argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: e-commerce - guarantees - consumers

On May 5, 2022, the E.U. Court of Justice with a judgment rendered in case C-179/21, ruled that the merchant company that sells goods made by others online on Amazon must inform the consumer about the manufacturer’s guarantee only if it makes that element as a central or decisive condition of its offer. The Court has, in fact, argued that it is right to protect those who buy, but an unconditional obligation to provide all the guarantees connected to the asset, including the commercial one proposed by the manufacturer, would instead be disproportionate. In this way, a fair balance has been ensured between consumer protection and business competitiveness. The case arises from the company absoluts -bikes and more- GmbH & Co. KG which had put the product of a Swiss manufacturer for sale on the Amazon platform. On the page of the site where the offer was presented, there was no information on the guarantees offered by absoluts or by third parties, but a section entitled “Other technical information” which linked the user to a form containing some data drawn up by the manufacturer. On the basis of the German legislation on unfair competition, another company proposed an action aimed at ending this commercial proposal and once the case reached the Federal Court of Justice of Germany, the EU judges were questioned to resolve the question and that is to know whether a professional who finds himself in the situation of absoluts should inform the consumer of the existence of the commercial guarantee offered by the manufacturer.