Europe has crossed the Point Of No Return
After comparing the topics and discussions at Peppol Conference Europe 2026 (June 16 & 17) in Brussels with those topics held a year ago, one major direction becomes unavoidable: The electronic invoicing in Europe (and beyond) has reached its tipping point.
Just last year, in 2025, for the majority of companies and organizations electronic invoicing was still a compliance project driven by individual country mandates. Read more about it here in our report from last year.
However, this year, in 2026, the momentum has changed fundamentally. Multinational enterprises, governments, technology providers and tax authorisations are no longer discussing whether the digital invoicing will become the standard – instead the discussions consist of how quickly the digital business ecosystems can be built on top of it.
The Impressive Growth of the Peppol Network
The fast growth of the Peppol Network is probably the strongest evidence that Europe has arrived to a new phase of digital transformation. During the conference figures of the electronic invoice transaction volumes (of the last 12 months) across the network were shared which show the three leading countries in Peppol based on transaction volumes:
- Belgium – 140.7 million
- Norway – 131.1 million
- Sweden – 52.1 million
This shows how quickly mandatory electronic invoicing frameworks can increase network adoption when supported by a clear legislation and a strong collaborative ecosystem.
Belgium: The Prototype for Europe’s (e-Invoicing & e-Reporting) Future?
A couple of sessions at the conference focused on Belgium’s first six months working with the new B2B mandate.
Indeed, the implementation model provides important insight into where Europe is heading to.
Belgian VAT-registered businesses have been required to send and receive structured invoices based on the European Norm EN 16931 standard using the Peppol network as the favored transmission channel since the beginning of January 2026. Hence, the base of the Belgian model is the established four-corner architecture which ensures secure and interoperable e-invoice exchange between the sending and receiving party.
Despite that, the most interesting development is still coming. With the beginning of January 2028, Belgium plans to start with real-time e-reporting which is based on the five-corner model, in which invoice data is also transmitted automatically to the tax administration. These actions align closely with the European Commission’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) initiative and reflect the direction many EU member countries will most likely follow in the upcoming years. This leads us to a clear message from this year’s gathering in Brussels: e-Invoicing is only the first step – followed by e-Reporting.
ViDA: The New Driver of Digital Compliance
It was repeatedly highlighted at the conference that ViDA (VAT in the Digital Age) no longer is just a theory initiative.
ViDA is becoming the architectural blueprint for compliance in Europe.
Its goals include digital reporting requirements across the EU, increased transaction transparency, standardized electronic invoicing and striving for a higher degree of interoperability between member states. You can read more about this here in another blog post.
Short Portrait of other Countries that presented their e-Invoicing and e-Reporting approaches at the Conference
France
France is now in the final preparation phase before “Go-Live” and has confirmed that their e-Invoicing and e-Reporting reform will start in September 2026 for large and medium-sized businesses – and in 2027 the reform will be mandatory for SMEs, as well. The reform includes B2B, B2C and cross-border transactions and is supported by approximately 95 business use cases to harmonize implementation. It relies on EN 16931 and the Peppol network. Here you can read more about e-invoicing in France.
Singapore
Singapore has introduced their interesting transition from InvoiceNow to GST InvoiceNow. GST InvoiceNow is combining a voluntary Peppol e-Invoicing with a mandatory GST e-Reporting. Thus, InvoiceNow is based on Peppol BIS 3.0 and will be moving towards PINT-SG which follows the standard 4-corner Peppol model. The roll out shall be finished between 2028 and 2031. Following the E-Invoicing Exchange Summit 2025 in Singapore, you can read more about this topic here.
Slovakia
Slovakia’s goal is to become one of the countries in Europe which is fully aligned with ViDA. In January 2027, mandatory domestic B2B and B2G e-Invoicing will begin simultaneously with e-Reporting. The administration will be using a 5-corner Peppol model enabling the tax authority to receive invoice data directly while remaining interoperable within the Peppol network – maintaining EN 16931 and Peppol BIS 3.0. The full ViDA alignment is planned for 2030.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
The UAE has confirmed that its national mandate will be conducted in phases starting in 2027. Hence, the UAE will be adopting PINT-AE on the Peppol network and will initially use a 4-corner model with the support of accredited service providers before they will evolve into a 5-corner continuous transaction control (CTC) architecture. Accordingly, in July 2026, a pilot phase will start with accredited service providers. You can learn more about this here in another blog post.
United Kingdom
It was confirmed that mandatory B2B e-Invoicing will begin from April 2029 onwards in UK. This plan favors a decentralized 4-corner Peppol model which will initially be without mandatory VAT e-Reporting. Within the public sector, organizations already exchange electronic invoices via Peppol BIS 3.0 and further detailed technical specifications are introduced during 2026 before the introduced conduction. Read more about e-invoicing in the UK here.
Hungary
Hungary has successfully demonstrated how their Online Invoice Reporting (OIR) platform (launched 2018, mandatory since 2021) is becoming a ViDA-ready framework. Meaning, from 2018, structured EN 16931 XML invoices will be functioning simultaneously as the legal invoice and reporting dataset (XML = Invoice = Report). With this regard, Hungary plans to exchange electronic invoices via Peppol using a 5-corner model and at the same time maintaining mandatory pre-validation and buyer-side reporting. The full ViDA conduction is aimed for 2030.
Denmark
Denmark’s national e-invoicing platform NemHandel will develop into NemHandel powered by Peppol. This move will replace the national OIOUBL format with Peppol PINT Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) based on EN 16931, AS4 and the Peppol SML. In consideration with that, the specification development will run until 2027, migration is planned during 2028 to 2029 and the format OIOUBL will be made redundant on May 15 2029. Hence, these evolvements will ensure full ViDA readiness while preserving a decentralized 4-corner Peppol model. In another blog post, we take a detailed look at e-billing in Denmark here.
Japan
Japan has informed about a strong growth of JP PINT, their national implementation of Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. Thus, Japan continues to rely on the 4-corner Peppol model in which JP PINT acts as the foundation for interoperable domestic and cross-border e-Invoicing.
Conclusion: From e-Invoicing to Digital Business Ecosystems
The Peppol Conference Europe 2026 has confirmed that Europe has entered a new era of digital compliance. We can see that the focus is now on creating connected, interoperable and secure digital business ecosystems. Therefore, for businesses the message is clear: The future is not about only sending and receiving electronic invoices. The future is much rather about the participation in trusted digital trade networks.
In consideration with this, adesso business consulting, as SAP-partner, will support businesses and organizations in implementing SAP DRC in order to be prepared for future digital reporting requirements. Reach out to us to get your SAP infrastructure and processes ready.
