Shops and online sellers across the European Union must now display a common notice explaining consumers’ legal-guarantee rights, one of several changes taking effect on Sunday under the bloc’s latest consumer-law package.
The notice tells buyers that goods sold in the EU carry at least two years of legal protection when they are faulty or do not match what was promised. It must be shown prominently in stores and on e-commerce sites, using the prescribed design and a QR code that directs consumers to information in their own language.
A second device, the EU’s new GARAN label, becomes compulsory when a manufacturer chooses to offer a free commercial durability guarantee covering an entire product for more than two years. The label must identify the length of that promise, the brand and the model. It does not replace the statutory guarantee owed by the seller.
The date also marks the application of national laws implementing the EU directive on empowering consumers for the green transition. Those measures tighten the rules around broad environmental claims, sustainability labels and marketing that withholds information about practices likely to shorten a product’s life. Because the instrument is a directive, enforcement will run through each member state’s implementing law rather than a single EU prosecution system.
The distinction matters. A legal guarantee arises automatically from the sale; a commercial durability guarantee is an additional promise voluntarily made by a producer. The new display system is intended to keep those rights from being blurred at the checkout, where paid warranties and manufacturer promises have often overshadowed the remedy already supplied by law.
Businesses selling into the EU must use the official artwork without altering its required elements. Online versions must appear in colour, while physical notices may be printed in colour or black and white. The Commission’s guidance and downloadable formats are available on the EU’s official business portal.
