Withdrawal of consumer consent in electronic contracts: The perfect Golem reflected in recent case law

Abstract

The informational asymmetries which characterize the formation of business to consumer contracts between absent parties are managed, by the European legislator and by the national one, by the superimposing (or stratification) mechanisms meant to delay the formation of informed consumer consent: informative formalism, pre contractual obligation to inform the consumer, incumbent to professionals and the consumer’s right of consent withdrawal, within 14 days from the acceptance of the offer or, as the case may be, of 12 months and 14 days from the moment of acceptance of the offer, in cases where the professional has omitted the inclusion of mandatory information that allows the consumer to exercise the right of withdrawal. The study addresses the issues attached to the synapses between the poor performance by the professional of the information obligation and, on the other hand, the extension of the term for exercising the right to withdraw from the online contract, as reflected in recent CJEU case law.