Case C-430/17: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 23 January 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof — Germany) — Walbusch Walter Busch GmbH & Co. KG v Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs Frankfurt am Main eV (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Consumer protection — Directive 2011/83/EU — Distance contracts — Article 6(1)(h) — Obligation to provide information on the right of withdrawal — Article 8(4) — Contract concluded through a means of distance communication which allows limited space or time to display the information — Meaning of ‘limited space or time to display the information’ — Brochure inserted in a periodical — Mail order coupon containing a hyperlink referring to information on the right of withdrawal)
Date: 2019-01-23
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: consumer information, contract terms, distance selling, serial publication, termination of a contract








C_2019093EN.01001301.xml










11.3.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 93/13






Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 23 January 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof — Germany) — Walbusch Walter Busch GmbH & Co. KG v Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs Frankfurt am Main eV
(Case C-430/17) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Consumer protection - Directive 2011/83/EU - Distance contracts - Article 6(1)(h) - Obligation to provide information on the right of withdrawal - Article 8(4) - Contract concluded through a means of distance communication which allows limited space or time to display the information - Meaning of ‘limited space or time to display the information’ - Brochure inserted in a periodical - Mail order coupon containing a hyperlink referring to information on the right of withdrawal))
(2019/C 93/16)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesgerichtshof

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Walbusch Walter Busch GmbH & Co. KG

Defendant: Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs Frankfurt am Main eV

Operative part of the judgment

The assessment of whether, in a specific case, the means of communication allows limited space or time to display the information, in accordance with Article 8(4) of Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, must be carried out having regard to all of the technical features of the trader’s marketing communication. In that regard, it falls to the national court to ascertain whether, having regard to the space and time occupied by the communication and the minimum size of the typeface which is appropriate for the average consumer targeted by that communication, all the information set out in Article 6(1) of that directive may objectively be displayed within that communication.
Article 6(1)(h) and Article 8(4) of Directive 2011/83 must be interpreted to the effect that, in a situation where the contract is concluded through a means of distance communication which allows limited space or time to display the information, and where a right of withdrawal exists, the trader is required to provide the consumer, on the means of communication in question and before the conclusion of the contract, with information regarding the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right. In such a situation, that trader must provide the consumer with the model withdrawal form, as provided for in Annex I(B) to that directive, by another source in plain and intelligible language.


(1)  OJ C 347, 16.10.2017.