Action brought on 10 August 2024 – European Commission v Kingdom of Belgium

(Case C-543/24)

(C/2024/5502)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: G. Gattinara and G. Wils, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Belgium

Form of order sought

The Commission claims that the Court should:

1.

declare that, (a) by failing to ensure that — the Federal Government in 2021, — the Région wallonne (Region of Wallonia) in 2020 and without interruption since the first half of 2022, — the Région de Bruxelles Capitale (Brussels Capital Region) in the first half of 2022 and the municipalities of the Brussels Capital Region since the first half of 2023 effectively comply with the periods for payment set out in Article 4(3)(a) of Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (OJ 2011 L 48, p. 1), and (b) by failing to ensure that — the Federal Government and the Brussels Capital Region in the first half of 2022, — the Federal Government and the Région flamande (Flemish Region) in the first half of 2023 and - — the Federal Government, the Flemish Region, the Brussels Capital Region and the Communes flamandes (Flemish municipalities) in the second half of 2023 ensure the automatic payment of the fixed sum for compensation of recovery costs in the event of late payment under Article 6(1) of the directive, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under those provisions;

2.	order the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

By its first plea in law, the Commission seeks to establish that, by failing to ensure, in the circumstances specified in the text and in the form of order sought in the application, that the Federal Government, the Flemish Region, the Region of Wallonia, the Brussels Capital Region, the municipalities of the Brussels Capital Region and the Flemish municipalities effectively comply with the periods for payment established in Article 4(3)(a) of Directive 2011/7/EU, the Kingdom of Belgium has infringed that provision. The information submitted by the Commission seeks to demonstrate that the periods for payment for commercial transactions applied by the Belgian public authorities referred to above have exceeded what is permitted by the abovementioned provision.

By its second plea in law, the Commission seeks a declaration that, by failing to ensure that that government, those regions and those municipalities automatically grant the fixed sum for recovery costs under Article 6(1) of Directive 2011/7, the Kingdom of Belgium has also failed to fulfil its obligations under that provision. In that regard, the material in the file seeks to confirm that it is not the practice of those authorities to pay that fixed sum when late payment is established.