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Simon of Highbury)The Government are committed to changing the payment culture that exists in the UK. We are working closely with the European Commission and other member states to ensure that small businesses are paid promptly both in domestic and European markets.
The European Commission has since 1991 a target of paying all bills within 60 days. I understand that in order to improve its payment performance the European Commission decided on 10 June 1997 to pay interest on all payments which are made after more than 60 days. This is in line with the proposed directive issued by the Commission to combat late payment in cross border transactions.
In addition, the Small Firms Minister, Barbara Roche, has a standing offer to follow up individual cases of late payment to small businesses by the public sector including the European Commission. She would be pleased to receive details of appropriate cases which are not in dispute or the subject of legal proceedings.