§5.1.1 Introduction

Article 9 1. Save where the exceptions provided for in Article 16 apply, the consumer shall have a period of 14 days to withdraw from a distance or off-premises contract, without giving any reason, and without incurring any costs other than those provided for in Article 13(2) and Article 14. 1a. Member States may adopt rules in accordance with which the withdrawal period of 14 days referred to in paragraph 1 is extended to 30 days for contracts concluded in the context of unsolicited visits by a trader to a consumer’s home or excursions organised by a trader with the aim or effect of promoting or selling products to consumers […]; Article 9 gives the consumer 14 days to withdraw from a distance or off-premises contract without giving any reason. For contracts concluded in the context of unsolicited visits by a trader to a consumer’s home or excursions organised by a trader with the aim or effect of promoting or selling products to consumers, Member States may extend the withdrawal period of 14 to 30 days. The application of the regulatory choices in case of unsolicited visits or excursions is discussed in section 5.9. Recital 41 specifies that ‘[…] all periods contained in this Directive should be understood to be expressed in calendar days . Where a period expressed in days is to be calculated from the moment at which an event occurs or an action takes place, the day during which that event occurs or that action takes place should not be considered as falling within the period in question.’ Accordingly, ‘14 days’/‘30 days’, in this provision should mean 14 or, respectively, 30 calendar days, starting from the day following the day on which the relevant event occurs (i.e., the conclusion of the contract or delivery of goods): — For example, if the goods are delivered or the service contract is concluded on 1 March, the last day to exercise the right of withdrawal should be 15 March, or, in the cases provided for in paragraph 1a, 31 March. Recital 41 points out that Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71 of the Council (124) applies to the Directive. According to this Regulation (Article 3(3)): ‘The periods concerned shall include public holidays, Sundays and Saturdays, save where these are expressly excepted or where the periods are expressed in working days.’ So public holidays, Sundays and Saturdays are included in the 14 days/30 days. However, if the withdrawal period ends on one of these days, it should be extended to the next working day because Article 3(4) of Regulation 1182/71 states that: ‘Where the last day of a period expressed otherwise than in hours is a public holiday, Sunday or Saturday, the period shall end with the expiry of the last hour of the following working day. ’ The lists of days designated as public holidays by Member States for the purposes of Regulation 1182/71 are published in the OJ (125). — For example, if the 14-day right of withdrawal period for a contract concluded with a Romanian consumer ends on 25 December 2021, it should be extended until 27 December because the 25 and 26 December are designated as public holidays in Romania in 2021. Although traders should accept the consumer’s right to withdraw from the contract during the extended withdrawal period, they have no express obligation to inform the consumer that an extension is possible (see also the ‘Model instructions on withdrawal’ annexed to the Directive).

← 5.1 · All articles · 5.1.2 →

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