The legal guarantee notice is the standard EU graphic that traders use to remind consumers of the legal guarantee of at least two years. Since 27 September 2026 it has been mandatory for everyone selling goods to consumers in the EU, online and in physical shops. The graphic is prescribed by law and must not be changed. Officially it is the “harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity”; many also call it the EU warranty label or guarantee label. Download it here for free.
The right itself is not new. The two-year legal guarantee has existed in the EU for a long time. What is new is the obligation to point it out in a uniform and clearly visible way. The reason: many customers confuse the legal guarantee with a voluntary commercial guarantee and do not know what rights they have when goods are faulty.
This page explains what the legal guarantee notice is, who must show it, what it looks like, where it belongs in your shop and how it differs from the GARAN label.
What is the EU legal guarantee notice?
The legal guarantee notice is a graphic created by the European Commission. Its official name is the “harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity”. In everyday use, traders call it the legal guarantee notice, the EU guarantee notice or the warranty label. They all mean the same thing.
The graphic contains a fixed text. It tells customers:
- Goods sold in the EU come with a legal guarantee of at least two years.
- It applies if the goods do not match the description or do not function as intended.
- The remedy is free of charge: repair or replacement, and in some cases a price reduction or a refund.
- Some countries have a longer period. For second-hand goods it may be shorter, but not less than one year.
- If there is a problem, customers contact the seller and provide proof of purchase.
It also includes a shield logo with the EU stars, a reference to voluntary commercial guarantees and a QR code. The code leads to the EU’s Your Europe portal, in English at europa.eu/youreurope/guarantees.
Since when has the legal guarantee notice been mandatory?
The legal guarantee notice has been mandatory since 27 September 2026. From that day, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 applies, and so do the national rules with which the member states transposed Directive (EU) 2024/825. There is no transition period for existing shops.
The obligation had a long lead time. Directive (EU) 2024/825 dates from 28 February 2024. The regulation setting out the design of the graphic followed on 25 September 2025. Member states had to transpose the directive by 27 March 2026 and apply it from 27 September 2026 (Art. 4(1) of Directive 2024/825). Germany, for example, did so with its Act of 3 February 2026. All three pieces have applied since 27 September 2026. The full timeline is on the legal basis page.
Who must show the legal guarantee notice?
Every trader who sells goods to consumers. That covers online shops, marketplace sellers and physical shops. The size of the shop does not matter. Even small businesses using a VAT small-business scheme are traders if they sell to private customers in the course of business.
| Case | Legal guarantee notice required? |
|---|---|
| Online shop selling goods to private customers in the EU | Yes |
| Physical shop | Yes with a possible exception for everyday transactions performed immediately (member state option in Art. 5(3) of the Consumer Rights Directive, scope unclear) |
| Second-hand goods | Yes the graphic itself mentions the possibly shorter period |
| Goods with digital elements (e.g. smartwatch) | Yes they are goods |
| Digital content or services only | No a simple reminder of the legal guarantee is enough here |
| Business customers only (B2B) | No |
| Private sale between consumers | No |
All cases with reasons, including dropshipping, marketplaces and sellers outside the EU, are on the page Who is affected?.
Which laws are behind it?
Two EU legal acts work together. Keeping them apart clears up most misunderstandings:
- Directive (EU) 2024/825, often called the “EmpCo Directive”, creates the obligation. It adds the notice requirement to the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU (Art. 5(1)(e), Art. 6(1)(l)) and inserts the new Art. 22a. About the EmpCo Directive
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 lays down what the graphic looks like and what it says. Annex I covers the legal guarantee notice, Annex II the GARAN label. The regulation is directly applicable in all member states. About Regulation 2025/1960
For online shops and other distance contracts the obligation is in Art. 6(1)(l) of the Consumer Rights Directive, for physical shops in Art. 5(1)(e). Both refer to the harmonised notice under Art. 22a. Every member state has written the obligation into its national law; in Germany, for example, it is in Art. 246a of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code (EGBGB).
“… a reminder of the existence of the legal guarantee of conformity for goods and its main elements, including its minimum duration of two years …, in a prominent manner, using the harmonised notice referred to in Article 22a …”
Art. 6(1)(l) of Directive 2011/83/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/825
What must the legal guarantee notice look like?
Exactly as the Commission prescribes. Annex I of the regulation is unambiguous: none of the elements can be edited. These rules apply to online shops:
| Rule | Source |
|---|---|
| No element may be changed: text, colours, frame, spacing, font, QR code | Annex I, note 1 |
| Always in colour (RGB) online, black and white only offline | Annex I, notes 4 and 5 |
| QR code must be scannable with a standard mobile device | Annex I, note 3 |
| At least A4 in print | Annex I, note 4 |
| Readable at standard display size, with a clickable link to the QR code’s destination | Commission guidelines, p. 15 (non-binding) |
This means recreating the graphic is not an option. If you redraw it as your own HTML or in your shop colours, you change it. The safe choice is the Commission’s original file, unmodified. One detail: the colour values in the Commission’s files differ from the reference colours given in the regulation text. The guidelines require the files to be used without replacing colours. That is another reason why the unmodified file is the more cautious choice.
All 24 language versions as SVG and PDF, in colour and black and white: download the legal guarantee notice.
Where must the legal guarantee notice appear in an online shop?
Customers must see the notice before they order, and it must appear “in a prominent manner”. The law does not prescribe a fixed place. The directive gives, as an example, a general reminder on the trader’s website (recital 28 of Directive 2024/825).
In practice, these places have proven themselves:
- Product page, close to the buy button or below the product details
- Cart and cart drawer, shortly before the order
- Footer, so the notice can be reached from every page
- Order confirmation, as lasting information after the purchase
Does the full graphic always have to be visible? The Commission’s guidelines show examples with a short phrase such as “Your legal guarantee rights” that opens the full graphic on the first click or mouse-over. The regulation itself expressly provides for such a nested display only for the GARAN label. Whether it is enough for the legal guarantee notice has not yet been settled. The Commission’s examples suggest it is. If you want to be completely safe, show the graphic directly in at least one place.
Our app offers these display options. Click an example to open the full original graphic:
Statutory warrantyYour rights if something is faulty›
Statutory warranty ▾
Your statutory warranty rights
All options with their pros and cons: Where the legal guarantee notice belongs.
Does the notice belong in the order confirmation?
The Commission expressly recommends it: the notice should also be included in the confirmation e-mail (guidelines, p. 20). This fits the obligation to send customers a confirmation of the contract with the required information on a durable medium after the purchase (Art. 8(7) of the Consumer Rights Directive). On Shopify, this is the easiest way to close that gap. Here is how: Legal guarantee notice in the order confirmation.
In which language must the notice appear?
The regulation does not set a language, but the Commission provides all 24 official languages. The obvious choice is the language in which you offer the contract. A German shop therefore shows the German version, the English version of the shop the English one. This is not expressly regulated. If you offer several languages, you need several versions accordingly. Our Shopify app picks the version automatically based on the language in which the customer is viewing the shop.
Legal guarantee notice and GARAN label: what is the difference?
The legal guarantee notice points to the legal guarantee and is mandatory for all goods. The GARAN label marks a voluntary commercial guarantee of durability from the producer and is only mandatory if that guarantee is free of charge, covers the entire good, runs for more than two years and the producer makes the information available to the trader.
| Legal guarantee notice | GARAN label | |
|---|---|---|
| Official name | Harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity | Harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability |
| Stands for | The seller’s legal guarantee | The producer’s voluntary guarantee |
| When mandatory | In principle whenever goods are sold to consumers | Only for a free producer guarantee of more than 2 years on the entire good |
| Where | Shop-wide, before the order | With the product concerned and directly before the order |
| Editable | Nothing | Only years, brand, model identifier |
| Legal basis | Annex I Reg. 2025/1960 | Annex II Reg. 2025/1960 |
Read more: The GARAN label explained and Legal guarantee or commercial guarantee.
What happens if the legal guarantee notice is missing?
The legal guarantee notice is a statutory information requirement. Penalties for breaches are set by each member state (Art. 24 of the Consumer Rights Directive), so the consequences depend on the country. In Germany, for example, competitors, trade associations and chambers can send a formal warning letter (Abmahnung) under the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) and demand that the breach stops. For information duties of this kind in online retail, however, competitors cannot claim their costs for such a letter there. In Germany, fines by the authorities are only provided for widespread infringements as part of coordinated EU actions. There is no case law on the legal guarantee notice yet. Details for Germany: Warning letters and fines (in German).
How to implement the legal guarantee notice
- Check whether you are affected
If you sell goods to consumers in the EU, the answer is almost always yes. Check now - Get the right language version
Only the Commission’s original file, in colour online. To the download - Add it to your shop
Product page, cart, footer, without changing the graphic. On Shopify, use the app EU-Gewährleistungslabel, GARAN with no coding. - Include it in the order confirmation
That way customers keep the notice permanently. Instructions - Check producer guarantees
If a producer tells you about a free commercial guarantee of durability of more than two years on the entire good, the GARAN label is added. To the GARAN label
This page reflects the situation as of 3 October 2026 and is based on the official texts. It is not legal advice. Where the legal situation is open, we say so.
Frequently asked questions
Is the legal guarantee label the same as the legal guarantee notice?
Yes. Both terms mean the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity under Annex I of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960. The regulation calls it a “notice”; traders and authorities often call it a label.
Must the legal guarantee notice appear on every product page?
The law does not require a particular page, but a prominent reminder before the order. The product page is the obvious place because that is where the buying decision is made. Many shops combine product page, cart and footer. About placement
May I make the legal guarantee notice smaller?
Online, it should be readable at standard display size, according to the Commission’s guidelines. Scaling it proportionally is not a change; cropping or distorting it is. As an example, the guidelines show a short text link that leads to the full graphic.
Does the notice apply in every EU country, and in Switzerland?
The requirements come from EU law and therefore apply in all member states. The regulation governs the design directly; the obligation itself is in each country’s national transposition law. Switzerland is not an EU member. If you sell from there to consumers in the EU, have the obligation checked.
Where can I get the legal guarantee notice for free?
The Commission provides all files free of charge. On our site you will find all 24 language versions, unmodified, as SVG and PDF: download the legal guarantee notice.
How do I add the legal guarantee notice to Shopify?
Without an app, you would have to build the graphic into your theme for each language and add it to the order e-mail template. Our app does both: it places the original graphic automatically on the product page, in the cart and in the footer, and adds it to the order confirmation. To the Shopify app