EOS study ‘European Payment Practices’: Companies demand less bureaucracy and more effective measures for better payment discipline

Due to the declining payment discipline of private and business customers, European companies are increasingly calling for stronger support from policymakers. According to the current EOS study ‘European Payment Practices 2025’, which surveyed 2,200 financial decision-makers from eleven European countries, one in two companies (50 per cent) is demanding a reduction in bureaucratic hurdles. The second most common request is for simpler legal options to more effectively collect outstanding payments (43 per cent). Third is the desire to ease data protection regulations to facilitate credit checks (40 per cent), closely followed by stricter rules on maximum payment terms (39 per cent). The demand for bureaucracy reduction is particularly strong in Germany (62 per cent) and weakest in Switzerland (42 per cent).

The pressure on policymakers is high: currently, about a quarter of all invoices in Europe are paid late or not at all. Due to poor payment discipline, nearly half of European companies have experienced profit losses and higher financing costs in the past, while 34 per cent have faced liquidity shortages. One in five firms reported that late or missing payments have led to a decline in investments. Every sixth company has even felt its very existence was threatened.

"Payment defaults are at an all-time high in Europe. The heavy bureaucratic burden is further weakening companies. Reducing regulations is essential for European businesses to remain competitive internationally and to manage future investments”, says Marwin Ramcke, CEO of the EOS Group. This view is shared by Georg Kovacs, Board Member and Treasurer of the Federation of European National Collection Associations (FENCA) and President of the Association of Commercial Debt Management (AMCC): “As part of the debt collection industry, we support regulations that protect consumers and foster sustainable development. At the same time, we are concerned that the flood of regulations at all levels of government is stifling innovation and economic growth and unnecessarily limiting companies’ ability to act.”