Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Text with EEA relevance
Modified by
  • Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 25 November 2015on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC, 32015L2302, December 11, 2015
  • Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 27 November 2019amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rules(Text with EEA relevance), 32019L2161, December 18, 2019
Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 25 October 2011on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(Text with EEA relevance) CHAPTER ISUBJECT MATTER, DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE
Article 1Subject matterThe purpose of this Directive is, through the achievement of a high level of consumer protection, to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market by approximating certain aspects of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning contracts concluded between consumers and traders.
Article 2DefinitionsFor the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:(1)"consumer" means any natural person who, in contracts covered by this Directive, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession;(2)"trader" means any natural person or any legal person, irrespective of whether privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any other person acting in his name or on his behalf, for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession in relation to contracts covered by this Directive;(3)"goods" means goods as defined in point (5) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/771 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective (EU) 2019/771 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods, amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 and Directive 2009/22/EC, and repealing Directive 1999/44/EC (OJ L 136, 22.5.2019, p. 28).;(4)"goods made to the consumer’s specifications" means non-prefabricated goods made on the basis of an individual choice of or decision by the consumer;(4a)"personal data" means personal data as defined in point (1) of Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).;(5)"sales contract" means any contract under which the trader transfers or undertakes to transfer ownership of goods to the consumer, including any contract having as its object both goods and services;(6)"service contract" means any contract other than a sales contract under which the trader supplies or undertakes to supply a service, including a digital service, to the consumer;(7)"distance contract" means any contract concluded between the trader and the consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;(8)"off-premises contract" means any contract between the trader and the consumer:(a)concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;(b)for which an offer was made by the consumer in the same circumstances as referred to in point (a);(c)concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer; or(d)concluded during an excursion organised by the trader with the aim or effect of promoting and selling goods or services to the consumer;(9)"business premises" means:(a)any immovable retail premises where the trader carries out his activity on a permanent basis; or(b)any movable retail premises where the trader carries out his activity on a usual basis;(10)"durable medium" means any instrument which enables the consumer or the trader to store information addressed personally to him in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored;(11)"digital content" means digital content as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/770 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective (EU) 2019/770 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services (OJ L 136, 22.5.2019, p. 1).;(12)"financial service" means any service of a banking, credit, insurance, personal pension, investment or payment nature;(13)"public auction" means a method of sale where goods or services are offered by the trader to consumers, who attend or are given the possibility to attend the auction in person, through a transparent, competitive bidding procedure run by an auctioneer and where the successful bidder is bound to purchase the goods or services;(14)"commercial guarantee" means any undertaking by the trader or a producer (the guarantor) to the consumer, in addition to his legal obligation relating to the guarantee of conformity, to reimburse the price paid or to replace, repair or service goods in any way if they do not meet the specifications or any other requirements not related to conformity set out in the guarantee statement or in the relevant advertising available at the time of, or before the conclusion of the contract;(15)"ancillary contract" means a contract by which the consumer acquires goods or services related to a distance contract or an off-premises contract and where those goods are supplied or those services are provided by the trader or by a third party on the basis of an arrangement between that third party and the trader;(16)"digital service" means a digital service as defined in point (2) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/770;(17)"online marketplace" means a service using software, including a website, part of a website or an application, operated by or on behalf of a trader which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with other traders or consumers;(18)"provider of an online marketplace" means any trader which provides an online marketplace to consumers;(19)"compatibility" means compatibility as defined in point (10) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/770;(20)"functionality" means functionality as defined in point (11) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/770;(21)"interoperability" means interoperability as defined in point (12) of Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/770.
Article 3Scope1.This Directive shall apply, under the conditions and to the extent set out in its provisions, to any contract concluded between a trader and a consumer where the consumer pays or undertakes to pay the price. It shall apply to contracts for the supply of water, gas, electricity or district heating, including by public providers, to the extent that these commodities are provided on a contractual basis.1a.This Directive shall also apply where the trader supplies or undertakes to supply digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium or a digital service to the consumer and the consumer provides or undertakes to provide personal data to the trader, except where the personal data provided by the consumer are exclusively processed by the trader for the purpose of supplying the digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium or digital service in accordance with this Directive or for allowing the trader to comply with legal requirements to which the trader is subject, and the trader does not process those data for any other purpose.2.If any provision of this Directive conflicts with a provision of another Union act governing specific sectors, the provision of that other Union act shall prevail and shall apply to those specific sectors.3.This Directive shall not apply to contracts:(a)for social services, including social housing, childcare and support of families and persons permanently or temporarily in need, including long-term care;(b)for healthcare as defined in point (a) of Article 3 of Directive 2011/24/EU, whether or not they are provided via healthcare facilities;(c)for gambling, which involves wagering a stake with pecuniary value in games of chance, including lotteries, casino games and betting transactions;(d)for financial services;(e)for the creation, acquisition or transfer of immovable property or of rights in immovable property;(f)for the construction of new buildings, the substantial conversion of existing buildings and for rental of accommodation for residential purposes;(g)on packages as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC (OJ L 326, 11.12.2015, p. 1)..Article 6(7), Article 8(2) and (6) and Articles 19, 21 and 22 of this Directive shall apply mutatis mutandis to packages as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 in relation to travellers as defined in point 6 of Article 3 of that Directive;(h)which fall within the scope of Directive 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contractsOJ L 33, 3.2.2009, p. 10.;(i)which, in accordance with the laws of Member States, are established by a public office-holder who has a statutory obligation to be independent and impartial and who must ensure, by providing comprehensive legal information, that the consumer only concludes the contract on the basis of careful legal consideration and with knowledge of its legal scope;(j)for the supply of foodstuffs, beverages or other goods intended for current consumption in the household, and which are physically supplied by a trader on frequent and regular rounds to the consumer’s home, residence or workplace;(k)for passenger transport services, with the exception of Article 8(2) and Articles 19, 21 and 22;(l)concluded by means of automatic vending machines or automated commercial premises;(m)concluded with telecommunications operators through public payphones for their use or concluded for the use of one single connection by telephone, Internet or fax established by a consumer;(n)for any goods sold by way of execution or otherwise by authority of law.4.Member States may decide not to apply this Directive or not to maintain or introduce corresponding national provisions to off-premises contracts for which the payment to be made by the consumer does not exceed EUR 50. Member States may define a lower value in their national legislation.5.This Directive shall not affect national general contract law such as the rules on the validity, formation or effect of a contract, in so far as general contract law aspects are not regulated in this Directive.6.This Directive shall not prevent traders from offering consumers contractual arrangements which go beyond the protection provided for in this Directive.
Article 4Level of harmonisationMember States shall not maintain or introduce, in their national law, provisions diverging from those laid down in this Directive, including more or less stringent provisions to ensure a different level of consumer protection, unless otherwise provided for in this Directive.
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