Background and Legal Framework

The European Union is once again raising the bar for consumer-facing protections in distance and off-premises contracts. Article 11a of the Directive (EU) 2023/2673, effective 19 June 2026 by local implementation acts in all EU member states, amends the Consumer Rights Directive (Directive 2011/83/EU) by closing a long-standing gap: while consumers have long enjoyed a 14-day right of withdrawal, exercising that right has often been buried behind opaque forms and inconsistent processes. The new Consumer Rights Directive requires online merchants to provide a dedicated, prominently displayed “withdrawal button” that consumers can use to withdraw from a contract within the 14-day window. The button supplements any withdrawal methods already offered, giving consumers a clear, standardized path to exit.

Who Is Affected

The withdrawal-button requirement applies to traders that offer goods or services to consumers in the European Union through a website or other distance sales or service provision scheme (e.g., mobile application), provided that a statutory right of withdrawal applies for the goods and services offered. Importantly, the obligation does not turn on where the trader is established. US-based and other non-EU sellers that actively market to, ship to, or otherwise on purpose contract with consumers located in the European Union should expect to fall within scope and should plan compliance accordingly.

Sectors and contract types outside of scope. Precondition for the withdrawal button is always that a consumer withdrawal right already applies under the Consumer Rights Directive. That is not the case for every online transaction. The underlying Consumer Rights Directive excludes certain sectors entirely such as financial services, social services, or passenger transport services as well as certain contract types, among them: goods made to the customer’s specifications or clearly personalized; perishable goods; and sealed hygiene goods unsealed after delivery. Whether a business and its products or services offered fall within scope and whether any of these exclusions apply to part or all of its product or service offerings requires a careful transaction-by-transaction analysis.

Key Compliance Requirements

Placement and Design of the Withdrawal Button

The withdrawal button must be permanently available, prominently placed, and easily accessible to the customer. Implementation in the website footer will generally be sufficient because the button will then appear on every subpage. However, traders must ensure the button is visually distinctive. It must clearly stand out from the surrounding footer text and links. 

The withdrawal button:

• Must be labeled “withdraw from Contract here” or use an unambiguous corresponding formulation. It is highly recommended to use the “withdraw from Contract here” labeling, as it is legally approved and helps to avoid disputes with consumer protection associations or competitors.
• Should use a distinctive color scheme, a larger font size than the surrounding footer text, or an accompanying logo. For example, the use of a separate actual button that clearly stands out from the background and the remaining information in the footer is recommended. 
• Should not be a plain text link that blends in with the other footer links as this will not satisfy the requirement.

No Login or Authentication Barriers

The trader may not require the customer to log into a user account or otherwise authenticate themselves before reaching or using the withdrawal button. No access barriers of any kind may be implemented.

Information to Be Collected From the Customer

After the customer clicks the withdrawal button, the trader must request the following information:

• The customer’s name.
• Details identifying the contract from which the customer wishes to withdraw (e.g., the order number of an online purchase).
• An electronic means of communication through which receipt of the withdrawal can be confirmed. 
  • While the directive only requires that an electronic means of communication be provided, there is a risk that the request of only one means of communication (such as only the email address) may be impermissible, as the customer would be restricted in their choice of communication method. If the trader can provide multiple input options (e.g., email address, phone number for SMS confirmation), these options should be provided to the customer. Should this not be the case, providing the option to enter an email address should be sufficient.
• Product or service identification to allow for partial withdrawal. Where an order comprises multiple individual products or services, the customer must be able to withdraw from the contract in respect of one or more individual products or services only (so-called partial withdrawal). The interface must therefore allow the customer to specify or select the particular product(s) or services to which the withdrawal relates.

The “Confirm Withdrawal” Submission Button

At the end of the information-entry flow, the trader must provide a submission button that allows the customer to send the withdrawal declaration. This button must be labeled “Confirm Withdrawal” or another unambiguous corresponding formulation. Again, it is highly recommended to use the “confirm withdrawal” labeling for the above reasons.

Confirmation of Receipt on a Durable Medium

After the customer submits the withdrawal, the trader must send a confirmation of receipt without undue delay and on a durable medium via the communication channel chosen by the customer (e.g., email). The confirmation must include:

• Receipt of the customer’s withdrawal declaration (care must be taken to confirm only receipt, not the substantive validity of the withdrawal itself).
• The content of the withdrawal declaration (i.e., the information collected under point 3 above).
• The date and time the withdrawal declaration was received.

The following is an example:

“We hereby confirm receipt of your withdrawal declaration.

Your withdrawal declaration had the following content: [insert information from item 3]

Your withdrawal declaration was received by us on [insert date] at [insert time].

This email merely constitutes a confirmation of receipt of your withdrawal declaration.”

Submission Processing: Returns and Refunds

After receipt, the trader should review the withdrawal declaration, confirm that it was made within the statutory 14-day withdrawal period, and then contact the customer in accordance with the trader’s usual processes to arrange the return of the goods and the reimbursement of the purchase price or the price charged for the provision of services (provided these costs for services must be reimbursed under statutory laws).

Updates to Terms & Conditions and the Privacy Notice

Beyond the technical implementation, traders must update consumer-facing documentation:

• The withdrawal-rights instructions (typically included in the general terms and conditions or terms of sale) must be revised to reflect the availability of the new withdrawal button as an additional means of exercising the right of withdrawal.
• The privacy notice must be updated to describe the personal data collected through the withdrawal button (name, order number, email or other contact information, product-selection data), the legal basis for processing, retention, and any onward disclosures.

Recommended Next Steps

Because the requirement reaches any trader actively selling to EU customers, US and other non-EU companies should begin scoping implementation now. Next steps include:

• Audit your EU-facing websites (including localized subdomains, mobile sites, and apps) to identify all consumer-facing flows that fall within scope.
• Engage user-experience and design and development teams to build a visually distinctive withdrawal button in the footer, the prescribed-label submission flow, the partial-withdrawal selector, and the durable-medium confirmation email pipeline.
• Update general terms and conditions, withdrawal instructions, and the privacy notice across all relevant EU language versions.
• Train customer-experience, returns, and legal-operations teams on the new intake flow and the distinction between confirming receipt and confirming the substantive validity of a withdrawal.

Key Takeaways

While certain sectors and contract types fall outside scope, the withdrawal-button obligation will apply to a large portion of businesses selling online to EU customers—and the compliance deadline is already here. Traders that have not yet begun implementation should move immediately. Applicability and the precise scope of each requirement turn on facts specific to a business’s offering, its customer base, and the EU Member States in which it operates, and a careful analysis is warranted before assuming an exclusion applies. The firm is advising clients across industries on these questions and stands ready to help you assess your exposure, confirm scope, and design and execute a compliant rollout.