The new legislation, which still needs the approval of EU finance ministers, aims to eliminate current barriers to 'e-invoicing' but also addresses businesses concerns over the storing of invoices and discrepancies in the content of invoices.
Up to €18 billion annually could be saved in the medium-term if EU companies switched to 100% e-invoicing, according to official estimates. But even if take-up were lower, the savings could still be "very significant", the Commission said.
SMEs described the new initiative as a "huge step forward", Gerhard Huemer from UEAPME, which represents more than 12 million small businesses across Europe, told EurActiv. But he said he was sceptical as to whether the proposal will find the approval of the bloc's finance ministers, given reservations from the Spanish and German governments.
The proposed revision of invoicing rules also aims to fight VAT fraud, which is estimated to cost the EU tens of billions of euro every year.
Officials claim that the new legislation will close a loophole in the current legislation, which has allowed businesses operating across EU borders to invoice deliveries in later than the month in which they actually supplied the good or service.
Under the new law, companies will have to report their transactions in the month that they supply the goods.
The proposal to simplify and harmonise invoicing is part of the EU's broader 'Better Regulation' strategy aimed at radically simplifying EU law (see EurActov Links Dossier). The Commission, which considers cutting red tape one of its key priorities, last week presented its third progress report on the issue since the launch of the initiative in 2005.
Some 1,300 acts, equivalent to around 10% of current EU legislation, have been removed, the EU executive explained. But there is still a long way to go to achieve the target of a 25% reduction by 2012, agreed by EU leaders in 2007.
Officials noted that 21 out of 27 member states had announced their own national reduction targets, with the remaining six expected to follow suit still before the spring summit of EU leaders on 19-20 March this year.
Businesses admitted that progress had been made, but noted that the improvements had yet not been felt by businesses.
