New provisions on seller’s liability for defects in goods to apply from 2022

by Damian Dobosz

3 November 2021

1 January 2022 is the deadline for the European Union Member States for implementing Directive (EU) 2019/771 of 20 May 2019 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods.
 

Objectives of the Directive

The Directive applies first of all to B2C sales contracts. Enterprises will have to modify e.g. their general terms and conditions of contracts and terms of sale.

The Directive regulates, among other things, the sale of goods with digital elements (e.g. smart watches, smart refrigerators or smart TVs) and goods without such elements (e.g. clothes). The upcoming changes also concern the seller's obligations and liability to consumers as well as consumer rights. The Directive's provisions lay out the requirements for goods to be in conformity with the contract, the remedies available to consumers whenever the enterprise breaches its obligations, and the obligations of enterprises in case of contact termination. For example, consumers will be entitled to withhold the payment for defective goods.

The Directive does not introduce any revolutionary changes to the existing regulations. The Polish Civil Code already contains most of the envisaged solutions. Nevertheless, in view of some of the provisions of the Directive, sellers should review their general terms and conditions of contracts and ensure that they comply with the EU laws.

The most important changes include, among other things, more precise criteria for non-conformity of goods with the contract and definition of goods with digital elements.

The implementation deadline is 1 January 2022. Enterprises should:

• update their general terms and conditions of contracts;
• expand information provided to consumers before concluding the contract;
• establish practices enabling the fulfilment of obligations imposed by the EU legislation.