Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1998:111
Date: 1998-03-17
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Consumer protection;Approximation of laws
Concepts: Off-premises contracts
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgmen t 
Approximation of laws — Protection of the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away 
from business premises — Directive 85/577 — Scope — Contract of guarantee for the repayment 
of a debt contracted by a person acting within the course of his trade or profession — Excluded 
(Council Directive 85/577, Art. 2, first indent) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-45/96 
On a proper construction of the first indent 
of Article 2 of Directive 85/577 to protect 
the consumer in respect of contracts negoti­
ated away from business premises, which 
defines a 'consumer' for the purposes of the 
directive, a contract of guarantee concluded 
by a natural person who is not acting in the 
course of his trade or profession does not 
come within the scope of the directive where 
it guarantees repayment of a debt contracted 
by another person who, for his part, is acting 
within the course of his trade or profession. 
In that connection, although it cannot be 
excluded that the directive applies to a con­
tract of guarantee, it is apparent from the 
wording of Article 1 thereof and from the 
ancillary nature of guarantees that the direc­
tive covers only a guarantee ancillary to a 
contract whereby, in the context of 'doorstep 
selling', a consumer assumes obligations 
towards the trader with a view to obtaining 
goods or services from him. Furthermore, 
since the directive is designed to protect only 
consumers, a guarantee comes within the 
scope of the directive only where, in accord­
ance with the first indent of Article 2, the 
guarantor has entered into a commitment for 
a purpose which can be regarded as uncon­
nected with his trade or profession. 
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