After an unsuccessful attempt last week, the Austrian Presidency of the European Council finally obtained the support of the Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) for the draft directive on contracts for the sale of goods on Wednesday 5 December.
The Ministers of Justice will therefore be invited, at the end of a tour de table, to approve the draft general approach at their meeting on 7 December (see other news).
As a reminder, this text - which would replace Directive 1999/44/EC - is part of a package on sales contracts which includes a section on digital content and another on online and offline sales of goods. The Council has still not defined its negotiating position on this latter text, which establishes minimum provisions for distance selling and face-to-face sales, although Parliament has been ready for just under a year (see EUROPE 11967).
The draft general approach approved by the Committee of Permanent Representatives is based on mainly maximum harmonisation. It sets the legal guarantee period at two years and the period for the reversal of the burden of proof at one year or even at two years maximum. It allows Member States to exclude second-hand products sold at public auctions and covers goods containing digital elements. It also specifies that, in this case, the seller is required to provide updates related to the digital element for a period of two years or more, if the contract specifies it. The text also provides for a flexible hierarchy of remedies, which gives priority to the repair or replacement of the product. It also stipulates that the "seller may refuse to make the goods compliant if repair and replacement are impossible or impose a disproportionate burden in terms of costs". As regards the timetable, the draft general approach suggests that the measures should become applicable two and a half years after the publication of the text in the Official Journal of the EU. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)