ii. Europol shall notify the Contractor in writing as soon as possible of any such suspension, giving the reasons for it. 

iii. Suspension shall take effect on the date the Formal notification is sent by Europol. The remaining payment period shall start to run again from the date on which the requested information or revised documents are received or the necessary further verification, including on-the-spot checks, is carried out. Where the suspension period exceeds 2 (two) months, the Contractor may request Europol to justify the continued suspension. 

iv. Where the payment periods have been suspended following rejection of a document or Deliverable referred to in sub-paragraph (i) above and the new document or Deliverable produced by the Contractor as remedy is also rejected, Europol may terminate the underlying Specific Contract  or Purchase Order  in accordance with Article II-22 (3, ii) (“Termination”). 

## 9. Interest on late payment: 

i. Upon expiry of the payment periods specified in Article I-6 (“Payment”), and without prejudice to Article II-8 (8) (“Payment and guarantees”) the Contractor is entitled to interest on late payment at the rate applied by the European Central Bank for its main refinancing operations in Euros (the reference rate) plus eight points. The reference rate shall be the rate in force on the first day of the month in which the payment period ends, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union. 

ii. Suspension of the payment period in accordance with paragraph (8) above may not be considered as a late payment. 

iii. Interest on late payment covers the period running from the day following the due date for payment up to and including the date of actual payment as defined at paragraph (2) above. However, when the calculated interest is lower than or equal to EUR 200 (Two hundred EURO), it shall be paid to the Contractor only upon request submitted within two months of receiving late payment. 

## Invoices, value-added tax and e-invoicing 

## Article II- 9 

1. Invoices must contain the Contractor’s  identification data, the amount, the currency and the date, as well as the Framework Contract  and/or Specific Contract  or Purchase Order  reference. 

2. Invoices shall indicate the place of taxation of the Contractor  for value added tax (VAT) purposes, the VAT number and shall specify separately the amounts not including VAT and the amounts including VAT. Europol is, as a rule, exempt from all taxes and duties, including VAT, pursuant to the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union. 

3. The Contractor  shall accordingly complete the necessary formalities with the relevant authorities to ensure that the supplies and services required for performance of the Framework Contract are exempt from taxes and duties, including VAT exemption. In order to ensure correct invoicing and upon request, Europol will provide the Contractor  with a VAT exemption certificate on the basis of a signed Specific Contract  or Purchase Order , prior to any invoice being issued by the Contractor . 

4. If the Contractor  is a Dutch registered company, the Contractor  shall ensure that all invoices issued to Europol under the Framework Contract  are including VAT (if applicable), which shall be reclaimed 

