§5.9 Termination of the contract following the exercise of the right of withdrawal

Article 12 The exercise of the right of withdrawal shall terminate the obligations of the parties: (a) to perform the distance or off-premises contract; or (b) to conclude the distance or off-premises contract, in cases where an offer was made by the consumer. Article 12 states that exercise of the right of withdrawal terminates the parties’ obligations to perform the contract, in particular the consumer’s obligation to pay or to conclude the contract if the consumer has made the offer. However, under Article 3(2), this rule does not affect other sector-specific EU rules on terminating contracts. — For example, Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council (137) on the internal market for electricity and Directive 2009/73/EC on the internal market in gas (138) provide that if a customer, while respecting contractual conditions, wishes to change supplier, the operator(s) concerned must make the change within three weeks. So, if a consumer decides to withdraw from a contract for electricity or gas and switch to a new provider, the previous supplier and the consumer may continue to be bound by their contract for up to three weeks, in derogation from the rules in Article 14(3) on compensation for what has been provided until withdrawal.

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