With the launch of the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum during the first meeting on 13 September 2011 in Brussels the European e-Invoicing train moves again. Personally I really hope that the people on board are going to heat up the discussion and force a breakthrough on the adoption and diffusion of e-Invoicing. It is time for a positive sound from people who are not making money of e-Invoicing but care about economical and environmental sustainability of Europe.
The European Commission made the development of e-Invoicing an objective in the eEurope Actions plans of 2002 and 2005, as well as in the i2010 strategy and in the Competitive and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). To realize these goals the European Commission, at the end of 2006, formed an informal Task Force of industry experts with the objective to pave the way for future work on a European e-Invoicing Framework (E.E.I.F.).
In July 2007 the Informal Task Force reported that Electronic Invoicing could significantly reduce supply chain costs across Europe, help streamline business processes and drive innovation. The Task Force recommended the creation of a European e-Invoicing Framework that encourages/fosters the development of interoperable e-Invoicing solutions/services and forms the basis for realizing legislative and procedural change. They concluded with recommending the formation of a European e-Invoicing Steering Committee that should take overall responsibility for designing the European e-Invoicing Framework by the end of 2009 and should act as the focal point for consolidating European business practices.
In a follow-up to the recommendations of the Task Force the European Commission in October 2007 decided to set up an Expert Group on e-Invoicing with the goal to deliver the E.E.I.F. The Expert Group started their work in February 2008 with identifying the scope and nature of the E.E.I.F. After due considerations of all viewpoints – positions and opinions – the Expert Group concluded that the E.E.I.F. should take the form of a set of coherent recommendations – actionable recommendations and proposals – designed to promote the uptake of e-Invoicing. Moreover the Expert Group stated that these recommendations required immediate action from all interested parties.
On 30 November 2009 the Expert Group presented their Final Report wherein they included their recommendations and proposed the establishment of an EU-level Multi-Stakeholder Forum. In the opinion of the Expert Group recommendations opposed to regulations and directives are not binding for Member States. The EU-level Multi Stakeholder Forum should promote the implementation of the recommendations, guide standardization efforts and champion the further development of e-invoicing into a Single Market practice.
After the decision of the European Commission to set up a European Multi Stakeholder Forum on e-Invoicing at the end of 2010 (see IP/10/1645) it became a bit quiet. But finally after a long period of silence the establishment of the European e-Invoicing Multi Stakeholder Forum is a fact.
The first meeting of the Forum members took place on 13 September 2011 in Brussels. The Forum brings together key actors from the private and public sector of all Member States. It provides a unique platform to exchange experiences and best practices which can pave the way to the broad-scale adoption of e-invoicing at both national and EU level. The Forum is going to monitor the uptake of e-invoicing in all Member States and should help the Commission in identifying further measures to facilitate the mass adoption of e-invoicing across borders.
It is time to make some progress towards realizing the previously expressed recommendations, instead of issuing new recommendations. Apart from encouraging the Member States to implement the Council Directive 2010/45/EU the focus should be on intensifying the word-of-mouth communication to key decision makers of companies and enterprises in Europe. During the past years most organizations have become numb and overwhelmed by the numerous promotional campaigns of solution and service providers. These types of promotion and advertisement reached such a level of repetition and saturation that decision-makers have lost focus - the wear-out of e-Invoicing has started.
To boost e-Invoicing there is a need for more interpersonal word-of-mouth communication and face-to-face interaction with early adopters of e-Invoicing demonstrating the real results and benefits they achieved.
Looking at the list of participants I feel confident this new Stakeholder Forum is going to succeed in getting e-Invoicing on the right track in Europe. The majority of participants stems from national and European organizations not focused at selling e-Invoicing solutions or services.
Tags: e-Invoicing
Last update: 26-11-2011
