On Thursday 5 May, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down a judgment (Case C-179/21) in which it held that a trader who offers goods on online sales platforms which he has not produced himself must inform the consumer of the manufacturer’s guarantee if that guarantee has been made “a central or essential element of the offer”.
In detail, the Court considers that, in order to strike a balance between a high level of consumer protection and maintaining the competitiveness of businesses, the trader is only obliged to provide the consumer with pre-contractual information on the commercial guarantee if this is in the legitimate interest of the customer.
That interest, the CJEU states, is established where a trader makes the manufacturer’s commercial guarantee an important or decisive selling point in his offer. In order to determine whether the proposed guarantee is a central element, the Court puts forward several criteria, such as the place occupied by the mention of this guarantee in the offer or the risk of error or confusion that this mention could induce.
While the Court specifies, under the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU), that the obligation to inform the consumer relates to “all the essential particulars”, thus including the main characteristics - including the guarantee - it also introduces certain barriers.
In essence, the Court stresses that an “unconditional obligation to provide this information” would be “disproportionate”, since it would oblige professionals to carry out a considerable amount of work in collecting and updating information, even though they do not necessarily have a direct contractual relationship with the manufacturer.
Furthermore, the CJEU considers that traders should also provide information - in addition to the duration and territorial scope of a guarantee - on the places of repair in the event of damage and any restrictions on the guarantee, or, depending on the circumstances, the name and address of the guarantor.
See the press release: https://aeur.eu/f/1ih (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)