Cap. 13 Art. 26ADefinitions for the purposes of this Sub-Title.

For the purposes of this Sub-Title:

"amount due" means the principal sum which should have been paid within the contractual period of payment, including, where applicable, taxes, duties, levies or charges specified in the invoice;

"commercial transactions" means transactions between undertakings or between undertakings and public authorities, which lead to the delivery of goods or the provision of services for remuneration;

"Commission Directive 2006/111/EC" means the Commission Directive of 16 November 2006 on the transparency of financial relations between Member States and public undertakings as well as on financial transparency within certain undertakings; "executive title" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in Title VII of Part I of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure, and the provisions of that title shall apply thereto; "interest for late payment" means legal interest for late payment or interest at a rate agreed between the undertakings, subject to the provisions of article 26G; "invoice" means a bill sent by a provider of a product or service to the purchaser. The invoice establishes an obligation on the part of the purchaser to pay. For the purpose of this definition, "invoice" includes an equivalent request for payment; "late payment" means payment not made on the date agreed upon in the contract or according to law, and on the fulfilment of the conditions laid down under article 26C(1) and article 26D(1);

"legal interest for late payment" means simple interest for late payment at a rate which is equal to the sum of the reference rate and at least eight percent (8%); "public authority" means the Government of Malta, the Local Councils or bodies governed by public law, associations formed by one or several of such authorities or bodies governed by public law.

For the purpose of this definition, "a body governed by public law" means a body which:

(a) is established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not being of an industrial or commercial nature;

(b) has legal personality; and

(c) is financed for the most part by the State, or Local Councils or other public bodies, or is subject to management supervision by those bodies, or has an administrative, managerial or supervisory board more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, Local Councils, or other public bodies; "reference rate" means the interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operations, or the marginal interest rate resulting from variable-rate tender procedures for the most recent main refinancing operations of the European Central Bank; "undertaking" means any organization, other than a public authority, acting in the course of its independent economic or professional activity, even where that activity is carried out by a single person.