Europese ombudsman onderzoekt opnieuw problemen m.b.t late betalingen Europese Commissie (en)

EO/09/5

9 March 2009

Ombudsman follows up on problems of late payment by the Commission

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has opened a new investigation into the timeliness of payments by the European Commission. This follows complaints he received from companies, associations, NGOs, universities and other organisations involved in EU-funded projects and contracts. The Ombudsman wants to find out which measures the Commission has taken recently to tackle late payment problems.

This investigation is a follow-up to the last late payment investigation which the Ombudsman closed in July 2008. At that time, the Ombudsman found that, although progress had been made, the Commission still encountered serious problems making payments on time. He decided to open this new investigation in order to take into account new figures reflecting the Commission's performance in 2008.

Background

Over the last seven years, the Ombudsman has investigated more than 30 late payment complaints from NGOs, companies, research centres, universities and other associations. Accordingly, in December 2007, he opened an investigation into late payment problems within the Commission. The investigation was closed in July 2008.

The Ombudsman found that, in 2007, delays occurred in more than one out of every five cases. More than 22 % of all payments made by the Commission involved delays.

At the same time, the Ombudsman commended the Commission for the measures already taken to reduce payment delays, namely, simplifying procedures and ensuring better internal monitoring. He noted that, between 2005 and 2007, the Commission managed to halve the percentage of cases in which payment was late. He also applauded the decision to pay interest automatically when payment has been delayed.

He called, however, for further improvements to be effected as quickly as possible, especially as regards more vulnerable contractors, such as individual citizens and small- and medium-sized companies.

In his new investigation, the Ombudsman has asked the Commission to provide updated information on the results and steps taken in 2008 to tackle the problems related to late payment. The Commission should submit its opinion by 31 May 2009.

To read the opening letter of the inquiry, please go to:

http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/cases/correspondence.faces/en/3821/html.bookmark