2011/7/EU Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 (EU-DIRECTIVES)

on combating late payment in commercial transactions Text with EEA relevance The aim of this Directive is stated to be ‘to combat late payment in commercial transactions, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, thereby fostering the competitiveness of undertakings and in particular of SMEs.’ In its recitals it mentions that in ‘the context of enhanced efforts to prevent the abuse of freedom of contract to the detriment of creditors, organisations officially recognised as representing undertakings and organisations with a legitimate interest in representing undertakings should be able to take action before national courts or administrative bodies in order to prevent the continued use of contract terms or practices which are grossly unfair to the creditor.’ (recital 29)