European Union contracts in digital environments

Abstract

One of the most important aims of the Digital Single Market Strategy is to ensure better access to digital services for consumers as traditional contract and consumer law may be inadequate or insufficient in providing protection. When products are faulty, consumers are often uncertain about their rights. Many businesses also hesitate to offer their products to consumers abroad, because of differences in national contract laws. The European Union Commission has initiated many legislative measures to satisfy changing needs of business and consumers in digital spaces. In 2015 the European Commission proposed two directives on contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services and on contracts for the sale of goods. The European Parliament and the Council adopted these Directives on 20 May 2019. Following their publication in the Official Journal, Member States had until 1 July 2021 to transpose them in their national law. The directives harmonise key consumer contract law rules across the EU. The directives aim to ensure a high level of consumer protection and increase legal certainty for both consumers and traders in millions of everyday transactions concerning goods, smart goods, digital content and digital services. This chapter explores the challenges triggered by digitalisation in terms of consumer contracts and examines the solutions proposed in European Union policy and law, focusing in particular on measures provided by the two recent directives. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.