The legal framework
Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights requires pre-contractual information, a fourteen-day right of withdrawal for distance purchases and a ban on pre-ticked boxes. Directives (EU) 2019/770 and 2019/771 extended this to digital content and services and set a minimum two-year conformity guarantee for goods. These are largely maximum-harmonisation directives: states cannot offer less, nor much more.
The fourteen days run from delivery, not from the order, and the period is extended by twelve months if the trader failed to inform the buyer of the right.
The legal guarantee of conformity is not the seller's commercial warranty: it is statutory, lasts at least two years and binds the seller, not the manufacturer.
Key points
| Instruments | Directive 2011/83/EU; Directives (EU) 2019/770 and 2019/771 |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal | Fourteen days without reason for distance purchases |
| Guarantee | Conformity of goods for at least two years |
| Digital | Digital content and services covered since 2022 |
| Harmonisation | Largely maximum: little national leeway |
In practice
- Check first what kind of instrument it is: a regulation applies directly, a directive must be transposed and leaves differences between states.
- Consult the consolidated version on EUR-Lex, which incorporates every amendment.
- Identify the national transposing statute: that is what a court will actually apply.
- Where the meaning is disputed, look for Court of Justice judgments on the point.
- For a cross-border dispute, check whether a national contact point or a European network can help.
Cost and coverage
Consulting Union law costs nothing: EUR-Lex publishes every text free of charge, in twenty-four official languages and in consolidated form. Any cost lies in legal advice, where the interaction between the European text and the national transposing statute becomes decisive — common with directives, rare with regulations.
Where to go
- EUR-Lex, the official portal of Union law, publishing every text in twenty-four languages
- The European e-Justice Portal, for cross-border procedures
- Your Europe, the Commission's information service for citizens
- SOLVIT, the network that resolves misapplication of Union law by an administration
- The European Consumer Centre in your country, for cross-border consumer disputes
Worth knowing
Do not confuse the European Union with the Council of Europe: the European Convention on Human Rights and the Strasbourg Court are not EU bodies and cover forty-six states, including Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to withdraw?
Fourteen days from delivery, with no reason required, for a distance purchase.
What if the trader did not tell me?
The period is extended by twelve months.
Does the legal guarantee cover digital products?
Yes, since the 2019 Directives, applicable from 2022.
Is a non-EU website bound?
If it directs its activity at consumers in the Union, the protective rules apply and the consumer can sue in their own country's courts.
Official sources and links
- UN Human Rights Office — ratified treaties and country reviews
- ILO NATLEX — national legislation database