CEF eInvoicing presented at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
On 18 October 2019, experts from the European Commission provided a policy update on CEF eInvoicing to members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
Ms Irena Riviere-Osipov (eInvoicing Policy officer, DG GROW) and Ms Caroline Corneau (IT Project Officer, DIGIT) informed the event participants about the considerable benefits of eInvoicing for the European economy. The EC experts also highlighted how the CEF eInvoicing building block actively supports the adoption of eInvoicing using the European standard on eInvoicing.
In addition, Mr Federico Rossi (Head of Unit Human Resources and Finance, EESC) presented the value of adopting eInvoicing in the EESC, both in terms of cost-savings and efficiency gains.
Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing in public procurement calls for the definition of a common European standard on eInvoicing at semantic level (the core information contained in the eInvoice) as well as a list of syntaxes (the format or language used for transmission of the eInvoice). This standard is a key enabler of the digitalisation of public procurement in Europe.
During the presentation, the Member States' representatives from the social partners expressed their views and asked for further clarifications from the Commission. Mr Pegado Liz (Portugal), Mr De Lotto (Italy), Mr Lohan (Italy) and Mrs Kvedaraite (Lithuania) shared testimonies of their respective countries concerning eInvoicing at the central and sub-central levels.
In response to the main questions raised by the attendees, Ms Riviere-Osipov noted the following:
- The impact on the labor market and the challenges of skill adaptation need to be further evaluated. Stakeholders' contribution and testimonies are a major asset for identifying where the biggest impacts of the implementation of the Directive and uptake of standard are;
- The adoption of the European standard on eInvoicing is mandatory for public administrations. All eInvoicing systems in place at central and sub-central level have to go through an IT adaptation to be compliant. However, operational systems do not need to be re-built from scratch.
- The uptake of the standard enhances cross-border eProcurement, yet requires a change in mentality by many of the Member State public entities.
The Commission supports the standards' implementation through the CEF eInvoicing Building Block. CEF eInvoicing offers public and private sectors on-site eInvoicing Trainings and Workshops; supporting webinars, a User Community hosting online discussions, a Registry of supporting artefacts to implement European standard and a dedicated Conformance Testing Service.