Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 3 September 2009 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Amtsgericht Lahr (Germany)) — Pia Messner v Firma Stefan Krüger

(Case C-489/07) (1)

(Directive 97/7/EC - Consumer protection - Distance contracts - Exercise by the consumer of the right of withdrawal - Compensation for use to be paid to the seller)

2009/C 256/06

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Amtsgericht Lahr

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Pia Messner

Defendant: Firma Stefan Krüger

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Amtsgericht Lahr — Interpretation of Article 6(1) and (2) of Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts (OJ 1997 L 144, p. 19) — Exercise of the right to revoke by the consumer — Compensation for use to be paid to the seller

Operative part of the judgment

The provisions of the second sentence of Article 6(1) and Article 6(2) of Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts must be interpreted as precluding a provision of national law which provides in general that, in the case of withdrawal by a consumer within the withdrawal period, a seller may claim compensation for the value of the use of the consumer goods acquired under a distance contract.

However, those provisions do not prevent the consumer from being required to pay compensation for the use of the goods in the case where he has made use of those goods in a manner incompatible with the principles of civil law, such as those of good faith or unjust enrichment, on condition that the purpose of that directive and, in particular, the functionality and efficacy of the right of withdrawal are not adversely affected, this being a matter for the national court to determine.

(1)  OJ C 22, 26.1.2008.