Strengthening consumer rights in digital contract conclusion

The Bundestag has approved a draft law from the federal government to amend consumer, insurance and treatment contract law. The law is intended to implement two EU directives that further develop the Consumer Rights Directive. The new requirements must be transposed into German law by December 19, 2025 or March 27, 2026 at the latest. A central component of the draft is the introduction of an electronic cancellation function, a so-called cancellation button, for distance contracts concluded online. In the future, consumers should be able to revoke contracts just as easily as they concluded them. In addition, in the area of ​​financial services and insurance contracts, the previously possible unlimited right of withdrawal will be restricted and the Insurance Contract Act will be adjusted in further points. In addition, the draft law provides for expanded information obligations for companies. In the future, consumers should be more clearly informed about their legal warranty rights and durability guarantees. For goods with digital elements, additional information is included, such as repairability and available software updates. For financial services contracts, the catalog of information obligations will be reorganized and supplemented with requirements for “appropriate explanations”. The Committee for Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection has drawn up a recommendation for the draft law, which provides for some changes to the original draft. Among other things, requirements for the design of online user interfaces when concluding financial services contracts were added in order to protect consumers from manipulative design methods, so-called “dark patterns”, and to ensure their free and informed decision-making. The federal government's bill was approved in an amended version with 306 votes in favor and 242 against, with no abstentions. The coalition factions CDU/CSU and SPD voted in favor. The Alliance 90/The Greens faction, the AfD faction and the Die Linke faction voted against it.