Ombudsman opens public consultation on Commission's late payment problems

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:49:12 +0100

The Finance Helpdesk points out that the European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has invited individuals, companies, NGOs, associations and other interested persons to participate in a public consultation concerning the European Commission's late payment problems.

During the current investigation into the Commission's late payment problems, the Commission announced new measures to improve the situation, such as stricter time limits and an increased use of lump sum payments.

In the Ombudsman's view, the Commission has, during the past few years, made progress in this front. Further improvements could, however, be envisaged. Before any further steps are taken, the Ombudsman is keen to receive feedback from concerned parties about what the Commission can and should, in their view, do further to reduce late payments.

Note: the aim of the public consultation is not to solve individual late payment cases. Such cases can be submitted to the Ombudsman as individual complaints, using the on-line form available on the Ombudsman’s website.

Contributions to this public consultation may be submitted by 31 March 2010 in any of the 23 official languages.
The Ombudsman's invitation to submit comments is available
here.