1.2.4. Interplay with the Unfair Contract Terms Directive

COMMISSION NOTICE – Guidance on the interpretation and application of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market · European Union

The Unfair Contract Terms Directive (51) (UCTD) applies to all business-to-consumer contracts and concerns contractual terms which have not been individually negotiated in advance (e.g. pre-formulated standard clauses). Contractual terms may be regarded as unfair based on a general prohibition (52), an indicative list of potentially unfair terms (53) or an obligation to draft terms transparently, i.e. in plain, intelligible language (54). In contrast to the UCPD, which is without prejudice to contract law and does not provide for the invalidity of contracts that result from unfair commercial practices, breaches of the UCTD have contractual consequences: under Article 6(1) of that directive, unfair terms used in a contract with a consumer must ‘not be binding on the consumer’ (55).

← sec_1_2_3__para__7 · All articles · sec_1_2_4__para →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.