New obligations applicable to consumers' right of withdrawal in France
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I am a Counsel in the Commercial Practice in Paris, advising clients on their commercial matters, from negotiating and drafting strategic contracts to consumer relations, with a particular focus on the new technology, retail and media sectors.
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France
I'm a partner in our international Commercial group, based in Paris, where I provide our clients with strategic commercial advice.
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The French legislator has discreetly added new obligations applicable to all consumer contracts concluded online. These new obligations are set out in an Order initially intended for contracts relating to financial services (Order No. 2026-2 of January 5, 2026 on the distance marketing of financial services to consumers). Practical details on how to implement the functionality are specified by Decree 2026-3 of January 5, 2026.
New withdrawal functionality
The order amends Article L221-21 of the Consumer Code, which applies to all contracts concluded remotely by consumers. It adds a paragraph stating that for contracts concluded remotely via an online interface, the professional must provide the consumer with a feature enabling them to exercise their right of withdrawal free of charge.
The order also imposes a pre-contractual information obligation aimed at informing consumers about the existence of this feature and how to access it.
As of June 19, 2026, professionals will therefore have to implement a withdrawal feature on their online interface and update their general terms and conditions of sale to inform consumers of this feature.
How the withdrawal feature must be implemented in practice
The implementing decree amends Article D221-5 of the Consumer Code. It specifies that the withdrawal feature must:
- be identified, in a legible manner, by the words “withdraw from the contract here” or by a similar unambiguous phrase;
- be displayed on the online interface in a visible manner and be directly and easily accessible to the consumer;
- be available throughout the withdrawal period;
- allow the consumer to send an online withdrawal statement informing the professional of their decision to withdraw from the contract;
- be designed in such a way as to enable the consumer to easily provide or confirm :
- their first and last name;
- detailed information identifying the contract they wish to withdraw from;
- and detailed information concerning the electronic means by which they wish to receive confirmation of receipt of the withdrawal.
- allow the consumer to submit their withdrawal notice using a confirmation feature clearly identified by the words “confirm withdrawal” or a similar, unambiguous phrase.
The decree also states that the professional must send the consumer, within a reasonable period of time, an acknowledgment of receipt of the withdrawal statement on paper or on any other durable medium. This acknowledgment of receipt shall include the content of the withdrawal statement and the date and time of its dispatch.
Following the obligation to offer a “three-click” termination feature introduced in 2023, the French legislator is now imposing new obligations on businesses to facilitate the cancellation of B2C contracts.
