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In most cases, consumers who purchase a product or service online generally benefit from a right to withdraw from the agreement. The effective exercise of that right of withdrawal is a fundamental consumer right. Yet, the right of withdrawal is undermined when consumers face a maze of administration in order to use it.
In order to make the right of withdrawal more accessible and better aligned with digital reality, the European legislator has introduced additional obligations through Directive (EU) 2023/2673, which entered into force on 19 June 2026. Rather than replacing the existing rules, the directive introduces additional obligations.
The principle is simple: withdrawing from an agreement made online must be just as easy for consumers as entering into one.
While Belgium has not yet transposed this directive into its national law, it is advisable for companies to start preparing for the new obligations.
1. Online withdrawal function
The new rules require companies to provide consumers with a dedicated online withdrawal function.
The online withdrawal function must meet certain criteria:
- easy to find and accessible: consumers must be able to easily find and use the function;
- clearly recognisable as a withdrawal function: it must immediately be clear that the consumers can use this function to exercise their right of withdrawal;
- labelled with unambiguous text: a reference such as “cancel the agreement here” makes it clear to consumers exactly what the function is there for;
- permanently available throughout the withdrawal period: the function must remain available throughout the entire withdrawal period; and
- no obligatory additional applications: consumers must not be required to download an additional application in order to cancel an agreement that was not made using that application.
In this way, the legislator aims to avoid that consumers must take unnecessary steps in order to exercise their right of withdrawal. Companies can meet this requirement by, for example, providing a direct hyperlink to the withdrawal function.
The withdrawal function comprises two parts, namely a withdrawal statement, followed by an explicit confirmation of this statement:
1.1 The withdrawal statement
The consumer completes a form online in which they state their decision to withdraw from the agreement. In this form, the consumer must be able to give or confirm their name, complete the details necessary to identify the agreement and enter a digital address on which a confirmation can be received.
If the agreement concerns multiple goods or services, the company must also allow consumers to withdraw from individual parts of the agreement rather than only from the agreement as a whole.
1.2 The confirmation of withdrawal
Once the withdrawal statement is complete, the company must provide a separate confirmation button labelled “confirm withdrawal” or a similar wording. Using this button, the consumer can definitively confirm their withdrawal decision.
This additional confirmation step aims to prevent unintentional withdrawals, without affecting the user-friendly aspect of the procedure.
Once the consumer has completed this second step, the company must promptly send a confirmation of receipt on a durable data carrier. This confirmation must contain the content of the withdrawal request, along with the date and time on which the request was made.
2. What this means in practice
The amendments primarily concern the way in which consumers can exercise their right of withdrawal. It is therefore advisable to verify whether your online sales process complies with the new requirements.
In particular, companies should:
- verify whether their webshop includes a clear, easily accessible and user-friendly withdrawal function;
- verify whether that withdrawal function complies with the new legal requirements;
- review their withdrawal instructions and update them where necessary; and
- update their template documents and general terms and conditions.
Do you use the model instructions from Annex 1 in the Code of Economic Law? Then you will need to adapt these once the transposing law has been formally adopted. Do you use your own withdrawal instructions or policy? Then you can already prepare or introduce the necessary amendments.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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