Möbel Kraft GmbH & Co. KG v ML.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2020:846
• Date: 21 October 2020
• Docket Number: C-529/19
• Celex Number: 62019CJ0529
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)

21 October 2020 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Consumer protection – Directive 2011/83/UE – Article 16(c) – Right of withdrawal – Exceptions – Goods made to the consumer’s specifications or clearly personalised – Goods which the trader has begun to produce)

In Case C‑529/19,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Amtsgericht Potsdam (District Court, Potsdam, Germany), made by decision of 12 June 2019, received at the Court on 11 July 2019, in the proceedings

Möbel Kraft GmbH & Co. KG

v

ML,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of C. Toader, acting as President of the Chamber, M. Safjan (Rapporteur), and N. Jääskinen, Judges,

Advocate General: H. Saugmandsgaard Øe,

Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,

having regard to the written procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– Möbel Kraft GmbH & Co. KG, by J. Jeep, Rechtsanwalt,

– ML, by R. Sterzel, Rechtsanwalt,

– the European Commission, by C. Hödlmayr, B.-R. Killmann and C. Valero, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 16(c) 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 (OJ 2011 L 304, p. 64).

2 The request has been made in proceedings between Möbel Kraft GmbH Co. KG, a German furniture company, and ML, a consumer, concerning a claim for damages following ML’s withdrawal from the contract concluded between those parties.

Legal context

EU law

3 Recitals 7, 40 and 49 of Directive 2011/83 state:

‘(7) Full harmonisation of some key regulatory aspects should considerably increase legal certainty for both consumers and traders. Both consumers and traders should be able to rely on a single regulatory framework based on clearly defined legal concepts regulating certain aspects of business-to-consumer contracts across the Union. …

…

(40) The current varying lengths of the withdrawal periods both between the Member States and for distance and off-premises contracts cause legal uncertainty and compliance costs. …

…

(49) Certain exceptions from the right of withdrawal should exist, both for distance and off-premises contracts. A right of withdrawal could be inappropriate for example given the nature of particular goods or services. … The right of withdrawal should neither apply to goods made to the consumer’s specifications or which are clearly personalised such as tailor-made curtains, nor to the supply of fuel, for example, which is a good, by nature inseparably mixed with other items after delivery. …’

4 Article 2 of that directive, entitled ‘Definitions’, provides:

‘For the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:

…

(3) “goods” means any tangible movable items, with the exception of items sold by way of execution or otherwise by authority of law; water, gas and electricity shall be considered as goods within the meaning of this Directive where they are put up for sale in a limited volume or a set quantity;

(4) “goods made to the consumer’s specifications” means non-prefabricated goods made on the basis of an individual choice of or decision by the consumer;

…

(7) “distance contract” means any contract concluded between the trader and the consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

(8) “off-premises contract” means any contract between the trader and the consumer:

(a) concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;

…

(c) concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer; or

…

(9) “business premises” means:

(a) any immovable retail premises where a trader carries out his activity on a permanent basis; or

(b) any movable retail premises where the trader carries out his activity on a usual basis;

…’

5 Article 6 of that directive, entitled ‘Information requirements for distance and off-premises contracts’, provides in paragraph 1:

‘Before the consumer is bound by a distance or off-premises contract, or any corresponding offer, the trader shall provide the consumer with the following information in a clear and comprehensible manner:

…

(h) where a right of withdrawal exists, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right in accordance with Article 11(1), as well as the model withdrawal form set out in Annex I(B);

…

(k) where a right of withdrawal is not provided for in accordance with Article 16, the information that the consumer will not benefit from a right of withdrawal or, where applicable, the...