European Union Planning To Increase Obligations Of Business In Consumer Sales

The amendments planned with the Directive are related to both general commerce as well as e-commerce and if the Directive is passed, the rights of consumers would improve in Estonia. One of the planned changes is to extend the time during which it is presumed that a deficiency in a product existed during transfer of the item from six months to two years.

What does the directive foresee?

• At the moment there is a principle applicable according to which it is presumed upon consumer sales that incompliance with the contractual terms and conditions that was discovered within six months after the transfer of an item to the buyer existed during the time of transfer, unless such presumption is in conflict with the nature of the item or deficiency. The draft aims at extending the period to two years.
• The draft wishes to abolish the provision according to which in case of consumer sales the consumer is required to notify the seller of an item’s incompliance with the contractual terms and conditions within two months after they learned of the incompliance.
• While so far the traders have had the right to decide if a product should be repaired or replaced, the new draft act provides that the consumer may choose between repairing and replacing, unless one of these options is impossible or illegal, or unreasonably costly for the seller as compared to the other option.

Who is influenced?

The draft influences all businesses who sell goods to consumers. 

When does the directive enter into force?

The plan is to enter the directive into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and thereafter Estonia should transpose the directive within two years.

We have prepared a questionnaire which is open for answering by 22 January 2018. The opinions and proposals of entrepreneurs with regard to the draft are welcome to e-mail marko[at]koda.ee.

Based on the feedback from entrepreneurs we will prepare and send the position of the Chamber to the Ministry of Justice.