It has committed to speeding up its own payments to small firms and urges public authorities to pay their bills within 30 days or face paying an additional 5% of the amount owed. The EC also proposes changes to the late payment directive to improve cash flow for European firms, including giving businesses an entitlement to claim interest on late payments.

To read more on this story go to:
http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/press/frontpage/08042009_en.htm

To see the EC's proposals go to:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/regulation/late_payments/