As we reported earlier, the proposal for an optional Common European Sales Law received strong backing from the European Parliament in a plenary vote on 26 February. The text including the amendments that the EP approved is now available on the Parliament's website (p 83 ff of the document).
Some of the most remarkable changes suggested include:
- the focus on distance, online contracts, including contracts for the supply of cloud services (recitals 8, 9 and 17a);
- the extension of the definition of 'consumer' to certain dual-purpose contracts (recital 11a and Article 2(f));
- the extension of the applicability of the CESL to certain mixed-purpose and linked contracts (Article 6(1));
- an explanation of the meaning of 'good faith' within the CESL (Article 2(fe));
- the extension of unfair terms control to all contract terms supplied by the trader (Annex I, Article 82);
- the addition of a number of new terms to the black list on unfair terms (Annex I, Article 84);
- the remedies available in case of non-conformity of digital content (Annex I, Article 107);
- the inclusion of provisions on commercial guarantees (Annex I, Article 177a);
- detailed provisions on the setting-up of a database collecting national judgments on the CESL, possibilities for alternative dispute resolution, the development of model contracts based on the CESL, and the review of the CESL 5 years after its adoption (Annex I, Articles 186a-d).
