Rights

EU Legal Guarantee and Right to Repair: Your 2026 Rights

How the EU two-year legal guarantee, free repair or replacement, refunds, proof rules and the right to repair work for faulty goods in 2026.

By the Federal Europa editorial team Reviewed 2026-10-19

On this page

The legal guarantee is a right against the seller
What counts as faulty or non-conforming
Two years, proof and the evidence to keep
Repair, replacement, price reduction or refund
Commercial warranties and second-hand goods
What the 2026 right to repair changed
Repair forms, the 2027 platform and recalls
How to claim and escalate
A consumer side to one European market
Sources and review

The legal guarantee is a right against the seller

The EU legal guarantee is not the card in the box and it is not whatever six- or twelve-month promise a manufacturer advertises. It is a statutory right against the professional seller when goods are faulty, do not match the description, lack promised features or updates, or otherwise fail to conform to the sales contract. Every EU country must provide at least two years of seller liability from delivery, while national law can protect you for longer.

Start by identifying the legal seller. In a shop it is usually obvious; on a marketplace it may be a business using the platform rather than the platform itself. The invoice, order confirmation and trader information should name it. The EU minimum normally protects consumer purchases from professional traders, including cross-border online purchases. A purchase from a private individual is outside this regime, and a non-EU website does not automatically become subject to EU consumer law merely because it ships to Europe.

What counts as faulty or non-conforming

Conformity is wider than whether the product turns on. Goods must match the agreed description, type, quantity, quality, functionality, compatibility and other contract terms. They must also be fit for an expressly accepted purpose and arrive with the accessories, instructions and updates promised. Beyond those individual promises, they should have the durability, safety, functionality and other qualities a consumer can reasonably expect from goods of that type, taking account of public statements such as advertising and labels.

Goods with digital elements are included. A connected watch, smart television, phone, car system or other product may be non-conforming because required software or security updates were not supplied. The seller remains the consumer's legal counterpart even if a manufacturer or software provider was expected to deliver the update. For a digital element supplied continuously for longer than two years, responsibility for that continuous supply can last for the agreed period even though the ordinary goods-liability floor is two years.

Two years, proof and the evidence to keep

The clock normally starts when you receive the goods, not when you place the order. If the defect appears during the first year, EU law presumes that it existed at delivery unless the seller proves otherwise or that presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or defect. A country may extend that reversed burden of proof to two years. After the national presumption period, the guarantee has not vanished, but you may need evidence that the underlying defect was already present at delivery.

Useful evidence is practical: the receipt or order record, model and serial number, the original product page, photographs or video, error messages, software and update history, and a dated account of normal use and when the problem appeared. A technician's report can help after the proof presumption ends, but do not pay for an expensive diagnosis before asking the seller what evidence it will accept and whether national law makes the cost recoverable.

Repair, replacement, price reduction or refund

Repair and replacement are the first-line remedies. You can normally choose between them, but the seller may refuse your choice if it is impossible or would impose disproportionate costs compared with the other option, considering the value of conforming goods, the seriousness of the defect and whether the alternative can be provided without significant inconvenience. The seller cannot simply redirect you to the manufacturer because that is easier for its internal process.

Bringing the goods into conformity must be free of charge, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. Free means the necessary costs of postage, carriage, labour and materials cannot be shifted to you. If properly installed goods must be removed for repair or replacement, the seller must generally handle or bear the necessary removal and reinstallation cost. Document any demand that you prepay a return and ask for a prepaid route or written reimbursement confirmation.

A price reduction or contract termination with a refund becomes available when repair or replacement is impossible, refused, not completed properly or within a reasonable time, causes significant inconvenience, or when the defect is serious enough to justify moving directly to those remedies. A minor lack of conformity does not normally justify ending the contract; the seller bears the burden of showing that it is minor. National procedures determine how the price reduction is calculated and how the refund and return are completed.

Commercial warranties and second-hand goods

Do not confuse a legal guarantee with a commercial warranty. A manufacturer or seller may voluntarily promise extra years, accidental-damage cover, pickup, loan devices or other benefits, sometimes for a fee. Those terms can be useful, but they cannot reduce the free statutory rights against the seller. You may choose the commercial route if it is faster, yet should say clearly when you are claiming under the legal guarantee so the trader does not treat an optional warranty limit as the end of the matter.

Second-hand goods sold by a professional trader are covered too, though EU law allows national systems to let the parties agree a shorter liability period that cannot be less than one year. Private sales remain different. Refurbished goods should be judged against the description, age, disclosed wear and reasonable expectations for that product; a trader cannot label an undisclosed fault as ordinary wear after the sale.

What the 2026 right to repair changed

The 2026 right-to-repair rules add a second layer. EU countries had to apply Directive (EU) 2024/1799 from 31 July 2026. For sales contracts concluded from that date, when repair is used instead of replacement to bring faulty goods into conformity, the seller's liability period is extended once by 12 months. Countries may provide a longer extension, and systems without fixed liability periods must provide protection equivalent to at least three years after repair. Check the national implementation before calculating a deadline.

Outside the seller's legal-liability period, the new obligation is aimed at manufacturers and only covers goods for which EU legislation sets repairability requirements. The list develops with product rules; it is not a promise that every object must be repaired forever. For covered goods, the manufacturer must repair on request unless repair is impossible, either free or at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time. If the manufacturer is outside the EU, the obligation can fall to its authorised representative, importer or, failing those, distributor.

For those covered products, manufacturers must make repair-service information accessible and publish indicative prices for typical repairs. Spare parts and tools that they make available must be offered at a price that does not deter repair. They cannot use contracts, hardware or software to obstruct compliant independent repair without a legitimate and objective reason, and cannot refuse solely because someone else previously repaired the item. You remain free to choose another repairer, although doing so does not transfer the seller's guarantee duties to that repairer.

Repair forms, the 2027 platform and recalls

A repairer may offer the standard European Repair Information Form before you contract. It states the defect, proposed repair, price or calculation method and maximum, time needed, handover point, possible loan item and ancillary costs. The form itself is free, although a disclosed necessary diagnostic service may carry a charge. Once issued, its conditions cannot be changed for at least 30 days; if you accept during that period, the repairer must perform on those terms.

The planned European online repair platform is not yet the route for today's dispute. The common interface and national sections or qualifying national alternatives are due by 31 July 2027. In 2026, use the manufacturer's repair information and the national consumer portal. If the defect is dangerous or subject to a recall, follow the separate Safety Gate and recall route; recall remedies are not limited to the ordinary two-year guarantee.

How to claim and escalate

Make the claim in writing. Name the seller, order, delivery date, product and defect; say when it appeared; attach evidence; state that you are using the legal guarantee; choose repair or replacement and request a free process within a reasonable deadline. If the seller proposes the other remedy, ask it to explain why your choice is impossible or disproportionate. Keep the parcel receipt, tracking, photographs and every response.

If the seller refuses or stalls, contact the national consumer authority or consumer organisation. ECC-Net can assist with many disputes involving a trader in another EU country, Iceland or Norway. An approved alternative-dispute-resolution body or the European Small Claims Procedure may be appropriate for an unresolved cross-border claim. A chargeback or marketplace guarantee can be useful extra leverage, but neither replaces the seller's legal obligation.

A consumer side to one European market

This is what a shared market should feel like from the buyer's side. A product can cross Europe through one logistics chain, and the right to a conforming product should cross with it. The federal lesson is modest but real: common rights set a floor, national authorities enforce it, and cross-border help closes the gap when a seller hopes distance will make a valid claim disappear.

Four decisions in a faulty-goods claim

Identify

Claim against the legal seller

Use the invoice or order confirmation to identify the professional trader; a manufacturer warranty is an extra route, not a substitute.

Document

Show the defect and the dates

Keep delivery evidence, the product description, serial number, photographs, diagnostics, updates and a dated account of when the problem appeared.

Choose

Ask for free repair or replacement

State your preferred first-line remedy and ask the seller to explain in writing if it says that option is impossible or disproportionate.

Escalate

Use the cross-border safety net

After a serious written complaint, use the national consumer body, ECC-Net, ADR or Small Claims route that fits the dispute.

EU faulty-goods claim checklist

Confirm that the seller is a professional trader and save its legal name, address and contact details.
Keep the receipt, order confirmation, delivery date, product page, model, serial number and advertised features.
Record the defect, when it appeared, normal use, error messages, software version and update history.
Check the country's liability period and whether the proof presumption lasts one or two years.
Write that you are claiming under the legal guarantee, not only a commercial manufacturer warranty.
Choose free repair or replacement and request completion within a reasonable time without significant inconvenience.
Ask for prepaid carriage or written reimbursement of necessary return, removal and installation costs.
For goods bought from 31 July 2026, record whether choosing repair triggers the national 12-month-or-longer extension.
Outside the guarantee, confirm that the product category is covered by an EU repairability act before asserting the manufacturer duty.
Keep all replies and use the national consumer body or ECC-Net before considering ADR or court.

Check before you rely on it

Federal Europa keeps this friendly, but official details can depend on your country, route, status, timing, airline, seller, or document situation.

The national consumer-law portal for any period longer than two years, a two-year proof presumption and the procedure after repair.
The invoice or order confirmation for the professional seller responsible under the legal guarantee.
The exact delivery date, sales-contract date and repair date, especially around the 31 July 2026 transition.
The product-specific EU repairability act before relying on the post-guarantee manufacturer duty.
Any commercial warranty terms only as additional protection; they cannot replace the legal guarantee.
The national consumer authority, ECC-Net, ADR body or court route for an unresolved dispute.

Plain-language FAQ

Questions people usually ask next

Is the EU legal guarantee always two years?

Two years from delivery is the EU minimum for new goods bought from a professional trader. National law can provide longer protection. For some second-hand goods, national law may allow an expressly agreed shorter period of at least one year.

Should I contact the seller or manufacturer?

For the legal guarantee, contact the seller named in the contract. A manufacturer warranty or post-guarantee repair duty can provide an additional route, but the seller cannot use it to remove statutory liability.

Can I demand an immediate refund for faulty goods?

Usually repair or replacement comes first. A price reduction or refund is available when those remedies are impossible, refused, unsuccessful, late or seriously inconvenient, or when the defect is sufficiently serious. A minor defect normally does not justify termination.

What changed on 31 July 2026?

National laws implementing the Right to Repair Directive began applying. For goods bought from that date, choosing repair during the legal guarantee extends seller liability once by at least 12 months. Covered product groups also gained a manufacturer repair route outside the guarantee, unless repair is impossible.

Related countries

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Sources and review

Federal Europa keeps the friendly voice, but practical facts still need official or reliable sources.