§4.2.1 Information to be presented directly before placing the order

Article 8 2. If a distance contract to be concluded by electronic means places the consumer under an obligation to pay, the trader shall make the consumer aware in a clear and prominent manner, and directly before the consumer places his order, of the information provided for in points (a), (e), (o) and (p) of Article 6(1). Article 8(2) refers to information that must be provided to the consumers directly before concluding contracts by electronic means and involving payment of a price. The Directive does not define ‘electronic means’ but, in view of the explanation provided in Recital 39, this term should be interpreted as referring to contracts concluded through websites and other online interfaces:‘It is important to ensure for distance contracts concluded through websites that the consumer is able to fully read and understand the main elements of the contract before placing his order. To that end, provision should be made in this Directive for those elements to be displayed in the close vicinity of the confirmation requested for placing the order […]’. Furthermore, in view of the definition of ‘electronic means’ in Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council (110), Article 8(2) can also apply to other technologies, such as digital content provided via TV set-top boxes. Article 8(2) of the CRD should be seen in the context of national rules transposing the provisions of the eCommerce Directive 2000/31/EC on the formation of contracts, which apply if the contract falls under the definition of an ‘information society service’, i.e., any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services. Article 8(9) of the CRD expressly confirms that it is without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Articles 9 and 11 of Directive 2000/31/EC, whereby the trader is required to allow the consumer to verify the e-order before placing it. Accordingly, Article 8(2) of the CRD would in practice apply at the moment at which the consumer is asked to verify the order in line with the e-Commerce Directive, i.e. to check the contents of the shopping basket before clicking on the ‘buy’ button (111). The terms ‘directly before’ in Article 8(2) should cover, firstly, the temporal aspect and should be construed as meaning ‘immediately before’. Furthermore, the terms ‘prominent manner’ in Article 8(2) and ‘close vicinity’ in Recital 39 suggest stronger requirements on presenting information compared to the general requirements under Article 6(1) and 8(1). The information should be presented in a way that the consumer can actually see and read it before placing the order without being obliged to navigate away from the page used to place the order. The specific pre-contractual information requirements referred to in Article 8(2) are: (1) the main characteristics (Article 6(1)(a)); (2) the total price (Article 6(1)(e)); (3) the duration of the contract and the conditions for terminating it (Article 6(1)(o)); (4) where applicable, the minimum duration of the contract (Article 6(1)(p)).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07