Study on the costs and benefits of extending certain rights under the Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive 1999/94/EC : executive summary

The study is part of the ongoing Fitness Check of EU consumer and marketing law, focusing on the Consumer Sales and Guarantees (CSG) Directive 1999/44/EC which is a minimum harmonisation Directive. The study assessed the costs and benefits of extending certain consumer rights under the Directive. It specifically focuses on assessing the impacts of extending the legal guarantee period to more than two years for all products or applying varying guarantee periods for a selection of products depending on product type, value or life-span as declared by the manufacturer. In addition, it explores the impacts of uniform EU rules allowing the consumer to freely terminate the contract when the seller fails to repair or replace a defective good within a specified deadline; introducing an obligation on sellers to inform consumers about the availability of spare parts; and introducing an obligation on sellers to keep or facilitate access to spare parts for all or some products.