Business-to-Business Transactions: A Comparative Analysis of Legal Measures versus Soft-law Instruments for Improving Payment Behaviour

The aim of the research is to provide the European Commission service – the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) with recommendations created in accordance with covered research objectives.

The research defines and evaluates the difficulties with unfair and late payment policies in commercial relations between undertakings (B2B).

The research provides overview of the situation in seven sectors:

  • Construction;
  • Retail and wholesale;
  • Manufacturing;
  • IT/software/Telecommunications;
  • Food and drinks;
  • Utilities and transport;
  • Business and professional services

With the aim to build a responsible payment culture in the EU Member States and for the sake of efficiency, an in-depth assessment of measures, both regulatory and voluntary, have been evaluated and identified the best practices introduced in the EU Member States.

The report is available on the website of the Office of the European Union.