France is not moving alone. On 11 March 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted the “VAT in the Digital Age” package, known as ViDA: a set of reforms bringing European VAT systems closer to the digital economy. Its invoicing component directly concerns every company that invoices across borders. Here is what it changes, when, and what it says about the future of the French invoice.
- What ViDA is, in three pillars
- The European timeline, date by date
- What it changes for a company operating in France
- Other countries are already moving
- Mini FAQ
What ViDA is, in three pillars
Directive (EU) 2025/516 reforms VAT on three fronts. The first: electronic invoicing and data exchange, with the end of the derogation regime. Until now, a Member State had to ask the Council for permission before imposing e-invoicing on its territory. Since ViDA entered into force, each country can do so on its own, exactly as France did for its 2026 reform.
The second pillar targets the platform economy: short-term tourist accommodation and passenger transport, where the platform becomes the deemed supplier liable for VAT in a growing number of cases. The third extends the single VAT registration and filing one-stop shop, so that European VAT obligations can be handled from one account. The last two mostly concern marketplaces and multi-country businesses, but they trace the same trajectory: standardised fiscal data, transmitted as transactions happen.
The European timeline, date by date
Three dates structure the invoicing pillar. From 2025, as said, Member States may impose domestic e-invoicing without a derogation. On 1 July 2028, the platform regime extends to short-term accommodation and passenger transport. Then on 1 July 2030, structured electronic invoicing becomes the default for intra-EU B2B supplies of goods and services: every invoice crosses borders in structured form, and its content feeds the European digital reporting systems.
That last deadline has a pressure valve: a Member State may postpone by five years, until 2035, the obligation for its businesses to receive those structured invoices and to feed their national systems. Issuing structured invoices, on the other hand, becomes a right that Member States can no longer restrict.
What it changes for a company operating in France
Much less than for its neighbours, and that is the bet of the French reform. A company that switched in 2026-2027 to structured formats, Factur-X, UBL or CII, and that exchanges through an approved platform, already owns the plumbing ViDA will generalise in 2030. The structured invoice becomes the common language: the same formats circulate, the same data feeds the returns.
Preparation plays out on two levels. Upstream, check that the platform you choose can handle intra-EU flows, not only domestic ones. Downstream, tighten the quality of your customer data: VAT identifiers, addresses, operation categories. That is the spirit of the four new French mentions of 2026, including the customer SIREN and the operation category: France is aligning with the European vocabulary.
Other countries are already moving
Italy has been invoicing electronically since 2019 through its SdI system, and often serves as the reference. Belgium and Poland are switching their national systems on in 2026, Germany has announced B2B obligation for 2027. So many national calendars that ViDA will federate without erasing them: the directive sets a floor, Member States keep their own requirements.
For a French supplier selling across Europe, the practical consequence is immediate: the question is no longer “should we equip ourselves” but “with which tool do we handle all these formats”. Our comparison of Factur-X, UBL and CII answers it for SMEs, and our France 2026 guide in English covers the domestic side.
Mini FAQ
Does ViDA replace the French reform?
No. The French reform (ordinance of 15 November 2021, deadlines 2026-2027) remains the national framework, more demanding on the calendar. ViDA sets a European floor for 2030 that each Member State may exceed. France did.
Must a French SME act before 2030?
It is already acting for 2026-2027: generalised reception since September 2026, issuing according to its size by September 2027. Done properly, that compliance covers most of ViDA. What remains is to check, when choosing a platform, its ability to process intra-EU flows.
Does French e-reporting foreshadow ViDA?
Yes, in spirit: transmitting transaction data as it happens is precisely the logic of the European reporting systems planned for 2030. Equipped companies will have built the habit early.