Directive on Sales of Goods: European Parliament votes for free paper copy of commercial guarantees

After almost 3 years of discussions, the Internal Market Committee (IMCO) of the European Parliament has adopted its first reading on the “Directive on Sales of Goods” on 22 February 2018.

The report includes a provision giving the possibility for consumers to receive a paper copy of the commercial guarantee. Such paper guarantee would have to be sent upon request of the consumer, free of charge. More precisely, Article 15.2 (CA 46) states: “The guarantee statement shall be made available on a durable medium and in writing drafted in plain, intelligible language. On request by the consumer, it shall be made available on paper, free of charge […] ”.

This amendment is an important success for the KeepMePostedEU campaign, who has been advocating for its inclusion, as neither the Commission’s proposal, nor the Rapporteur’s initial report mentioned a right to choose between a paper or digital guarantee statement. This initiative was supported by Lucy Anderson, Member of the European Parliament, who tabled the amendment.

In order to become legislation, the Council of the EU will have to agree on the final text. It will start preparing its position now. KeepMePostedEU will continue to advocate that the paper copy of the commercial guarantee remains in the final agreed text and ensure that consumer choice is secured.