(1)

Directive 2011/83/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), aims, among other things, to make consumers more aware of their rights so that they make more sustainable purchasing decisions, and to stimulate both demand for and supply of more durable goods. To this end, Directive 2011/83/EU establishes a harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity and a harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability, enabling consumers to make informed decisions.

(2)

While the legal guarantee of conformity and the commercial guarantee of durability are two independent types of guarantees, the harmonised notice and harmonised label are designed to complement each other and include cross-references that highlight the differences between the two types of guarantees. The harmonised notice is a mandatory notice at the point of sale, intended to raise consumer awareness of their legal guarantee rights. In contrast, the harmonised label represents a voluntary commercial guarantee of durability, offered by producers who wish to assure consumers of the durability of their goods.

(3)

Article 5(1), point (e), and Article 6(1), point (l), of Directive 2011/83/EU require traders to provide consumers, before they are bound by a contract or any corresponding offer, with a reminder of the existence of the legal guarantee of conformity for goods. That reminder must contain the main elements of the guarantee, including its minimum duration of two years and a general reference to the possibility that the duration of the legal guarantee of conformity may be longer under national law. That information must be made available to the consumer in a prominent manner, using the harmonised notice referred to in Article 22a(1) and (3) of Directive 2011/83/EU.

(4)

To help consumers better understand their rights regarding the main elements of the legal guarantee of conformity, the harmonised notice should remind them of common situations where they can invoke those rights.

(5)

The harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity should remind consumers of the remedies available to them if goods are not conform, and should explain that sellers are liable to provide such remedies under certain conditions. The notice should also include a general reference to the possibility that the duration of the legal guarantee of conformity may be longer under national law. In addition, the notice should contain practical information on the steps consumers can take in situations where they have received non-conform goods and should indicate where they can find additional information.

(6)

In order to ensure that consumers fully understand the difference between the legal guarantee of conformity and commercial guarantees, the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity should also indicate that sellers and producers may additionally offer commercial guarantees, including a commercial guarantee of durability.

(7)

A good indicator of a good’s durability is the commercial guarantee of durability provided by a producer pursuant to Article 17 of Directive (EU) 2019/771 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). That commercial guarantee of durability is a commitment from the producer to the consumer that the good will maintain its required functions and performance through normal use during a certain period.

(8)

Where a producer offers a commercial guarantee of durability at no additional cost for a particular good, covering the entire good and with a duration of more than two years, and makes that information available to the trader, Article 5(1), point (ea), and Article 6(1), point (la), of Directive 2011/83/EU require the trader selling the good to inform consumers of the existence and duration of that commercial guarantee, while reminding consumers that they also benefit from the legal guarantee of conformity. This must be done in a prominent manner, using the harmonised label referred to in Article 22a(1) of Directive 2011/83/EU.

(9)

Article 22a(5) of Directive 2011/83/EU requires both the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity and the harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability to be easily recognisable and understandable for consumers, while also easy to use and reproduce for traders. To this end, the Commission consulted representative groups of stakeholders and performed a field test with representative groups of consumers, which provided input to the final design and content of the harmonised notice and the harmonised label.

(10)

The harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity and the harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability should include a QR code that directs consumers to additional useful information on the Your Europe portal, in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4).

(11)

The QR code on the harmonised notice should direct consumers to more detailed information on their rights under Union law provided by the legal guarantee of conformity, as established by Directive (EU) 2019/771. Since it is important for consumers to be aware of their country-specific rights under the legal guarantee of conformity, the QR code should provide access to Member States’ portals where more detailed information is available.

(12)

Given the limited space available on the harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability, the QR code on the label should direct consumers to more detailed information. This should explain that the harmonised label represents a commercial guarantee of durability offered by the producer for a particular good, at no additional cost to the consumer, and covers the entire good, not just a component thereof, for a duration of more than two years.

(13)

In order to ensure that traders can easily use and reproduce the harmonised notice and the harmonised label, they may be in either colour or black and white when they are presented as pre-contractual information in the context of contracts, other than distance contracts concluded through an online interface.

(14)

Meanwhile, where the contract is to be concluded through an online interface, both the notice and the label should be in colour. For distance contracts concluded through an online interface, the label may be displayed using a nested format.

(15)

The harmonised label has a language-neutral design, combined with translations, which allows it to be easily used and reproduced by traders and producers across the Union. The label consists of the title ‘GARAN’, which refers to ‘guarantee’ in several languages of the Union; a tick-mark symbol indicating that the good’s durability is guaranteed; a calendar symbol representing the duration of the commercial guarantee of durability offered; a visual reminder of the existence of the legal guarantee of conformity; and a QR code providing access to additional information. In order to facilitate consumers’ understanding, it should include the phrase ‘producer guarantee in years’ at the bottom of the harmonised label, rendered in all official languages of the Union. The Commission may review and adapt the harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability if necessary, in the light of future uptake of the label, how it is understood by consumers and the implementation of other Union instruments.

(16)

Given that Member States are required to apply the measures transposing Directive (EU) 2024/825 from 27 September 2026, this Regulation should also become applicable from the same date.

(17)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition,