Larissa: The European Commission opened a new Article 260 procedure against Greece on 1 October 2026 over Greek hospital late payments, warning that public hospitals still pay suppliers far beyond the deadlines in the EU Late Payment Directive. Overdue invoices reached 1.3 billion euros in June 2026, according to the Commission’s October infringement package.

The letter of formal notice follows the Court of Justice judgment of 19 June 2025 in Case C-317/24, which found that Greece had breached Directive 2011/7/EU. If Athens gives an insufficient reply, the Commission may take the matter back to the Court and ask it to impose financial penalties. Member states normally have two months to respond to such letters.

The directive sets clear limits that frame Greek hospital late payments. Public authorities must pay invoices within 30 days, while public health authorities get up to 60 days. The Commission says Greek public hospitals exceed even that longer 60-day limit, and Greek hospital late payments leave medical suppliers waiting for money they have already earned.

Greece has faced this issue before. The Commission referred the country to the Court in November 2023 under INFR(2019)2298 over excessive payment delays by public hospitals. In a further referral in April 2024, it argued that hospitals did not make immediate payment of their debts when suppliers agreed to waive interest, which it called contrary to established case law, as To Vima reported.

The Commission has explained why it treats Greek hospital late payments as serious. “Late payments have negative effects on businesses,” it said in that earlier referral, adding that they reduce liquidity, hinder growth and weaken resilience. It noted that small and medium-sized firms in the health sector, which supplied hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, suffer most.

The Greek case sits in a long list of decisions announced on the same day. The October 2026 infringements package also contains a second Article 260 letter to Greece, this time on the proportionality test for regulated professions under Directive 2018/958. That letter follows Case C-518/24, decided on 20 November 2025, and carries the same risk of financial penalties.

The package gives no figures for individual hospitals in the Greek hospital late payments case and reports no response from the Greek government. It also does not say how the 1.3 billion euros divides between health authorities and other public bodies, so the exact exposure of the national health system remains unclear.

For suppliers, the practical question is whether the pressure from Brussels changes payment behaviour. Medical device makers, pharmaceutical wholesalers and cleaning contractors rely on regular settlement to keep deliveries running. The Commission’s escalation signals that it will not accept a growing stock of arrears as a normal feature of public health budgets.

The next move belongs to Athens. A credible plan to clear the backlog and meet the 60-day rule could end the case before it returns to Luxembourg, but a weak answer would put Greek hospital late payments back before the judges, with a possible fine attached.