37From that point of view, the submission of a single payment claim covering several commercial transactions not remunerated on time and duly certified by invoices or equivalent requests for payment cannot have the effect of reducing the fixed minimum sum payable as compensation for recovery costs for each late payment. First of all, such a reduction would effectively negate the effectiveness of Article 6 of that directive, the objective of which is, as stated in the preceding paragraph, not only to discourage late payment but also to provide compensation ‘for the creditor’s own recovery costs’, costs which tend to increase in proportion to the number of payments and amounts which the debtor has not made or paid on time. Next, such a reduction would be tantamount to granting the debtor a derogation from the entitlement to the fixed sum referred to in Article 6(1) of that directive, without any ‘objective reason’ for doing so, in breach of point (c) of the second subparagraph of Article 7(1) thereof. Lastly, that reduction would effectively relieve the debtor of part of the financial burden flowing from his or her obligation to pay, in respect of each overdue invoice, the fixed sum of EUR 40 provided for in Article 6(1).
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