The Directive Proposals on Online Sales and Supply of Digital Content (Part II): conformity and remedies for lack of conformity

This article aims to critically analyse the two proposals for Directives that the European Commission launched on 9 December 2015: the Online Sales Directive and the Digital Content Directive. Both proposals are part of the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe. Their main objective is to eliminate one of the barriers to cross-border trade: differences in contract law between Member States. This article is structured in two parts, published separately. This second part of the article highlights the most significant rules governing conformity and the remedies for lack of such conformity with regard to each proposed Directive. It also raises questions as to the justification of their particular format. It can be concluded that the Online Sales Directive introduces some improvements and clarifications to the Consumer Sales Directive that will either increase or maintain the current level of consumer protection in most Member States. Nevertheless, in some Member States the Online Sales Directive will undoubtedly lead to a reduction in the existing level of protection. The Digital Content Directive rules on conformity and the remedies for lack of conformity of digital content also raise some significant issues. It can be argued that some rules need to be clarified or revised. They include the rule under which contractual terms take precedence over objective criteria when assessing the conformity of digital content and the provision on damages that limits the consumer’s right to seek compensation for damages incurred in their digital environment.