# EU legal guarantee notice 2026: what online shops must show

Source: https://storecompliant.com/guides/eu-legal-guarantee-notice
Updated: 2026-10-07

From 27 September 2026, traders selling goods to consumers in the EU must remind them of the two-year legal guarantee of conformity with a harmonised notice. This guide covers the notice, the harmonised label for durability guarantees, and what a shop needs to prepare.

The EU legal guarantee notice is a standard reminder that every shop selling goods to consumers in the EU has to show from 27 September 2026. It tells shoppers that goods come with a legal guarantee of conformity of at least two years. The notice is the same everywhere: the European Commission designed it, and traders reproduce it. This guide explains where the obligation comes from, what the notice and the related label contain, and what an online shop should prepare.

## The legal guarantee of conformity in brief

The legal guarantee is not something a shop chooses to offer. It comes from Directive (EU) 2019/771 on contracts for the sale of goods, as transposed into each country’s national law. The central sentence is:

> The seller shall be liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists at the time when the goods were delivered and which becomes apparent within two years of that time.
>
> — Article 10(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/771

The main elements, as that directive sets them out:

- **Who is liable.** The seller, meaning the shop the consumer bought from. Not the manufacturer.
- **How long.** Two years from delivery is the minimum. Member States “may maintain or introduce longer time limits” (Article 10(3)). For second-hand goods, Member States may allow seller and consumer to agree a shorter period of not less than one year (Article 10(6)).
- **What the consumer can ask for.** To have the goods brought into conformity by repair or replacement, free of charge, or to receive a proportionate price reduction or terminate the contract, under the conditions of Articles 13 and 14.
- **Who has to prove what.** A lack of conformity that becomes apparent within one year of delivery is presumed to have existed at delivery, unless proved otherwise. Member States may extend this to two years (Article 11).

Because several of these points are options for Member States, the details differ by country. That is one reason the notice points consumers to country-specific information.

## What Directive (EU) 2024/825 adds

The Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU already required traders to give “a reminder of the existence of a legal guarantee of conformity”. In practice that was often a line in the terms and conditions.

Directive (EU) 2024/825, on empowering consumers for the green transition, replaces that with a more specific duty. A recital explains why: “consumers are often unaware of their legal rights under Directive (EU) 2019/771”. For distance contracts, the trader must now provide:

> a reminder of the existence of the legal guarantee of conformity for goods and its main elements, including its minimum duration of two years as provided in Directive (EU) 2019/771, in a prominent manner, using the harmonised notice referred to in Article 22a of this Directive;
>
> — Article 6(1), point (l), of Directive 2011/83/EU, as replaced by Article 2(3) of Directive (EU) 2024/825

The same wording is inserted in Article 5(1), point (e), for sales in physical shops. A new Article 22a then tells the Commission to fix the design and content, and sets two conditions: the notice and the label must be “easily recognisable and understandable for consumers and easy to use and reproduce for traders”.

The Commission did so in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 of 25 September 2025. Annex I contains the harmonised notice and Annex II the harmonised label.

### The dates

| Step | Date |
| --- | --- |
| Directive (EU) 2024/825 adopted | 28 February 2024 |
| Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 adopted | 25 September 2025 |
| Deadline for Member States to adopt national measures | 27 March 2026 |
| Member States apply those measures; the implementing regulation applies | 27 September 2026 |

A directive works through national law. Check how and when your country, and the countries you sell to, transposed it.

## Who must show the notice, and where

The duty falls on the trader, which is the business that concludes the contract with the consumer. It concerns goods. The information has to be given before the consumer is bound by the contract.

On placement, the directive itself says only “in a prominent manner”. A recital adds examples:

> The harmonised notice should be displayed in a prominent manner, for example, on a poster in an eye-catching way on a wall in the shop, next to the checkout counter or, in cases of online sale, placed as a general reminder on the website of the trader selling goods.
>
> — Recital 28 of Directive (EU) 2024/825

Three practical points follow from the texts.

- **It is a general reminder, not a per-product statement.** The notice says the same thing for all goods.
- **It must be the official notice.** The annex to the implementing regulation states: “None of the elements of the harmonised notice can be edited.”
- **Online, it must be in colour.** For distance contracts concluded through an online interface, the notice “shall be in colour (RGB)”. Black and white is allowed only for other contracts, where the minimum printed size is A4.

Neither text names a page, a position or a size for a website. Whether a given placement is prominent enough is a matter for national law and, in the end, for the authorities and courts of the country concerned. A sensible starting point is that a shopper should come across the notice on the way to buying, without having to look for it.

Under the Consumer Rights Directive, the burden of proof for meeting the information requirements is on the trader (Article 6(9)).

## What the harmonised notice contains

The notice in Annex I is a single page headed “Legal guarantee”. Its content, in the English version:

- A headline statement: “Minimum two-year legal guarantee protection for goods sold in the European Union.”
- Two common situations in which consumers can claim their rights: goods that do not match the description, and goods that do not function as intended.
- A statement that sellers are liable for a lack of conformity that existed at delivery and becomes apparent within the legal guarantee period, with the remedies: free repair or free replacement and, in some cases, a price reduction or full reimbursement.
- A note that some countries have a longer legal guarantee period, and that for second-hand goods a shorter period of not less than one year may apply.
- A QR code and the address europa.eu/youreurope/guarantees for information on the rights in a specific country.
- A “What to do” section: contact the seller as soon as possible, and provide proof of purchase.
- A closing line explaining that sellers and producers may also offer commercial guarantees, with a picture of the “GARAN” label.

The regulation requires the QR code to be scannable “under normal lighting conditions by using a standard mobile device”. On a screen, that means the notice has to be displayed large and sharp enough to scan.

## The harmonised label for durability guarantees

The label is a different instrument. The implementing regulation draws the line clearly: the notice is “a mandatory notice at the point of sale”, while the label “represents a voluntary commercial guarantee of durability, offered by producers”.

A trader has to show the label for a product only when all of these are true (Article 6(1), point (la)):

1. the producer offers the consumer a commercial guarantee of durability;
2. at no additional cost;
3. covering the entire good;
4. with a duration of more than two years; and
5. the producer has made that information available to the trader.

The recitals add that the trader “should not be required to actively seek such information from the producer”.

The label carries the title “GARAN”, the number of years, the brand and the model identifier, a visual reminder of the legal guarantee, and a QR code. Only the years, the brand and the model identifier are filled in; the rest cannot be edited. Online it must be in colour and may be shown in a “nested display” that opens the full label on the first click, roll-over or tap. The directive’s recital suggests placing it “directly next to the picture of the good in the case of online sale”.

One more rule applies to the label only. Where an online order places the consumer under an obligation to pay, the label information is among the items the trader must make the consumer aware of “in a clear and prominent manner, and directly before the consumer places his order” (Article 8(2), as amended).

## Legal guarantee and commercial guarantee: the difference

| | Legal guarantee of conformity | Commercial guarantee |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Source | The law (Directive (EU) 2019/771, as transposed) | A voluntary promise |
| Who is liable | The seller | The guarantor: the seller or the producer |
| Duration | At least two years from delivery; longer in some countries | Whatever the guarantee statement says |
| Cost to the consumer | None for repair or replacement | Can be free or paid |
| Shown with | The harmonised notice | The harmonised label, but only for a producer’s free durability guarantee of more than two years on the entire good |

A commercial guarantee is an undertaking given “in addition to” the seller’s legal obligation. It never replaces the legal guarantee. Producers and sellers remain free to offer other commercial guarantees; the recitals of Directive (EU) 2024/825 add that information about them should not confuse consumers about the durability guarantee shown on the label.

## What happens with languages

The implementing regulation does not contain a language rule of its own. Three points in the texts help.

- The annex says the QR code leads to “the dedicated language section” of the Your Europe portal, which indicates that the notice exists per language.
- Since no element may be edited, a shop should use the official version for a language, not translate the notice itself.
- The Consumer Rights Directive lets Member States “maintain or introduce in their national law language requirements regarding the contractual information” (Article 6(7)). Check whether the countries you sell to have done so.

The label is designed to be language-neutral: it prints “producer guarantee in years” in all official EU languages.

If you sell in several languages, the cautious reading is to show each shopper the official notice in the language of the shop page they are using, and to check the language rules of each country you target.

## What a shop should prepare

1. List the countries you sell goods to and look up how each transposed Directive (EU) 2024/825.
2. Get the official notice in every language your shop uses. Do not recolour, crop or rewrite it.
3. Decide where it appears so that shoppers meet it before they order, and check that the QR code scans on a phone and on a desktop screen.
4. Review your own guarantee wording. Terms that suggest shorter or narrower rights than the legal guarantee conflict with the notice you now display.
5. Ask your suppliers which products, if any, carry a producer’s durability guarantee that meets the five conditions above, and obtain the label data for those.
6. For those products, plan how the label is shown with the product and how the shopper is made aware of it directly before placing the order.
7. Keep a dated record of when the notice went live and in which languages.

On placing the notice, [StoreCompliant’s legal guarantee notice feature](/features/legal-guarantee-notice) shows the Commission’s artwork unchanged, in the shopper’s language, as a link, a compact card or the notice itself under the price. The feature is included in every plan; see [pricing](/pricing).

## How the rule is enforced

The Consumer Rights Directive leaves enforcement to the Member States. Article 24 requires them to lay down penalties that are “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”; the authority in charge and the amounts are set nationally.

The notice is one of three display duties that online shops selling to EU consumers now meet at the same time. The others are covered in the guides on the [30-day lowest price rule](/guides/omnibus-directive-30-day-lowest-price) and the [EU withdrawal button](/guides/eu-withdrawal-button). Short answers are in the [FAQ](/faq).

## Frequently asked questions

**What is the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee?**

It is a standard EU notice that reminds consumers of the legal guarantee of conformity for goods, including its minimum duration of two years. Its design and content are set out in Annex I to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960.

**From when does an online shop have to show the legal guarantee notice?**

Member States must apply the measures that transpose Directive (EU) 2024/825 from 27 September 2026, and the implementing regulation applies from the same date. The exact obligation is in each country’s national law.

**Can I write my own version of the notice or restyle it to match my shop?**

The implementing regulation says that none of the elements of the harmonised notice can be edited. For contracts concluded through an online interface it must be shown in colour.

**Where on the website does the notice have to appear?**

The directive requires it to be provided “in a prominent manner” before the consumer is bound by the contract. A recital gives the example of a general reminder on the trader’s website; neither text names a specific page, so check your national law.

**Is the legal guarantee the same as a manufacturer’s warranty?**

No. The legal guarantee is the seller’s liability under the law for goods that are not in conformity. A commercial guarantee is a voluntary extra promise by the seller or the producer and does not replace the legal guarantee.

**Do I need the harmonised label as well?**

Only for goods where the producer offers a commercial guarantee of durability at no additional cost, covering the entire good, for more than two years, and has made that information available to you. Otherwise the label does not apply.

**Does the notice apply to digital products?**

The harmonised notice concerns the legal guarantee of conformity for goods. For digital content and digital services the amended directive requires a reminder of the legal guarantee, but it does not prescribe the harmonised notice for it.

## Official sources

- [Directive (EU) 2024/825: amendments to Directive 2011/83/EU, including new Article 22a](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/825/oj)
- [Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960: design and content of the harmonised notice and the harmonised label](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/1960/oj)
- [Directive (EU) 2019/771 on contracts for the sale of goods (legal guarantee of conformity)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/771/oj)
- [Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights, consolidated version of 28 May 2022 (before the 2023 and 2024 amendments)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0083-20220528)

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General information, not legal advice.