Question 18105 — businesses

Summary

Mr. Olivier Gaillard draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy and Finance to the difficulties encountered by certain economic actors in obtaining payment of their invoices by central and decentralized public administrations, but also by large groups, within the legal deadlines set by law. A strain on cash flow, failure to meet these payment deadlines can have dramatic consequences for small and medium-sized businesses, and lead them to file for bankruptcy. More than ten years after the implementation of the law to modernize the economy (LME) and while several texts have further strengthened the policy of controlling payment deadlines, the figures in this area are still very mediocre. However, local authorities and public establishments can, potentially, receive electronic invoices from some of their suppliers. The payment of systematic default interest in the event of late payment by public establishments has also been introduced. In fact, the problem is far from having become anecdotal. Many public administrations, state and local authorities, still do not respect the maximum legal duration of payment deadlines. Administrations, insufficiently aware of the issue, continue to process mandates on paper forms sent to the treasury. It is not uncommon for administrations to wait until they have completed a certain number of mandates before sending them to the treasury, the latest invoices being served, but first, before the oldest ones. The disparities in delays are significant between local authorities, and their service providers can be VSE-SMEs whose cash flow is suffering. Too many VSEs and SMEs report delays of several tens of thousands of euros, and for recurring reasons: budgets not yet voted on, late subsidy payments... On the side of companies, and large groups in particular, we are seeing a trend towards longer payment terms to their suppliers. Big delays which can reach more than a month. In despite the 4.6% decrease in the number of business failures in France between 2016 and 2017 according to the ALTARES ranking of business failures published on January 25, 2018. Efforts must be continued since 55,175 companies employing 165,500 employees were affected over this period. In addition, France, with an average time of 12 days to obtain payment, stands out from its German neighbor which has a delay means of payment half as important. He therefore wishes to know the measures that the Government plans to take to ensure that large groups and public administrations honor their invoices more within the legal deadlines. It alerts him to the opportunity to streamline the administrative procedures for transmitting mandates. Finally, he asks him if he plans to adopt regulatory measures to clarification of information and administrative semantics that are often unclear for VSEs and SMEs, so as to avoid blockages in the invoicing process.

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