New Regulations – Introduction of the online withdrawal button

n 22 November 2023, Directive (EU) 2023/2673 was adopted, introducing the so-called electronic withdrawal button. This provides consumers with a new, user-friendly means of exercising their right of withdrawal from distance contracts. The draft German Act amending consumer and insurance contract law implements these requirements into national law. The transposition deadline expires on 19 December 2025.

Key Innovations

1. Online withdrawal button

Traders offering the conclusion of contracts via an online user interface will in future be required to provide an electronic withdrawal button.
Through this button, consumers will be able to exercise their statutory 14-day right of withdrawal for contracts concluded online. This obligation applies equally to contracts concerning goods, services and financial services.

2. Abolition of the Obligation to Provide Contract Terms in Paper Form

Traders will no longer be required to provide the contractual terms in paper form – not even at the express request of the consumer. This amendment reflects the ongoing process of digitalisation and is intended to reduce the administrative burden on traders.

Design of the Withdrawal Button

The draft Act requires that consumers must be able to withdraw from a distance contract just as easily as they concluded it. To this end, traders will be obliged to provide, on their website, a clearly recognisable and easily accessible withdrawal function that facilitates both the submission of the withdrawal declaration and the identification of the relevant contract.

• The function must be labelled with the words “withdraw from contract” (“Vertrag widerrufen”) or an equally clear and unambiguous formulation.
• It must be permanently available throughout the withdrawal period, placed in a prominent position and easily accessible to the consumer at all times.

The withdrawal function must enable consumers to transmit their withdrawal declaration to the trader and, in doing so, to easily provide or confirm the following information:

1. the consumer’s first and last name,
2. identification details of the contract concerned,
3. details of the electronic means of communication through which the confirmation of receipt of the withdrawal is to be transmitted to the consumer.

Once these details have been provided, the trader must enable the consumer to submit the withdrawal declaration via the confirmation function, which must be labelled “confirm withdrawal” (“Widerruf bestätigen”) or a formulation of equivalent clarity.

Significance for entrepreneurs

The reform of consumer and insurance contract law obliges entrepreneurs in particular to:

• adapt their withdrawal policy in their general terms and conditions (GTC),
• update the technical structures of their websites in accordance with the new legal requirements.