Case C-677/22, Przedsiębiorstwo A. (Period for payment of 120 days set by the debtor): Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 6 February 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Rejonowy Katowice – Wschód w Katowicach – Poland) – Przedsiębiorstwo Produkcyjno – Handlowo – Usługowe A. v P. S.A. (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Combating late payment in commercial transactions – Directive 2011/7/EU – Commercial transactions between undertakings – Article 3(5) – Obligation on Member States to ensure that the period for payment set in the contract concluded between undertakings does not exceed 60 calendar days – Possibility, for contracting parties, to set a longer period for payment – Condition for the express agreement in the contract of such a period – Condition that a contractual term is not grossly unfair to the creditor – Cumulative conditions – Contracts in which the terms are determined unilaterally by one of the parties – Contractual term by which the debtor unilaterally sets the period for payment of 120 days – Unlawfulness)
Date: 2025-02-06
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: commercial contract, commercial transaction, deadline for payment








C_202501732EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/1732


31.3.2025






Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 6 February 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Rejonowy Katowice – Wschód w Katowicach – Poland) – Przedsiębiorstwo Produkcyjno – Handlowo – Usługowe A. v P. S.A.


(Case C-677/22,
                (1)
Przedsiębiorstwo A. (Period for payment of 120 days set by the debtor))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Combating late payment in commercial transactions - Directive 2011/7/EU - Commercial transactions between undertakings - Article 3(5) - Obligation on Member States to ensure that the period for payment set in the contract concluded between undertakings does not exceed 60 calendar days - Possibility, for contracting parties, to set a longer period for payment - Condition for the express agreement in the contract of such a period - Condition that a contractual term is not grossly unfair to the creditor - Cumulative conditions - Contracts in which the terms are determined unilaterally by one of the parties - Contractual term by which the debtor unilaterally sets the period for payment of 120 days - Unlawfulness)
(C/2025/1732)
Language of the case: Polish

Referring court

Sąd Rejonowy Katowice – Wschód w Katowicach

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Przedsiębiorstwo Produkcyjno – Handlowo – Usługowe A.

Defendant: P. S.A.

Operative part of the judgment

Article 3(5) of Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions
must be interpreted as meaning that the expression ‘otherwise expressly agreed in the contract’ precludes a contractual term setting a period for payment longer than 60 calendar days from being determined unilaterally by the debtor, unless it can be established, having regard to all the contractual documents and terms contained in that contract, that the parties to that contract have expressed their concurrence of wills to be bound specifically by the term concerned.


(1)  
            OJ C 35, 30.1.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/1732/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)