Omnibus Directive price rules: the 30-day prior price when you announce a price cut in the EU

When you tell an EU consumer that a price has gone down, you must show the lowest price you charged in at least the 30 days before the reduction, and any percentage you advertise must be worked out from that price. This is the price-reduction rule that the Omnibus Directive added to the Price Indication Directive. It applies to a seller of goods outside the EU that directs its sales to EU consumers, in its own shop or on a marketplace. Countries add their own choices on perishable, new and stepped-down goods, and they set the fines. It is part of EU consumer law.

What you do:

1. Before every announcement of a lower price, find the lowest price you charged for that product in the 30 days before. Count any earlier sale price in that period (Art. 6a(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6a(2)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.; Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).
2. Show that price as the old price in the announcement, and work any “% off” from it. The new price must be lower than it (Case C-330/23, paragraph 27 and the operative part; Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).
3. For a general banner such as “20 % off everything”, show the old price on each product page or price tag. The banner does not need to carry it (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.2).
4. Keep a dated price history for each product and each sales channel. The Directive does not prescribe a record, but you cannot name a lowest price you did not keep (Art. 6a(2)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
5. Show the selling price with VAT and all other taxes included, and next to it the unit price, unless the country you sell into has waived it for that product. The same goes for an advertisement that names the selling price (Art. 2(a)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 2, point (a)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(4)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 3, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 5Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
6. For perishable goods, new products and prices that step down in stages, follow the national rule of each country you sell into. The Directive leaves these three choices to the countries (Art. 6a(3)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6a(4)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6a(5)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The rule covers any announcement that your price went down

Art. 6a applies to promotional statements that you have reduced the price you charge for goods (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.1). The Commission gives the forms. It also says that a statement such as a “sale” price, a “special offer” or a “Black Friday offer” is covered when it creates the impression of a price reduction, even if it shows no measurable reduction. The rule applies in shops and online alike (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.1).

The rule is for goods. The Commission reads “products” in the Directive as movable goods, so Art. 6a does not apply to services or to digital content (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.1). A price cut on a service or a download is judged under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 3).

Art. 6a does not stop you from changing prices. It deals with announcements of a reduction, not with price changes that are not announced (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.1).

The prior price is your own lowest price in at least the 30 days before the reduction

An announcement of a price reduction must indicate the prior price you applied for a determined period before the reduction. The prior price is the lowest price you applied during a period not shorter than 30 days before the reduction (Art. 6a(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6a(2)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Commission says the 30 days exist to stop traders raising a price for a short time and then presenting the fall as a large reduction. It confirms that the lowest price includes any earlier reduced price in that period (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).

An example, with invented numbers. A product costs EUR 100 for 40 days. For the next 10 days it is EUR 80. It then goes back to EUR 100.

Four points from the Commission notice:

• You may show a longer period than 30 days, and a lower price from further back, because that is not contrary to Art. 6a. A national rule that demands a period longer than 30 days has to be tested against EU law (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1; Art. 10Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 10Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• You do not have to say how long you applied the old price. A reduction campaign may last longer than 30 days. The old price stays the lowest price of the 30 days before the campaign began (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).
• You may show other reference prices, such as your usual price outside sales, if each is clearly explained and none hides the old price (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).
• A “starting price” with a higher price to come changes nothing. If you apply the higher price for under 30 days and then announce a reduction, the old price is still the lowest price of the last 30 days, which is the starting price (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).

A percentage must be worked out from the prior price, and the new price must be below it

Showing the prior price next to an advertised reduction is not enough if the reduction is calculated on another price. In the Aldi Süd case a German brochure showed bananas at EUR 1.29, a struck-through EUR 1.69 and the text “Lowest price in the last 30 days” beside a third price. The Court of Justice ruled on 26 September 2024 that a reduction announced as a percentage, or by a promotional statement that stresses the advantage of the price, must be determined on the basis of the prior price (Case C-330/23, paragraphs 11 and 29 and the operative part). It added that the selling price presented as reduced cannot be the same as the prior price or higher than it (Case C-330/23, paragraph 27).

The Court gave the reason. If a seller only had to mention the prior price, it could still calculate the reduction from a higher price and mislead the buyer (Case C-330/23, paragraphs 24 and 26). The Commission notice gives a matching example: for “50 % off” with a lowest price of EUR 100 in the last 30 days, you present EUR 100 as the old price, even if your last selling price was EUR 160 (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).

A banner for the whole shop is allowed, with the old price at the product

You may announce a general reduction such as “20 % off everything today”. The old price does not have to appear in the banner. It must appear at the point of sale, which online means the price section of each product page (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.2). Two cases:

• You did not change the price of the product or run another general reduction in the last 30 days. The price already shown is the old price and nothing needs to change.
• You raised the price, or ran another general reduction, in the last 30 days. The price shown is no longer the lowest of the 30 days, so you change the old price on each product concerned (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.2).

If you give different discounts to different categories of goods, you identify the categories and each discount. A shop-wide campaign that a franchisor or another central entity announces for you does not take the duty away. Each seller is still responsible for the old price of the goods it sells (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.2).

On a marketplace or in your own shop, the seller carries the duty

The Price Indication Directive applies to the trader, meaning anyone who sells or offers for sale products in the course of a commercial or professional activity (Art. 2(d)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 2, point (d)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Commission says Art. 6a therefore applies to the seller that is party to the contract with the consumer, including a seller that uses an online marketplace. It does not apply to an intermediary that only provides the means to sell, such as a marketplace, or to a price comparison site. It does apply to the marketplace when it is the actual seller or sells for another trader (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.2).

For a seller outside the EU the Commission points to the Rome II Regulation. The law applicable to an act of unfair competition is the law of the country where the collective interests of consumers are, or are likely to be, affected, and an agreement cannot change that. The Commission concludes that Art. 6a applies to traders based outside the EU that direct their sales to EU consumers, including through platforms (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.2; Art. 6(1) and Art. 6(4) of Regulation (EC) No 864/2007). The notice says the Price Indication Directive as a whole becomes applicable in that case, so the selling price and unit price rules reach such a seller too (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.2). Whether you direct your sales to a country is tested on EU consumer law.

If you sell the same goods in several channels, such as your own shop and two marketplaces, at different prices, and you make a general reduction announcement across them, the old price for each channel is the lowest price you applied in that channel in the last 30 days (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1). An announcement that suggests all channels are reduced when only some are is judged under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).

Countries choose how to treat perishable, new and stepped-down goods

The Directive leaves three choices to each country. A country may set different rules for goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, a shorter period for a product on the market for under 30 days, and a prior price taken before the first step when a reduction is progressively increased (Art. 6a(3)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6a(4)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6a(5)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 6a, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A country may not shorten the 30 days for other goods (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 2.1).

Where a country uses these choices, they work like this:

• Perishable goods are goods that spoil or expire rapidly, such as fresh food. Seasonal clothes are not, because they only expire in the commercial sense (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 4.1).
• A product counts as new only for the seller that sells it. A product you offer again after a break, or a seasonal product that returns, is not new. For such a product you can take a longer reference period in which you offered it for at least 30 days in total, and use the lowest price in that whole period (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 4.2).
• Step-down prices only keep the old price of the first step while the reduction rises without interruption. Successive campaigns inside 30 days, such as “20 % off every Sunday in December”, follow the general rule (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 4.3).

The unit price is the price per kilogramme, litre, metre or square metre

The Directive requires the selling price and the unit price for the products it covers. The selling price is the final price for a unit or a given quantity, including VAT and all other taxes. The unit price is the final price including VAT and all other taxes for one kilogramme, one litre, one metre, one square metre, one cubic metre, or another single unit that is widely and customarily used in the country for that product (Art. 2(a)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 2, point (a)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 2(b)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 2, point (b)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The unit price need not be shown if it equals the selling price. For goods sold in bulk, which are not pre-packaged and are measured in front of the consumer, only the unit price is shown (Art. 2(c)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 2, point (c)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(3)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 3, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). An advertisement that names a selling price also names the unit price (Art. 3(4)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 3, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Both prices must be unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible, and the unit price refers to the quantity declared under national and EU provisions (Art. 4(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 4(2)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 4, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). For VAT, see EU VAT for online sellers.

A price reduction on a bulk good is announced on the unit price, and the old price is then the prior unit price (Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.1).

Each country sets its own penalty

Each country lays down penalties for breaches of its national provisions under the Directive. They must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and the country takes into account factors such as the nature, gravity, scale and duration of the breach, any earlier breach and the gain the trader made (Art. 8(1)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 8, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 8(2)Directive 98/6/EC, Price Indication Directive (consolidated text of 28 May 2022)Article 8, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Directive names no turnover-based maximum for a breach of Art. 6a. The turnover maximum of at least 4 % of annual turnover that the Omnibus Directive set applies to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, in coordinated actions under the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation (Art. 13(3)Directive 2005/29/EC, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (consolidated text of 27 September 2026)Article 13, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Price Indication Directive is on the list of acts that Regulation covers (Annex, point 2, of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394).

The two directives work together. Art. 6a is the specific rule on announcing a price reduction, and a specific rule takes precedence over the general one on the points it covers (Art. 3(4)Directive 2005/29/EC, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (consolidated text of 27 September 2026)Article 3, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). In Aldi Süd the Court of Justice held that a reduction not determined on the prior price is assessed under Art. 6a and not under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Case C-330/23, paragraph 28). The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive still governs what Art. 6a does not cover. The Commission names excessively long reduction periods, “up to 70 % off” when only a few items are reduced that much, and comparisons with a recommended retail price as practices that stay under that Directive (Art. 6(1)(d)Directive 2005/29/EC, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (consolidated text of 27 September 2026)Article 6, paragraph 1, point (d)Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.; Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 3).

What happens if you do nothing

An old price that is not the lowest price of the last 30 days is a breach of Art. 6a. The Court of Justice assesses such a practice under Art. 6a and not under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Case C-330/23, paragraph 28). The authority of the country where your customers are can fine you under its national rule. In Germany that is an offence with a fine of up to EUR 25,000, or up to EUR 12,500 for negligence, and the fine may be set above the maximum to exceed the gain from the breach. In the Netherlands the ACM has fined web shops between EUR 105,500 and EUR 163,000 each (§ 3(2) of the Wirtschaftsstrafgesetz 1954; § 17(2) and (4) of the Ordnungswidrigkeitengesetz; Netherlands, ACM, fines of 11 June 2024).

A fine is not the only route. In Germany a consumers association can sue for an injunction against a misleading price reduction, as one did against Aldi Süd in the case that reached the Court of Justice (Case C-330/23, paragraph 14).

Authorities can also act against a seller outside the EU. Under Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 each authority must have the power, where no other effective means are available to stop the breach, to remove content or restrict access to an online interface, to order a hosting provider to disable an online interface, and to order a domain registry to delete a domain name. It must also be able to impose fines (Art. 9(4)(g) and (h) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394; Commission Notice 2021/C 526/02, section 1.2).