Case C‑287/17

Česká pojišťovna a.s.

v

WCZ, spol. s r.o.

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Okresní soud v Českých Budějovicích)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Company law — Combating late payments in commercial transactions — Directive 2011/7/EU — Article 6(1) and (3) — Reimbursement of debt recovery costs — Costs resulting from reminders sent on account of late payment by a debtor)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber), 13 September 2018

Approximation of laws — Combating late payments in commercial transactions — Directive 2011/7 — Right to compensation for recovery costs — Costs associated with sending reminders due to late payment — Possibility of obtaining reasonable compensation over and above the fixed amount

(European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/7, Recital 19 and Art. 6)

Article 6 of Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions must be interpreted as recognising that a creditor claiming compensation for the costs associated with sending reminders to a debtor due to the latter’s late payment is entitled to obtain reasonable compensation, on that basis and in addition to the fixed amount of EUR 40 laid down in Article 6(1) of that directive, for the purposes of Article 6(3) thereof, in respect of the part of those costs which exceeds that fixed amount.

Moreover, the fact that recital 19 of Directive 2011/7 states that that directive should determine a fixed minimum sum for the recovery of administrative costs and the compensation of the internal costs incurred due to late payment does not preclude reasonable compensation of those costs from being awarded to the creditor in so far as that fixed minimum sum is insufficient. In addition, although that recital states that compensation in the form of a fixed sum should aim at limiting the administrative and internal costs linked to the recovery, that assertion must, however, be read in the light of the recital as a whole. It follows that, by that clarification, the EU legislature simply emphasised that the automatic nature of the fixed compensation of EUR 40 constitutes an incentive for a creditor to limit his recovery costs to that sum, but does not preclude the possibility for that creditor to obtain, where appropriate, an amount of reasonable compensation which is greater than this but is not awarded automatically.

(see paras 36-38, operative part)