Conciliation Committee convened on late payments Directive

United Kingdom

The Council having not been able to accept all the amendments to the common position on the draft directive on late payments voted by the European Parliament, a conciliation committee was called on 28 February, in accordance with provisions for the co-decision procedure of the Treaty (Article 251).

In its second reading on 16 December, Parliament had introduced amendments to cut down the period during which interest payments are due (from 30 to 21 days). MEPs also sought to re-insert provisions about property reservation and others applying to compensation for recovery costs.

The original proposal dates back to 24 April 1998 (COM (98) 126). The Council’s Common Position was adopted on 29 July, and provided for longer periods of 60 days for some contracts to be further defined in national law. (Council Press Release, 28/2/00, No 6450/00)