On October 3, 2017, Denis LE BOSSE, President of the National Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises ( Cabinet ARC ), hosted Bruno LE MAIRE, Minister of the Economy and Finance, for the presentation of the results of the7th “ Cabinet ARC ”/IFOP survey. The minister took the opportunity to announce to the guests at the “ Cabinet ARC ”—including dozens of journalists—the direction he would take with the upcoming business transformation bill, which he himself will present to Parliament in April 2018:
- stricter " name and shame " rules to ensure better compliance with payment deadlines;
- the reduction of the statutory payment period to 30 days;
- the shift toward digitization, which is set to become increasingly prevalent in businesses.
The minister also addressed the issue of public payment delays, which are still far too long—especially since public services should set an example in this area! Finally, he emphasized the importance of supporting very small businesses and SMEs to mitigate the negative effects of the balance of power and enable them to become more profitable so that they are better equipped to deal with challenges such as cash flow problems.