PUBLIC PROCUREMENT : MEPS BACK E-INVOICES.

Three-way talks may soon be held on a proposal for a directive concerning online invoicing in public procurement(1). After getting the go-ahead from the Competitiveness Council, on 2 December 2012, the members of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) green-lighted it on 17 December. They unanimously adopted a legislative report from Birgit Collin-Langen (EPP, Germany) and gave her the mandate to open negotiations with the Council and Commission. Collin-Langen welcomed the news. "This directive gets us one step closer towards a digital internal market." She added, "This vote gives us a solid mandate for our negotiations in the three-way meeting"..

Nevertheless, different, legal demands and technical standards - that are mostly national and not interoperable -a are hindering the development of e-invoicing. As requested by the European Parliament and Council in April 2012, the Commission has proposed to implement a European e-invoicing standard to be supervised by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). The Commission also suggests making e-invoicing mandatory for public buyers provided it complies with the common norms established by that point.

MEPs have also proposed to let the invoice issuer choose whether to send a paper or electronic invoice and have stressed the need to implement an open and technologically neutral system. They intend to...

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