Spain’s compliance with the Late Payments Directive during the COVID-19 crisis
20.7.2020
Question for written answer E-004306/2020
to the Commission
Rule 138
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (NI), Antoni Comín i Oliveres (NI), Clara Ponsatí Obiols (NI)
As on March 2020, 122 000 SMEs had closed down due to the coronavirus lockdown in Spain. Half a million more may go bankrupt due to delays in payments by their suppliers, which puts the payment chain and the solvency of other companies at risk [1] .
Most of the SMEs that wanted to survive this crisis had to ask for a loan instead of having their invoices paid.
On 6 July 2020, a proposal to introduce economic sanctions on debtors into law was rejected by People’s Party and socialist MPs in the Spanish Parliament [2] .
In its answer to written question E-001763/2020, the Commission states that an infringement procedure for the alleged violation of the Late Payment Directive by Spain was opened in 2015, with no clear result.
The Spanish Government also owes high debts to regional governments [3] , which affect their financial sustainability and have an impact on the supply chain.
- 1.Can the Commission say what is the state of this infringement procedure?
- 2.Can it provide details on the specific actions taken by the Spanish authorities to cooperate with this procedure?
- 3.How does it plan to make the Next Generation EU recovery package [4] conditional on compliance with the Late Payments Directive?
- [1] https://www.expansion.com/economia/2020/06/07/5edd5dd9468aebd0738b4584.html
- [2] https://www.europapress.es/economia/macroeconomia-00338/noticia-plataforma-contra-morosidad-pide-congreso-incluir-regimen-sancionador-plan-reconstruccion-20200706134636.html
- [3] https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2019/08/22/5d5d8c0e21efa05d3e8b4662.html
- [4] https://www.ft.com/content/e9280a42-0f67-4388-ac88-ef8b1a85afe9