Subject files - Contract rules on the online sale of goods - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

The sales of goods directive, including online and other distance sales, addresses consumer rights in case a good is defective. Currently there are only minimum EU requirements in place (Directive 1999/44/EC) and consequently in practise there are still different national laws, which would create legal uncertainty and affect consumers' confidence in cross-border shopping.

The proposed Directive fully harmonises, specifically for online and other distance sales, the order in which remedies are to be exercised and the duration of the legal guarantee, which would be fixed at two years throughout the EU. Also, the proposed text aims at reversing the burden of proof for two years.

Rapporteur: P. ARIMONT (EPP)

Shadow Rapporteurs: L. ANDERSON (S&D), A. VAN BOSSUYT (ECR), K. KALLAS (ALDE), D. DE JONG (GUE/NGL), P. DURAND (GREENS/EFA), M. ZULLO (EFDD), M.TROSZCZYNSKI (ENF).