Contratti di vendita di beni conformi 2019/0771 EN

(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 7

Objective requirements for conformity

1. In addition to complying with any subjective requirement for conformity, the goods shall:

(a)	be fit for the purposes for which goods of the same type would normally be used, taking into account, where applicable, any existing Union and national law, technical standards or, in the absence of such technical standards, applicable sector-specific industry codes of conduct;

(b)	where applicable, be of the quality and correspond to the description of a sample or model that the seller made available to the consumer before the conclusion of the contract;

(c)	where applicable, be delivered along with such accessories, including packaging, installation instructions or other instructions, as the consumer may reasonably expect to receive; and

(d)

be of the quantity and possess the qualities and other features, including in relation to durability, functionality, compatibility and security normal for goods of the same type and which the consumer may reasonably expect given the nature of the goods and taking into account any public statement made by or on behalf of the seller, or other persons in previous links of the chain of transactions, including the producer, particularly in advertising or on labelling.

2. The seller shall not be bound by public statements, as referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1 if the seller shows that:

(a)	the seller was not, and could not reasonably have been, aware of the public statement in question;

(b)	by the time of conclusion of the contract, the public statement had been corrected in the same way as, or in a way comparable to how, it had been made; or

(c)	the decision to buy the goods could not have been influenced by the public statement.

3. In the case of goods with digital elements, the seller shall ensure that the consumer is informed of and supplied with updates, including security updates, that are necessary to keep those goods in conformity, for the period of time:

(a)	that the consumer may reasonably expect given the type and purpose of the goods and the digital elements, and taking into account the circumstances and nature of the contract, where the sales_contract provides for a single act of supply of the digital_content or digital_service; or

(b)	indicated in Article 10(2) or (5), as applicable, where the sales_contract provides for a continuous supply of the digital_content or digital_service over a period of time.

4. Where the consumer fails to install within a reasonable time updates supplied in accordance with paragraph 3, the seller shall not be liable for any lack of conformity resulting solely from the lack of the relevant update, provided that:

(a)	the seller informed the consumer about the availability of the update and the consequences of the failure of the consumer to install it; and

(b)	the failure of the consumer to install or the incorrect installation by the consumer of the update was not due to shortcomings in the installation instructions provided to the consumer.

5. There shall be no lack of conformity within the meaning of paragraph 1 or 3 if, at the time of the conclusion of the sales_contract, the consumer was specifically informed that a particular characteristic of the goods was deviating from the objective requirements for conformity laid down in paragraph 1 or 3 and the consumer expressly and separately accepted that deviation when concluding the sales_contract.

Article 16

Termination of the sales_contract

1. The consumer shall exercise the right to terminate the sales_contract by means of a statement to the seller expressing the decision to terminate the sales_contract.

2. Where the lack of conformity relates to only some of the goods delivered under the sales_contract and there is a ground for termination of the sales_contract pursuant to Article 13, the consumer may terminate the sales_contract only in relation to those goods, and in relation to any other goods which the consumer acquired together with the non-conforming goods if the consumer cannot reasonably be expected to accept to keep only the conforming goods.

3. Where the consumer terminates a sales_contract as a whole or, in accordance with paragraph 2, in relation to some of the goods delivered under the sales_contract:

(a)	the consumer shall return to the seller, at the seller's expense, the goods; and

(b)	the seller shall reimburse to the consumer the price paid for the goods upon receipt of the goods or of evidence provided by the consumer of having sent back the goods.

For the purposes of this paragraph, Member States may determine the modalities for return and reimbursement.

Article 23

Repeal of Directive 1999/44/EC

Directive 1999/44/EC is repealed with effect from 1 January 2022.

References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex.

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

(10) This Directive should cover rules applicable to the sales of goods, including goods with digital elements, only in relation to key contract elements needed to overcome contract-law related barriers in the internal market.
For this purpose, rules on requirements for conformity, remedies available to consumers for a lack of conformity of the goods with the contract and on the main modalities for their exercise should be fully harmonised, and the level of consumer protection, as compared to Directive 1999/44/EC, should be increased.
Fully harmonised rules on some essential elements of consumer contract law would make it easier for businesses, especially SMEs, to offer their products in other Member States.
Consumers would benefit from a high level of consumer protection and welfare gains by fully harmonising key rules.

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(15) This Directive should apply to contracts for the sale of goods, including goods with digital elements where the absence of the incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_service would prevent the goods from performing their functions and where that digital_content or service is provided with the goods under the sales_contract concerning those goods.
Whether the supply of the incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_service forms part of the sales_contract with the seller should depend on the content of this contract.
This should include incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_services the supply of which is explicitly required by the contract.
It should also include sales_contracts which can be understood as covering the supply of specific digital_content or a specific digital_service because they are normal for goods of the same type and the consumer could reasonably expect them given the nature of the goods and taking into account any public statement made by or on behalf of the seller or other persons in previous links of the chain of transactions, including the producer.
If, for example, a smart TV were advertised as including a particular video application, that video application would be considered to be part of the sales_contract.
This should apply regardless of whether the digital_content or digital_service is pre-installed in the good itself or has to be downloaded subsequently on another device and is only inter-connected to the good.
For example, a smart phone could come with a standardised pre-installed application provided under the sales_contract, such as an alarm application or a camera application.
Another possible example is that of a smart watch.
In such a case, the watch itself would be considered to be the good with digital elements, which can perform its functions only with an application that is provided under the sales_contract but has to be downloaded by the consumer onto a smart phone; the application would then be the inter-connected digital element.
This should also apply if the incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_service is not supplied by the seller itself but is supplied, under the sales_contract, by a third party.
In order to avoid uncertainty for both sellers and consumers, in the event of doubt as to whether the supply of the digital_content or the digital_service forms part of the sales_contract, the rules of this Directive should apply.
Furthermore, ascertaining a bilateral contractual relationship, between the seller and the consumer, of which the supply of the incorporated or inter-connected digital_content or digital_service forms part should not be affected by the mere fact that the consumer has to consent to a licensing agreement with a third party in order to benefit from the digital_content or the digital_service.

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(18) This Directive should not affect national law to the extent that the matters concerned are not regulated by this Directive, in particular with regard to the legality of the goods, damages and general contract law aspects such as the formation, validity, nullity or effects of contracts.
The same should apply in relation to the consequences of the termination of the contract and to certain aspects regarding repair and replacement that are not regulated in this Directive.
When regulating the rights of parties to withhold the performance of their obligations or part thereof until the other party performs its obligations, Member States should remain free to regulate the conditions and modalities regarding the withholding of payment of the price by the consumer.
Member States should also remain free to regulate the consumer's entitlement to compensation for damage suffered as a consequence of an infringement by the seller of this Directive.
This Directive should also not affect national rules that do not specifically concern consumer contracts and provide for specific remedies for certain types of defects that were not apparent at the time of conclusion of the sales_contract, namely national provisions which may lay down specific rules for the seller's liability for hidden defects.
This Directive should also not affect national laws providing for non-contractual remedies for the consumer, in the event of lack of conformity of goods, against persons in previous links of the chain of transactions, for example manufacturers, or other persons that fulfil the obligations of such persons.

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(28) Given that the digital_content or digital_services incorporated in or inter-connected with goods are constantly developing, sellers may agree with consumers to provide updates for such goods.
Updates, as agreed in the sales_contract, can improve and enhance the digital_content or digital_service element of goods, extend their functionalities, adapt them to technical developments, protect them against new security threats or serve other purposes.
The conformity of goods with digital_content or digital_services which are incorporated in or inter-connected with the goods should, therefore, also be assessed in relation to whether the digital_content or digital_service element of such goods is updated in accordance with the sales_contract.
Failure to supply updates that had been agreed in the sales_contract should be considered as a lack of conformity of the goods.
Moreover, defective or incomplete updates should also be considered as a lack of conformity of the goods, given that that would mean that such updates are not performed in the manner stipulated in the sales_contract.

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(32) Ensuring longer durability of goods is important for achieving more sustainable consumption patterns and a circular economy.
Similarly, keeping non-compliant products out of the Union market by strengthening market surveillance and providing the right incentives to economic operators is essential in order to increase trust in the functioning of the internal market.
For those purposes, product-specific Union legislation is the most appropriate means of introducing durability and other product-related requirements in relation to specific types or groups of products, using for this purpose adapted criteria.
This Directive should therefore be complementary to the objectives pursued in such Union product-specific legislation, and should include durability as an objective criterion for the assessment of conformity of goods.
Durability in this Directive should refer to the ability of the goods to maintain their required functions and performance through normal use.
In order for goods to be in conformity, they should possess the durability which is normal for goods of the same type and which the consumer can reasonably expect given the nature of the specific goods, including the possible need for reasonable maintenance of the goods, such as the regular inspection or changing of filters in a car, and any public statement made by or on behalf of any person constituting a link in the chain of transactions.
The assessment should also take into account all other relevant circumstances, such as the price of the goods and the intensity or frequency of the use that the consumer makes of the goods.
In addition, insofar as specific durability information is indicated in any pre-contractual statement which forms part of the sales_contract, the consumer should be able to rely on them as a part of the subjective requirements for conformity.

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(36) In order to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility in the rules, for instance in relation to the sale of second-hand goods, it should be possible for the parties to deviate from the objective requirements for conformity provided for in this Directive.
Such a deviation should only be possible if the consumer was specifically informed about it and if the consumer accepts it separately from other statements or agreements, and by way of active and unequivocal conduct.

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(58) In order to make the right to terminate effective for consumers, in situations where the consumer acquires multiple goods and the lack of conformity only affects some of the goods delivered under the contract, the consumer should have the right to terminate the contract also in relation to the other goods acquired together with the non-conforming goods, even if those other goods are in conformity, if the consumer cannot reasonably be expected to accept to keep only the conforming goods.

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(69) In accordance with the Joint Political Declaration of 28 September 2011 of Member States and the Commission on explanatory documents (10), Member States have undertaken to accompany, in justified cases, the notification of their transposition measures with one or more documents explaining the relationship between the components of a directive and the corresponding parts of national transposition instruments.
With regard to this Directive, the legislator considers the transmission of such documents to be justified.

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keyboard_tab Contratti di vendita di beni conformi 2019/0771 EN

Contratti di vendita di beni conformi 2019/0771 EN