Delayed Repayment of Corporate Loans in the European Union: Can the Late Payment Directive be Applied to Loan Contracts?

This paper examines the Late Payment Directive of the European Union and seeks to answer the question of whether the provisions of the Directive apply to loan contracts in corporate transactions. The paper first describes and analyses the Late Pay­ment Directive and provides a comprehensive analysis of relevant arguments and legal sources. It then evaluates the different factors required by the Late Payment Directive and finally argues that the Late Payment Directive has to be applied to loan contracts and facility agreements, even if this is not explicitly foreseen in the Directive.