A group of leading companies has complained about EU plans to push the use of digital signatures.
The e-business Tax Group says a plan to make them mandatory on electronic invoices could prove counter- productive.
The proposal is being debated by the European Parliament and could come into effect as early as July.
The group - which includes Ericsson, France Telecom, IBM, Microsoft and Sony - says smaller businesses could reject new technology altogether fearing an additional administrative burden.