Antonio Conte

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MoU/MG/07 N306Status For informationDate
September 2007Source DG Enterprise and Industry
The Task Force on e-Invoicing

• Antonio Conte
• DG ENTR/D4 - Technology for innovation ICT
  e-Business

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Background

• Directive 2001/115/EC on the simplification,
  modernization and harmonization of the conditions
  laid down for invoicing in respect of VAT
• Invoices sent by electronic means shall be
  accepted by Member States provided that the
  authenticity of the origin and integrity of the
  contents are guaranteed
• by means of an advanced electronic signature
  Member States may however ask for the advanced
  electronic signature to be based on a qualified
  certificate and created by a secure
  signature-creation device
• or by means of electronic data interchange (EDI)
  when the agreement relating to the exchange
  provides for the use of procedures guaranteeing
  the authenticity of the origin and integrity of
  the data however Member States may, subject to
  conditions which they lay down, require that an
  additional summary document on paper is
  necessary
• or by other means as accepted by the Member
  States.
• It is now incorporated in the VAT Directive
  2006/112/EC

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Background

• Directive on Payment Services
• Proposal COM(2005) 603 1/12/05
• It was adopted by the European Parliament in
  April 2007
• It aims to establish a modern and harmonised
  legal framework for an integrated payments market
  in the EU
• The Directive applies to all Member States and
  all EU currencies, while providing the necessary
  legal platform for the Single Euro Payment Area
  (SEPA) proposed by the European Payments Council
  (EPC)
• Cross-border payments by credit card, debit
  card, electronic bank transfer, direct debit or
  any other means will become easy, cheap and
  secure as domestic payments within one Member
  State
• The Directive will guarantee fair and open access
  to payments markets, and will increase and
  standardise consumer protection
• To be transposed in national law by 1 November
  2009

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European Payments Council (EPC)

• Set up in response to EC Regulation 2560/2001 on
  equal prices for cross-border and domestic
  payments
• Self-regulatory initiative of the European
  banking industry
• Decision-making and coordination body
• Addressing the design of European schemes for
  interoperable payment solutions, with regard to
  both technical and commercial standards and
  infrastructures

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EPC Roadmap for SEPA (2004-2010)

• EPC has committed itself to establishing by 2010
  a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), with
  integrated payment infrastructures and payment
  products.
• SEPA governance lies exclusively in the hands of
  EPC. The EPC Plenary is the decision-making body
  for SEPA.
• The Directive on Payment Services underpins this
  payments industry initiative.
• Roadmap
• 2004-2006 Design and preparation
• 2006-2008 Implementation and deployment
• 2008-2010 Co-existence and gradual adoption

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SEPA and e-Invoicing

• E-invoicing is the link between internal
  processes of companies and the payment system.
  However, the EPC Rulebooks define e-invoicing as
  an Additional Optional Service (AOS) which is
  considered a competitive offering outside the
  scope of the EPC governance.
• E-invoicing can be an important catalyst for the
  adoption of SEPA, as corporates and public
  administrations will demand fully standard
  e-invoicing solutions from payment service
  providers, which will be facilitated by full SEPA
  compliance.
• The automation of invoice-related processes will
  reduce the costs of corporates and public
  administrations (demand side) and banks (supply
  side). The estimated cumulative benefit in the
  period 2006-2012 is a gain of 226 12 228
  billion.

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DG MARKT/DG ENTR Task Force on e-Invoicing

• DG MARKT and DG ENTR jointly set up an informal
  Task Force on e-Invoicing in December 2006.
• Objective To identify a possible roadmap to
  address present barriers to e-invoicing and to
  establish a European e-Invoicing (EEI) Framework.
• Members key stakeholders (e.g. service
  providers, solution providers, etc.), standard
  organizations, and policy makers.
• Deliverables
• Interim Report (April 2007)
• Final Report (July 2007)
• A formal EEI Expert Group may be set up by the
  Commission by the end of 2007 with responsibility
  for strategic policy development to support the
  EEI Framework.

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Obstacles identified by the Task Force

• Multiple standards / Fragmentation of
  standardisation
• Difficult cross-border transactions due to
  different national rules for the validity and
  acceptance of e-invoices for legal, financial and
  administrative purposes
• A deficit of trust and market acceptance due to
  the operational risk resulting from security,
  authenticity and integrity considerations

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Recommendations to address standardisation
barriers

• UN/CEFACT TBG1 and TBG5, and ISO TC 68 should
  establish a collaborative activity, in
  partnership with the EEI Expert Group, to achieve
  an international EEI standard solution.
• The Final Report describes in details the steps
  that should be undertaken to address the
  standardisation barriers.

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The way forward (1)

• With the delivery of the Final Report the Task
  Force comes to the end of its mandate. The
  Commission reserves the right to call further
  meetings in autumn.
• As we now move from an informal group to the
  European level, we need to ensure that the
  appropriate principles and procedures are
  followed, e.g.
• Transparency
• Openness
• Broad consultation, Representative
• Respect of the provisions of the Treaty, etc.
• This is done by means of a Commission Decision
  establishing an Expert Group (Steering
  Committee). It will follow the appropriate
  provisions, incl. the Treaty (Art. 3, 232-237),
  the Regulation on protection of personal data
  (eg. EC/45/2001), the Commission Decision on
  security rules (2001/844/EC).
• The members of the Expert Group will be appointed
  by the Commission on the basis of representation
  of key stakeholders (eg. public sector,
  enterprises, IT and financial service providers,
  standardisation organizations) in the field of
  e-Invoicing.

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The way forward (2)

• The Expert Group will operate under clear Terms
  of Reference and will govern the work for the
  creation of the EEI and will be responsible for
  the necessary stakeholder validation.
• The Expert Group may carry out its task with the
  help of subgroups (e.g. subgroup 1 business
  requirements, and subgroup 2 standards).
• The Expert Group will also where necessary
  delegate specific work to competent organisations
  (e.g. ESOs, liaison groups for UN/CEFACT, ISO).
• The Expert Group will be the forum vested with
  the power to take decisions relating to the EEI.

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Planned activities (2007-2008)

• FISCALIS initiative on e-audit, including
  auditing of e-invoices (DG TAXUD)
• Study on e-invoicing legislation (DG TAXUD)
• Study on e-invoicing business requirements, and
  pilot on e-invoicing (DG MARKT/DIGIT)
• CIP pilot project on e-procurement tools,
  including e-invoicing (DG INFSO)

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Further information

• DG ENTR studies on legal barriers to e-business
• http//ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/legal/i
  ndex.htm
• SEPA
• http//ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/sepa
  /index_en.htm
• Task Force Final Report
• http//ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i
  2010/docs/studies/eei-3.2-e-invoicing_final_report
  .pdf
• E-mail entr-innov-ict-ebiz_at_ec.europa.eu