On Friday, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) approved the update of EN16931-1, the Union's standard for e-invoicing.
The renewal adds new fields to the standard format, adapts it for B2B and meets the reporting requirements that will come into force in the EU from July 2030.
"The unanimous support shows that Europe is united in making e-invoices the natural standard for all business communication," said Cyril Sautereau, President of the French e-invoicing body FNFE-MME.
Friday's vote by the national standards body Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) was a formality. The update to the newly developed FprEN16931-1 was adopted unanimously. 17 Council members voted in favor, 0 voted against and 13 were absent. This gives a clear mandate to move forward with a more uniform e-invoicing model.
Following the decision, the milestone was commented on in joyful and above all relieved statements. Cyril Sautereau, President of the French e-Invoicing Forum (FNFE-MME), said that the approval was the only possible option.
"This is not just a technical update but a necessary adaptation to the realities of the commercial sector," he says, emphasizing:
"By including complex discount structures and payment terms, EN16931 becomes a tool that actually works for all companies, not just those selling to the public sector. Now Europe is ready for the next step."
Important news
The new updated version includes the following new features:
The number of business terms in the standard has increased by around 33%.
While the previous 2017 version was heavily influenced by public procurement (B2G), the new version has seven new Business Groups adapted for commercial trade.
Functionality is improved thanks to new support for structured payment terms, early payment discounts, late payment fees and more detailed third party fees at line level.
France a driving force
But if the vote was a matter of form, the same can hardly be said of the road to it. Changes were proposed as early as 2019, but at that stage constructive ideas succumbed to long and futile discussions on semantics. A rethink was simply needed after that grounding, but with a preserved position to keep the core semantics itself backwards compatible while gradually ensuring that B2B needs are met.
A major reason why the work finally took off was also, according to insiders, France's decision three years ago to rejoin CEN after a long absence due to copyright issues. France's entry provided a welcome growth engine to the process, generating important momentum in record time.
At the same time, France's renewed commitment has been based on clear self-interest. Later this year, on September 1, all large and medium-sized companies in France will be required to send e-invoices and, at the same time, it will be mandatory for all companies, regardless of size, to be able to receive e-invoices.
Friday's CEN decision is seen as an important piece of the puzzle to harmonize current and future legal requirements in a number of EU countries and for the overall EU initiative ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age), which aims to modernize VAT management through real-time reporting based on e-invoices.
Explanations:
CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation)
CEN is an independent and non-governmental standardization organization with 34 member countries, represented by their standardization bodies. SIS represents Sweden and is therefore a member of CEN. CEN brings together experts in technical committees to develop and revise European standards.
(Source: SIS - Swedish Institute for Standards)
FNFE-MPE (Forum National de la Facture Électronique et des Marchés Publics Électroniques)
A French organization founded in 2012 that acts as a focal point for public and private actors involved in the transition to electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and public e-procurement in France.
(Source: fnfe-mpe.org)