CELEX: 51976PC0544
Language: en
Date: 1977-01-05
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE TO PROTECT THE CONSUMER IN RESPECT OF CONTRACTS WHICH HAVE BEEN NEGOCIATED AWAY FROM BUSINESS PREMISES

No C 22/6                          Official Journal of the European Communities                              2 9 . 1 . 77
   working life of the power stations before and after        — grants will be payable in 10 equal instalments,
   modernization.                                                 three of these prior to the installation coming into
                                                                   service and the remaining seven annually
                                                                  thereafter subject to fulfilment of the coal-burn
                        Article 4                                 plan in Article 4,
Applications for grants must be accompanied by a              — the first three instalments may be repayable to the
plan showing minimum annual quantities of coal,                    Commission in the event of the installation not
expressed in tee (tonnes of coal equivalent), to be                commencing operation within a period to be
burned during the first seven years of full operation              specified in the contract,
of the installation.
                                                              — the seven annual instalments may be reduced or
                                                                   withheld in the event of the coal-burn plan not
                        Article S                                  being fulfilled.
In     considering   applications    for    grants,   the
Commission is to be guided by the coal-burn plans                                      Article 7
submitted to the effect that the higher the proposed
coal-burn in relation to the amount of the grant, the         All relevant technical and financial information
higher the priority of the project. However, priority          requested by the Commission relating to all stages of
is to be given to projects in regard to which the              a project for which grants are requested under this
electricity undertaking is prepared to commit itself to        Regulation shall be made available to the
 use principally Community coal.                               Commission throughout the period of the payment of
                                                               grants. The Commission shall have the right to verify
                                                               this information by inspection.
                        Article 6
 The Commission will adopt implementing provisions                                     Article 8
 for this Regulation and in particular for the
 submission of applications for grants under Article 3
 of this Regulation and will draw up a standard form           The Commission will make a report at regular
 of contract to conclude with the undertakings to              intervals on the execution of this Regulation and will
 benefit from grants.                                          communicate it to the Council and to the European
                                                               Parliament.
 This standard form of contract shall include the
 following conditions relating to the payment of               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
 grants:                                                       directly applicable in all Member States.
               Proposal for a Council Directive to protect the consumer in respect of contracts which
                                   have been negotiated away from business premises
                          (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 17 January 1977)
  THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                      Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                Social Committee,
  Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
  European Economic Community, and in particular                Whereas it is a common form of commercial practice
  Articles 100 thereof,                                         in the Member States for the negotiation of a
                                                                contract or a unilateral engagement between a trader
  Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,            and a consumer to be initiated away from the
                                                                business premises of the trader; whereas such
  Having regard to the opinion of the           European        contracts and engagements are already the subject of
  Parliament,                                                   legislation in the Member States;
 ---pagebreak--- 2 9 . 1 . 77                       Official Journal of the    »ean Communities                            No C 22/7
Whereas any disparity between such legislation may         HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
directly affect the functioning of the common
market; whereas it is therefore necessary to
approximate laws in this field;                                                      Article 1
                                                           1.      This Directive shall apply to contracts between
Whereas the Preliminary Programme of the European          a consumer and a trader, and unilateral engagements
Economic Community for a consumer protection and           by a consumer towards a trader, negotiations for
information policy (*) provides inter alia under           which have been initiated away from business
paragraphs 24 and 25 that appropriate measures be          premises.
taken to protect consumers against unfair commercial
practices in respect of doorstep selling;
                                                           Such contracts and engagements            are  hereinafter
                                                           referred to as 'doorstep contracts'.
Whereas the special features of contracts negotiated
away from the business premises of the trader are          2.      For the purpose of this Directive:
that as a rule it is the trader who initiates the          — 'consumer' means a natural person who in
negotiations for contracts for which the consumer is            transactions covered by this Directive acts
unprepared or does not expect; whereas the consumer             otherwise than in a commercial or professional
is often unable to compare the quality and price of the         capacity,
offer with other offers; whereas this surprise element
generally exists not only in contracts made at the         — 'trader' means a natural or legal person who in
doorstep, but also in any other form of contract               the exercise of a commercial or professional
initiated by the trader away from business premises;            activity concludes contracts with consumers,
                                                           — 'business premises' mean the permanent place of
                                                                business at which a trader exercises his
Whereas consumer protection will be augmented by                commercial or professional activity as well as
providing that contracts which are initiated by the             stalls at fairs and markets.
trader away from his business premises must be in
 written form and contain certain essential provisions;
                                                                                     Article 2
Whereas the consumer should be given a right of            This Directive shall not apply to:
 cancellation within at least seven days of the signing
 of the contract in order to enable him to study the
                                                            (a) contracts which have been negotiated exclusively
 obligations arising thereunder;
                                                                 at the initiative of the consumer;
                                                                 — for the purposes of this paragraph the
                                                                      ordering of catalogues, patterns, samples and
 Whereas appropriate measures should be taken to
                                                                      similar items, a request by the consumer for a
 ensure that the consumer is informed of this period
                                                                      visit or demonstration, and participation in
 of reflection and that this period should not be
                                                                      an event organized by the trader shall not be
 shortened by any provision in the contract;
                                                                      considered as initiating negotiations;
                                                            (b) contracts which have been negotiated solely in
 Whereas goods and services provided during this                 writing;
 period of reflection should be at the risk of the trader
 subject to the return of the goods where possible;         (c) contracts which are concluded before a court,
                                                                  notary or other person who is under duty to
                                                                 inform both contracting parties of their rights
 Whereas to protect consumers against abuses relating             and obligations;
 to certain goods or services Member States may
 prohibit the negotiating of contracts away from            (d) contracts relating to immovable property or any
 business premises for these goods or services,                   rights thereto;
                                                            (e) contracts under which the price payable by the
                                                                  consumer does not exceed 25 European units of
 (») OJ No C 92, 25. 4. 1975.                                    account;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 22/8                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               2 9 . 1 . 77
    European unit of account means the unit of               — notice of the right of cancellation enjoyed by the
     account as defined by Commission Decision                     consumer, which shall be set apart from the main
     3289/75/ECSC of 18 December 1975 (1).                         text of the contract and must contain the name
                                                                   and address of the party against whom the right
     The conversion value in national currency to be               of cancellation may be exercised.
     adopted shall, as from 31 December of each year,
     be that of the last day of the preceding month of
     October for which European unit of account                                        Article 4
     conversion values are available in all the
     Community currencies.                                    1.     The consumer must sign the doorstep contract
                                                             in his own hand.
     The Council shall, on a proposal from the
     Commission, examine every three years and, if            2.     A copy of the doorstep contract must be given
     necessary, revise the amount specified in               to the consumer on the signing thereof or forwarded
     European units of account in this paragraph,             to him immediately thereafter.
     having regard to economic and monetary
     movement in the Community.
                                                                                       Article 5
                       Article 2 bis
                                                              A doorstep contract shall be void if the provisions of
                                                              Articles 3 and 4 have not been complied with.
This Directive does not preclude the adoption at
Community level of specific provisions on certain
types of contract which might contain obligations in                                   Article 6
respect of contracts negotiated away from business
premises and which would derogate from the
obligations contained in this Directive, particularly          1.     The consumer shall have a right of cancellation
those covering:                                               by giving the trader notice within a period of not less
                                                              than seven days after signature by the consumer of
— consumer credit,                                             the doorstep contract in accordance with the pro-
                                                               cedure laid down by national law. It shall be
— home-study courses,                                          sufficient if the notice is dispatched before the end of
                                                               the period.
— moveable assets,
— insurance contracts.                                        2.      The Member States may, however, fix a later
                                                               date from which the period shall begin.
                                                               3.     The serving of notice to the trader shall have
                         Article 3
                                                               the effect of releasing the consumer from any
                                                               contractual obligation.
 1.    The Member States shall take the necessary
 measures to ensure that doorstep contracts are made           4.     The consumer may not renounce his right of
 in writing.                                                   cancellation.
 2.    The doorstep contract shall          in  particular
 contain the following information:                                                     Article 6 bis
 — name and address of the contracting parties,
                                                               Where the services concern a direct insurance other
 — a description of the goods or service forming the            than a life assurance, and where immediate cover of
     subject matter of the contract,                            risks is agreed, the provisions of Article 6 shall not
                                                                apply if the consumer so requests.
 — a time limit of delivery of the goods or supply of
     the service,
                                                                                        Article 7
 — the price,
 — the terms of payment,                                        The Member States shall take the necessary measures
                                                                to ensure that a separate cancellation form
                                                                 corresponding to the model annexed to this Directive
 (*) OJ No L 327, 19. 12. 1975, p. 4.                           is handed to the consumer when he signs the
 ---pagebreak--- 2 9 . 1 . 77                         Official Journal of the European Communities                           No C 22/9
 doorstep contract in order to facilitate the exercise of                             Article 11
 his right of cancellation.
                                                                Contractual provisions which:
                                                                 (a) require the consumer to pay some form of
                          Article 8                                  compensation if he exercises his right of
                                                                     cancellation; or
1.       If the consumer exercises his right of                  (b) provide that a court other than that normally
cancellation, any payments made must be reimbursed                   competent to hear such a case shall have
 and any goods received must be returned at the                      jurisdiction,
expense and risk of the trader.
                                                                shall be void.
2.       The consumer shall not be required to pay for
normal use of the goods during the period mentioned                                    Article 12
in Article 6.
                                                                1.     The consumer shall not be hindered in or
                                                                stopped from exercising his right of cancellation
3.       The Member States may make provision for               because of a false statement as to the date of
supplementary         requirements    relating   to    the      conclusion of the doorstep contract.
consequences of the cancellation.
                                                                2.    To this end, the Member States shall provide
                                                                that:
                                                                (a) the doorstep contract be dated by the consumer
                          Article 9                                  in his own hand; or
                                                                (b) the doorstep contract be registered with         an
Except for any payment of a deposit required under                   appropriate body.
national law, the trader shall be forbidden to require
the consumer before expiration of the period
mentioned in Article 6:                                                                Article 13
(a) to make full or partial payment of the contract             Member States may prohibit the initiation of
       price or to provide any other kind of payment or         negotiations by a trader for doorstep contracts
       any surety; or                                           generally or in relation to certain goods or services
                                                                only or may subject them to prior authorization.
(b) to sign a bill of exchange, cheque or other kind
       of negotiable instrument or, for the trader, to
       take such a document.                                                           Article 14
                                                                1.     The Member States shall bring into force the
                                                                measures necessary to comply with this Directive
                          Article 10                            within 18 months of its notification and shall
                                                                forthwith inform the Commission hereof.
In case of dispute:
                                                                2.     The Member States shall ensure that the texts of
(a) as to whether a doorstep contract has been                  the main provisions of national law which they adopt
       negotiated exclusively at the initiative of the          in the field covered by this Directive are com-
       consumer; or                                             municated to the Commission.
(b) whether a doorstep contract has been negotiated
       solely in writing,                                                              Article 15
the burden of proof shall lie with the trader.                  This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 22/10                       Official Journal of the European Communities      2 9 . 1 . 77
                                                           ANNEX
                                           Model of the 'cancellation form'
           I hereby declare that I am cancelling the contract
           for
                                             (description of the goods or service)
           amounting to
                                                             (price)
           signed
                                                              (date)
           Name
           Address
           Date