Contratti di vendita di beni conformi 2019/0771 EN

The purpose of this Directive is to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market while providing for a high level of consumer protection, by laying down common rules on certain requirements concerning sales_contracts concluded between sellers and consumers, in particular rules on the conformity of goods with the contract, remedies in the event of a lack of such conformity, the modalities for the exercise of those remedies, and on commercial_guarantees.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:

(1)	‘ sales_contract’ means any contract under which the seller transfers or undertakes to transfer ownership of goods to a consumer, and the consumer pays or undertakes to pay the price thereof;

(2)	‘ consumer’ means any natural person who, in relation to contracts covered by this Directive, is acting for purposes which are outside that person's trade, business, craft or profession;

(3)

‘ seller’ means any natural person or any legal person, irrespective of whether privately or publicly owned, that is acting, including through any other person acting in that natural or legal person's name or on that person's behalf, for purposes relating to that person's trade, business, craft or profession, in relation to contracts covered by this Directive;

(4)	‘ producer’ means a manufacturer of goods, an importer of goods into the Union or any person purporting to be a producer by placing its name, trade mark or other distinctive sign on the goods;

(5)

‘ goods’ means:

(a)	any tangible movable items; water, gas and electricity are to be considered as goods within the meaning of this Directive where they are put up for sale in a limited volume or a set quantity;

(b)	any tangible movable items that incorporate or are inter-connected with digital_content or a digital_service in such a way that the absence of that digital_content or digital_service would prevent the goods from performing their functions (‘ goods with digital elements’);

(6)	‘ digital_content’ means data which are produced and supplied in digital form;

(7)

‘ digital_service’ means:

(a)	a service that allows the consumer to create, process, store or access data in digital form; or

(b)	a service that allows the sharing of or any other interaction with data in digital form uploaded or created by the consumer or other users of that service;

(8)	‘ compatibility’ means the ability of the goods to function with hardware or software with which goods of the same type are normally used, without the need to convert the goods, hardware or software;

(9)	‘ functionality’ means the ability of the goods to perform their functions having regard to their purpose;

(10)	‘ interoperability’ means the ability of the goods to function with hardware or software different from those with which goods of the same type are normally used;

(11)

‘ durable_medium’ means any instrument which enables the consumer or the seller to store information addressed personally to that person in a way that is 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;

(12)

‘ commercial_guarantee’ means any undertaking by the seller or a producer (the guarantor) to the consumer, in addition to the seller's 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;

(13)	‘ durability’ means the ability of the goods to maintain their required functions and performance through normal use;

(14)	‘ free_of_charge’ means free of the necessary costs incurred in order to bring the goods into conformity, particularly the cost of postage, carriage, labour or materials;

(15)

‘ public_auction’ means a method of sale where goods or services are offered by the seller 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.

Article 17

Commercial guarantees

1. Any commercial_guarantee shall be binding on the guarantor under the conditions laid down in the commercial_guarantee statement and associated advertising available at the time, or before the conclusion, of the contract. Under the conditions laid down in this Article and without prejudice to any other applicable provisions of Union or national law, where a producer offers to the consumer a commercial_guarantee of durability for certain goods for a certain period of time, the producer shall be liable directly to the consumer, during the entire period of the commercial_guarantee of durability for repair or replacement of the goods in accordance with Article 14. The producer may offer to the consumer more favourable conditions in the commercial_guarantee of durability statement.

If the conditions laid out in the commercial_guarantee statement are less advantageous to the consumer than those laid down in the associated advertising, the commercial_guarantee shall be binding under the conditions laid down in the advertising relating to the commercial_guarantee, unless, before the conclusion of the contract, the associated advertising was corrected in the same way or in a comparable way to that in which it was made.

2. The commercial_guarantee statement shall be provided to the consumer on a durable_medium at the latest at the time of the delivery of the goods. The commercial_guarantee statement shall be expressed in plain, intelligible language. It shall include the following:

(a)	a clear statement that the consumer is entitled by law to remedies from the seller free_of_charge in the event of a lack of conformity of the goods and that those remedies are not affected by the commercial_guarantee;

(b)	the name and address of the guarantor;

(c)	the procedure to be followed by the consumer to obtain the implementation of the commercial_guarantee;

(d)	the designation of the goods to which the commercial_guarantee applies; and

(e)	the terms of the commercial_guarantee.

3. Non-compliance with paragraph 2 shall not affect the binding nature of the commercial_guarantee for the guarantor.

4. Member States may lay down rules on other aspects concerning commercial_guarantees which are not regulated in this Article, including rules on the language or languages in which the commercial_guarantee statement is to be made available to the consumer.

Article 25

Review

The Commission shall, not later than 12 June 2024, review the application of this Directive, including its provisions on remedies and burden of proof — also with respect to second-hand goods as well as goods sold at public_auctions — and the producer's commercial_guarantee of durability, and submit a report to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the European Economic and Social Committee. The report shall assess in particular whether the application of this Directive and Directive (EU) 2019/770 ensures a consistent and coherent framework for the proper functioning of the internal market with regard to the supply of digital_content, digital_services and goods with digital elements in line with principles governing Union policies. The report shall be accompanied, where appropriate, by legislative proposals.

Article 27

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 May 2019.

For the European Parliament

The President

A. TAJANI

For the Council

The President

G. CIAMBA

(1) OJ C 264, 20.7.2016, p. 57.

(2) Position of the European Parliament of 26 March 2019 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 15 April 2019.

(3) 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 (OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 64).

(4) Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (OJ L 171, 7.7.1999, p. 12).

(5) Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) (OJ L 177, 4.7.2008, p. 6).

(6) Directive (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 (see page 1 of this Official Journal).

(7) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ L 351, 20.12.2012, p. 1).

(8) Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 (OJ L 345, 27.12.2017, p. 1).

(9) Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests (OJ L 110, 1.5.2009, p. 30).

(10) OJ C 369, 17.12.2011, p. 14.

ANNEX

CORRELATION TABLE

Directive 1999/44/EC	This Directive
Article 1(1)	Article 1
Article 1(2)(a)	Article 2, point (2)
Article 1(2)(b), first indent	Article 3(4)(b)
Article 1(2)(b), second and third indents	Article 2, point (5)(a)
Article 1(2)(c)	Article 2, point (3)
Article 1(2)(d)	Article 2, point (4)
Article 1(2)(e)	Article 2, point (12)
Article 1(3)	Article 2, point (15) and Article 3(5)(a)
Article 1(4)	Article 3(2)
Article 2(1)	Article 5
Article 2(2)(a)	Article 6, point (a) and Article 7(1)(b)
Article 2(2)(b)	Article 6, point (b)
Article 2(2)(c)	Article 7(1)(a)
Article 2(2)(d)	Article 7(1)(d)
Article 2(3)	Article 7(5)
Article 2(4)	Article 7(2)
Article 2(5)	Article 8
Article 3(1)	Article 10(1)
Article 3(2)	Article 13(1)
Article 3(3), first subparagraph	Article 13(2) and Article 14(1)(a)
Article 3(3), second subparagraph	Article 13(2)
Article 3(3), third subparagraph	Article 14(1)(b) and (c)
Article 3(4)	Article 2, point (14)
Article 3(5)	Article 13(4)
Article 3(6)	Article 13(5)
Article 4	Article 18
Article 5(1)	Article 10(1), (2), (3), (4) and (5)
Article 5(2)	Article 12
Article 5(3)	Article 11
Article 6(1)	Article 17(1)
Article 6(2)	Article 17(2)
Article 6(3)	Article 17(2)
Article 6(4)	Article 17(4)
Article 6(5)	Article 17(3)
Article 7(1), first subparagraph	Article 21(1)
Article 7(1), second subparagraph	Article 10(6)
Article 7(2)	—
Article 8(1)	Article 3(6) and (7)
Article 8(2)	Article 4
Article 9	Articles 19 and 20
Article 10	Article 22
Article 11(1), first subparagraph	Article 24(1), first subparagraph
Article 11(1), second subparagraph	Article 24(1), third subparagraph
Article 11(2)	Article 24(1), fourth subparagraph
Article 12	Article 25
Article 13	Article 26
Article 14	Article 27

whereas

(9) While online sales of goods constitute the vast majority of cross-border sales in the Union, differences in national contract laws equally affect retailers using distance sales channels and retailers selling face-to-face and prevent them from expanding across borders.
This Directive should cover all sales channels, in order to create a level playing field for all businesses selling goods to consumers.
By laying down uniform rules across sales channels, this Directive should avoid any divergence that would create disproportionate burdens for the growing number of omni-channel retailers in the Union.
The need for retaining consistent rules on sales and guarantees for all sales channels was confirmed in the Commission's Fitness Check on consumer and marketing law published on 29 May 2017, which also covered Directive 1999/44/EC.

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(62) In order to ensure that there is transparency, certain requirements as regards commercial_guarantees should be provided, alongside the pre-contractual information requirements on the existence and conditions of commercial_guarantees set out in Directive 2011/83/EU.
Moreover, in order to improve legal certainty and to avoid consumers being misled, this Directive should provide that, where commercial_guarantee conditions contained in associated advertisements are more favourable to the consumer than those included in the guarantee statement, the more advantageous conditions should prevail.
Finally, this Directive should provide rules on the content of the guarantee statement and on the way it should be made available to consumers.
For instance, the guarantee statement should include the terms of the commercial_guarantee and state that the legal guarantee of conformity is unaffected by the commercial_guarantee, making it clear that the commercial_guarantee terms constitute an undertaking that is additional to the legal guarantee of conformity.
Member States should be free to lay down rules on other aspects of commercial_guarantees not covered by this Directive, for example on associating debtors other than the guarantor with the commercial_guarantee, provided that those rules do not deprive consumers of the protection afforded to them by the fully harmonised provisions of this Directive on commercial_guarantees.
While Member States should remain free to require that commercial_guarantees be provided free_of_charge, they should ensure that any undertaking by the seller or the producer which falls under the definition of commercial_guarantees as set out in this Directive complies with the harmonised rules of this Directive.

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(63) Considering that the seller is liable towards the consumer for any lack of conformity of the goods resulting from an act or omission of the seller or a third party, the seller should be able to pursue remedies against the person responsible in previous links of the chain of transactions.
Such remedies should include those for a lack of conformity which results from the omission of an update, including a security update, which would have been necessary to keep the good with digital elements in conformity.
However, this Directive should not affect the principle of freedom of contract between the seller and other parties in the chain of transactions.
The details for exercising that right, in particular against whom and how such remedies are to be pursued and whether the remedies are of a mandatory nature, should be provided by the Member States.
The question as to whether the consumer can also raise a claim directly against a person in previous links of the chain of transactions should not be regulated by this Directive, except in cases where a producer offers the consumer a commercial_guarantee for the goods.

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(71) It is appropriate for the Commission to review the application of this Directive five years after its entry into force, including in particular the provisions regarding remedies, the burden of proof – also with respect to second-hand goods as well as goods sold at public_auctions – and the producer's commercial_guarantee of durability.
The Commission should also assess whether the application of this Directive and of Directive (EU) 2019/770 ensures a consistent and coherent legal framework with regard to the supply of digital_content or digital_services and goods with digital elements.

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keyboard_tab Contratti di vendita di beni conformi 2019/0771 EN

Contratti di vendita di beni conformi 2019/0771 EN