Case C‑485/17

Verbraucherzentrale Berlin eV

v

Unimatic Vertriebs GmbH

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesgerichtshof)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Consumer protection — Directive 2011/83/EU — Article 2(9) — Concept of ‘business premises’ — Criteria — Sales contract concluded on a stand run by a trader at a trade fair)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 7 August 2018

Consumer protection — Unfair terms in consumer contracts — Directive 2011/83 — Concept of ‘business premises’ — Stand run by a trader at a trade fair — Included — Criteria for assessment — To be determined by the national court

(European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/83, Art. 2(9))

Article 2(9) 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 interpreted as meaning that a stand, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, run by a trader at a trade fair, at which he carries out his activity for a few days each year, constitutes ‘business premises’ within the meaning of that provision if, in the light of all the factual circumstances surrounding that activity, in particular the appearance of the stand and the information relayed on the premises of the fair itself, a reasonably well‑informed and reasonably observant and circumspect consumer could reasonably assume that the trader is carrying out his activity there and will solicit him in order to conclude a contract, which is for the national court to ascertain.

The duration of the trade fair concerned is not, in itself, conclusive in that regard, the EU legislature having intended, as is apparent from recital 22 of Directive 2011/83, that premises where the trader carries out his activity on a seasonal basis may constitute ‘business premises’ within the meaning of Article 2(9) of the directive.

(see paras 45, 46, operative part)