Problematyka zatorów płatniczych w transakcjach handlowych – aspekty prawne i ekonomiczne

The main purpose of the article is to present economic and legal aspects of payment backlogs in commercial transactions. In terms of economic aspects, the study focuses on the structure and cycle diversity of corporate receivables, payment terms and the scale of losses caused by late payments in the chosen European countries. The analysis was based on the data presented in the reports of the multinational information agency Intrum Justitia. The study shows that paying credibility in European countries is strongly diversifi ed. The most reliable and favourable situation regarding the analysed aspect should be enjoyed by the Scandinavian countries, Finland, Island and Switzerland. In turn, the least stable situation and gravest problems relating paying credibility occurred in the Southern European countries, especially in Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Cyprus. The legal aspects of the payment backlogs were analysed on the ground of both EU and domestic law. The brief characteristics of both Directive 2000/35/EC of 29.6.2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions and Directive 2011/7/EU of 16.02.2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions was presented in the article. Furthermore, the article contains a brief analysis of the domestic Act of 8.03.2013 – Payments Terms in Commercial Transaction.