The year 2025 also brought with it changes in consumer law. These changes have been brought about by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, which has submitted a draft law that modifies the legal regulation in the field of consumer law in accordance with two directives of the European Union. The draft law follows Directives (EU) 2024/852 and 2024/1799, which were adopted in the context of strengthening consumer protection in the area of transparency of environmental claims made by manufacturers, which aim to increase consumer awareness in purchasing decisions.
In this article you will learn more about the changes that would result from the adoption of the new legislation:
1. Consumer's right to choose between repair and replacement
2. Trader's information obligations in relation to price reductions
3. Measures to reduce negative environmental impact
1.
One of the newly introduced obligations is the seller's information obligation towards the consumer regarding the right to choose between repair and replacement. The legal liability of the trader for defects would be extended by twelve (12) months by the adoption of the amendment. In order to promote the reparability of the goods in question, the amendment introduces a voluntary European repair information form which repair service providers may provide free of charge to consumers. The aim is to encourage consumers to repair goods and to promote sustainable consumption. The consumer's right to have goods repaired will also apply if the manufacturer is not established in the EU, and the information obligation is thus deemed to be fulfilled even if the information is provided via the manufacturer's website. The information obligations are also extended to include the obligation to inform consumers of the minimum period for which the manufacturer or provider of digital content or digital service undertakes to provide free software updates for the product.
2.
The draft law regulates in more detail the issue of price reduction of goods by the trader. If a trader communicates a price reduction to consumers, he is not only obliged to state the lowest price at which he sold the goods in the 30 days prior to the price reduction, but he is also obliged to take this previous price into account when communicating the discount. If the discount is communicated in the form of a percentage reduction, the trader must use the previous price as the basis for calculating the percentage reduction. However, in this context, it should be pointed out that an excessively long duration of the price reduction period compared to the time during which the goods are sold at the non-discounted price will be considered under the provisions on unfair commercial practices.
3.
The trader is thus also obliged to provide the consumer with information on transport options that have a less negative on the environment, such as delivery by bicycle or electric vehicle.
AUTHORS
