Bottom line up front: When a business client in Germany leaves your invoice unpaid, the EU Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU), as transposed into national law, generally lets you claim the principal, statutory late-payment interest, and a fixed recovery sum (an EU minimum of €40). For a debtor in your OWN country you use the national order-for-payment route (Mahnverfahren); for a debtor in ANOTHER EU country you can escalate cross-border with the European Payment Order (Form A), which for Germany is handled exclusively by the Amtsgericht Wedding in Berlin (§ 1087 ZPO). This is general information, not legal advice.
The situation: an overdue B2B invoice in Germany
You delivered the work, sent a correct invoice on time, and the payment deadline has passed. For freelancers and small agencies in the EU, late B2B payments are a common cash-flow headache, especially when the client is based abroad. The frustration is real, but the legal position is clearer than many realise: EU rules provide a framework to claim what you are owed without engaging a lawyer.
Cross-border cases add another layer of complexity. When your debtor operates in a different EU member state, you need a procedure that works across jurisdictions. Germany's designated court for European Payment Orders is the Amtsgericht Wedding in Berlin (§ 1087 ZPO), providing a streamlined path for creditors elsewhere in the EU whose debtor is in Germany.
Your position under Directive 2011/7/EU
For commercial transactions between businesses (B2B) or between businesses and public authorities (B2G), the Directive establishes that statutory interest and a fixed recovery sum of at least €40 generally apply once payment becomes late, as transposed into national law. In Germany, a business debtor is in default without any reminder once an agreed calendar payment date passes (§ 286(2) BGB) and, at the latest, 30 days after the invoice is due and received (§ 286(3) BGB) — so interest usually starts accruing without a separate warning letter.
The €40 figure is the EU minimum, and Germany transposes it as a fixed lump sum of exactly €40 (the Pauschale, § 288(5) BGB). Where German law goes beyond the Directive is the interest rate: for B2B payment claims it is the German base rate (Basiszinssatz, § 247 BGB — reset each 1 January and 1 July) plus 9 percentage points (§ 288(2) BGB) — one point above the Directive's floor of reference rate plus eight. These are baseline entitlements, not absolute legal guarantees; how they apply to a specific claim depends on its circumstances.
Domestic vs. cross-border: which route applies
The procedure you use depends on where your debtor is located:
- Same country (Germany): Use the national Mahnverfahren (order-for-payment procedure). This is the standard German route for domestic B2B debts.
- Different EU country (cross-border): Use the European Payment Order (Form A). This is a simplified, uniform procedure for undisputed claims across EU member states, excluding Denmark. Which country's courts take the application is set by EU jurisdiction rules — as a general rule the courts of the debtor's country. Whenever the German courts are the competent ones (for example, because your debtor is based in Germany), the application goes exclusively to the Amtsgericht Wedding in Berlin (§ 1087 ZPO).
In either scenario, starting with a courtesy payment reminder and, if necessary, a formal late-payment demand can often resolve the matter without court involvement. MoraDirect helps you generate both.
The manual way (and why it's tedious)
Doing this manually means several error-prone steps:
- Drafting a correctly formatted demand letter that includes all required elements.
- Calculating the exact statutory interest accrued since the due date, using the correct base rate and margin for Germany.
- For cross-border cases, completing the multi-page official European Payment Order Form A, ensuring every field matches the court's requirements.
- Verifying that your formatting conforms to the court's standards — incorrect submissions can be rejected, causing costly delays.
The Mahnverfahren for domestic cases and the EPO process for cross-border claims both require precision. A small formatting error or missing piece of information can send your application back, extending the recovery timeline by weeks or months.
Doing it yourself vs. MoraDirect
| Feature | Do-it-yourself (manual) | MoraDirect.eu |
|---|---|---|
| Time to draft | Hours | About a minute |
| Official Form A | Easy to mis-format | Filled exactly as published, ready to print and sign |
| Data privacy | Scattered across email/drafts | Stateless — no accounts, no database, nothing stored after your document is made |
| Cost | Lawyer or debt-collection fees, which scale with the size of the claim | One low flat fee, shown at checkout |
Generate your documents
Don't want to calculate interest and format court forms by hand? MoraDirect builds your reminder, late-payment demand, and (for cross-border cases) the official European Payment Order Form A from one set of details — no account, nothing stored after your download. Create your documents
General information, not legal advice. MoraDirect is a document-formatting tool.
Frequently asked questions
- How is statutory late-payment interest calculated for B2B invoices in Germany?
- For payment claims between businesses, German law sets default interest at the German base rate (Basiszinssatz, § 247 BGB — reset each 1 January and 1 July) plus 9 percentage points (§ 288(2) BGB). Interest is calculated per day from when the debtor is in default. MoraDirect computes simple daily interest from a reference rate plus a margin you choose — both editable and shown on the document — so you can enter the German statutory components for your claim.
- Is the €40 recovery fee automatic for late B2B payments in Germany?
- Yes. § 288(5) BGB gives a business creditor a fixed lump sum of exactly €40 (the Pauschale) when a business debtor is in default, without proof of actual recovery costs. It is transposed from the EU Late Payment Directive's €40 minimum and comes on top of statutory default interest.
- Which court handles European Payment Orders in Germany?
- The Amtsgericht Wedding in Berlin has exclusive jurisdiction for European Payment Order applications before German courts (§ 1087 ZPO). Which country's courts take a cross-border application is set by EU jurisdiction rules — as a general rule the courts of the debtor's member state, so the Wedding court typically handles cases where the debtor is based in Germany. The EPO is for cross-border cases only and does not apply to Denmark.