The European Commission proposes draft directive on e-invoicing in public procurement

The Commission estimates that the adoption of e-invoicing in public procurement across the EU could generate savings of up to EUR 2.3 billion.

The draft directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement proposes the establishment of a European e-invoicing standard which is expected to improve interoperability between different, mainly national, e-invoicing systems.

It aims to eliminate legal uncertainty, excessive complexity, and additional operating costs for economic operators who currently have to use different electronic invoices across the Member States. It will also help boost the uptake of e-invoicing in Europe which remains very low, accounting for only 4-15% of all invoices exchanged.

The Communication on end-to-end e-procurement places the draft Directive on e-invoicing in public procurement in a broader context and presents the Commission’s vision on the digitisation of the public procurement process. It identifies the current state of play in the implementation of e-procurement and e-invoicing across the EU, and sets out the areas in which actions should be taken to achieve the transition towards end-to-end e-procurement: making e-invoicing the rule rather than the exception in public procurement; taking forward standardisation work; devising national strategies for end-to-end e-procurement; and sharing best practice.

The Communication will serve as a basis for possible future initiatives on further digitisation of the public procurement process.