Online event
The Draghi report published in September analyses what is standing in the way of SMEs from becoming the engine of European competitiveness. Challenged by regulatory burdens, struggling to innovate and embrace the technology advances they need, SMEs cannot make the “big step” and scale up. There is a red line linking all these problems: cash. SMEs rely on payments made regularly and within fair terms. For SMEs, even one single invoice paid late can make the difference between survival and growth. Late payments affect businesses’ liquidity, hampering their ability to cover their operational costs but also preventing them from properly planning for the future and investing on development and sustainability. For an SME, being paid on time in the EU is still – unfortunately – hit or miss, as barely 50% of payments in commercial transactions are paid on time.
We are in a pivotal moment to change the late payments tide thanks to new technological developments that enable payment automation, the increased salience of the issue and the recent European Commission proposal for a new regulation. However, the latest data shows that payment performance across the EU worsened in 2023.
During this session, the 2024 Annual report of the EU Payment Observatory will be presented providing an overview of the status of late payments in the EU. It will be followed by a panel debate examining the consequences of delayed payments and discussing strategies for driving meaningful change that will make SMEs the drivers of EU competitiveness.
