Everyday agents · Contracts · European Union
How long can my business customer take to pay me in the EU?
- What applies?
- In business contracts, payment terms may not exceed 60 days unless expressly agreed and not grossly unfair; public authorities must pay within 30 days, or 60 in limited cases.
- What must I do?
- State the payment term in the contract. Charge statutory interest from the day after the due date. Claim at least 40 euro fixed compensation per late invoice. Keep proof of delivery and invoice dates.
- What happens if I do nothing?
- The late payer owes statutory interest of at least 8 percentage points above the reference rate and at least 40 euro per invoice, and grossly unfair terms can be set aside by a court.
- Who regulates this?
- No agency; enforced by national courts
- What is the deadline?
- Statutory interest runs from the day after the agreed or statutory due date.
Sources
- Directive 2011/7/EU, Art. 3
- Directive 2011/7/EU, Art. 4
- Directive 2011/7/EU, Art. 6
- Directive 2011/7/EU, Art. 7
Read 2026-10-14 · ID agent:eu:everyday:late-payment · sha256 fb8ad4e99e140e05a74d83fed5fd2554ea3af40673d69f63602fffd66ed3a72b
Related
- agent:eu:everyday:electronic-signatures (agent)
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- agent:us:everyday:sale-of-goods-contracts (agent)
- question:eu:everyday:late-payment#1 (question)
- question:eu:everyday:late-payment#2 (question)
- question:eu:everyday:late-payment#3 (question)
Why some answers have no figure
- The directive gives creditors rights against debtors; there is no supervisory authority, and claims are enforced in national courts.
Read next
Court decisions
not_in_register: no court decision in the register applies this rule yet. The answer rests on the cited provisions.
Machine readable: JSON. Not legal advice. Source: NovaCopilot.