Withdraw from contract here: the button required since 19 June

In brief

• Since 19 June 2026, every shop selling online to consumers in France must offer a withdrawal button, labelled “renoncer au contrat ici” (“withdraw from contract here”) or an equivalent unambiguous wording.
• It must be visible, directly accessible and available throughout the fourteen-day withdrawal period. It leads to an online statement, then to a second button, “confirmer la rétractation” (“confirm withdrawal”).
• After confirmation, the seller sends an acknowledgement of receipt on a durable medium, with the content of the statement and the date and time.
• The rule comes from an EU directive: it applies across the Union, with a label in each language, “Vertrag widerrufen” in Germany for example.
• The withdrawal form sent by email is no longer enough for contracts concluded online: it is still possible, but it does not replace the button.

The withdrawal button has been mandatory in France since 19 June 2026 for any distance contract concluded through an online interface. The French Consumer Code requires a free function, identified by the words “renoncer au contrat ici” or a similar wording, available throughout the withdrawal period, followed by a confirmation and a dated acknowledgement of receipt. If your shop does not have one yet, this is work to start now: the obligation has applied for almost four months.

Where does the withdrawal button come from?

From a 2023 EU directive that added an Article 11a to the Consumer Rights Directive. Member States had to transpose it by 19 December 2025 and apply it from 19 June 2026. France did so through an ordinance and a decree of 5 January 2026. The right of withdrawal itself does not change: fourteen days, no reason needed. What changes is how it is exercised: withdrawing from an online purchase must be as easy as making it.

What exactly must the “withdraw from contract here” button do?

The French decree describes a three-step journey.

1. The button. Legibly labelled with the words “renoncer au contrat ici” or a similar unambiguous wording, displayed prominently on the interface, directly and easily accessible, available throughout the withdrawal period.
2. The online statement. It lets the consumer easily provide or confirm their first and last name, the details identifying the contract, and the electronic means by which they want to receive the acknowledgement.
3. The confirmation. A second button, “confirmer la rétractation” or a similar wording, sends the statement.

The seller then sends, within a reasonable time, an acknowledgement of receipt on paper or another durable medium, stating the content of the statement and the date and time it was sent. All of this is free for the consumer.

Is the withdrawal form no longer enough?

It remains valid, but it is no longer enough. Article L. 221-21 keeps the existing routes: the model form, or any unambiguous statement. For contracts concluded online, it adds the obligation to provide the withdrawal function. A shop that only offers a PDF form to return by email is therefore not compliant for its online sales.

Where should the button go, especially without a customer account?

The text requires it to be visible, directly accessible and available throughout the period. It does not say where. On our reading, three placements meet that requirement, and they work together:

• the customer account, on the order page, for buyers who have one;
• a permanent link in the footer, leading to a page that identifies the order by its number and email address, essential for orders placed without an account;
• a link in the order confirmation email, which makes the button reachable from the inbox throughout the fourteen days.

Guest orders are the case shops miss most often, because their existing returns journey goes through the customer account. A guest buyer must be able to withdraw as easily as a registered customer.

What about orders placed before 19 June?

The ordinance and the decree provide that contracts in progress on 19 June 2026 remain governed by the previous rules. The button therefore concerns contracts concluded since that date. As the withdrawal period is fourteen days, this nuance has almost no practical effect for a shop selling goods in October: orders still within their normal period were placed after 19 June.

How to check your shop in ten minutes

1. Place a test order without creating an account.
2. Look, unaided, for how to withdraw: in the footer, in the confirmation email, on the site. Time yourself.
3. Check the labels: “renoncer au contrat ici” or an unambiguous equivalent, then “confirmer la rétractation”. On our reading, “Returns” or “Customer service” are not equivalent labels.
4. Send the statement and check the acknowledgement: content, date and time.
5. Repeat in each language of your shop: the German label, for example, is “Vertrag widerrufen”.

If any of these steps fails, the work starts this week. Our article on selling in Germany covers the German version of the same button.

What the tool needs to do

Whether the function comes from your platform, an extension or custom development, three criteria matter: finding an order without a customer account from its number and email; sending the acknowledgement automatically with the content, date and time; and switching the button off at the end of the period, counted from delivery for goods. Method comes before the tool: an installed button that no customer can find is not compliant.

What this says about the bigger picture

Consumer law follows a logic of symmetry: what can be bought online in one click must be just as easy to withdraw from online. The withdrawal button applies that principle to every online purchase. For a shop, it is also a trust signal, provided it is designed as part of the customer journey rather than as a hidden constraint.

That journey work, from basket to return, is what we do through our e-commerce and marketplaces expertise.

Sources

All of these pages were opened on 13 October 2026.

1. French Consumer Code, Article L. 221-21, version in force since 19 June 2026, amended by Ordinance No. 2026-2 of 5 January 2026, Légifrance (in French). View
2. French Consumer Code, Article D. 221-5, created by Decree No. 2026-3 of 5 January 2026, in force since 19 June 2026, Légifrance (in French). View
3. Directive (EU) 2023/2673, Article 1 (Article 11a of Directive 2011/83/EU) and Article 2, EUR-Lex. View
4. German Civil Code (BGB), § 356a, gesetze-im-internet.de (in German). View

FAQ

Is the “withdraw from contract here” button mandatory in France?

Yes. Since 19 June 2026, Article L. 221-21 of the French Consumer Code requires a free withdrawal function for any distance contract concluded through an online interface. Article D. 221-5 specifies that it is labelled “renoncer au contrat ici” or a similar unambiguous wording, visible, directly accessible and available throughout the withdrawal period.

What must the online withdrawal statement contain?

The consumer must be able to easily provide or confirm their first and last name, the details identifying the contract, and the electronic means by which they want to receive the acknowledgement. They send it with a second button, “confirmer la rétractation” or equivalent.

What must the acknowledgement of receipt contain?

It is sent within a reasonable time, on paper or another durable medium such as an email, and states in particular the content of the withdrawal statement and the date and time it was sent.

Does the button exist in other EU countries?

Yes. It comes from Directive (EU) 2023/2673, applicable across the Union since 19 June 2026. Each country has transposed it in its own language: in Germany, the labels are “Vertrag widerrufen”, then “Widerruf bestätigen”.

Can Dotsland help?

Yes. We check your withdrawal journey in each language, with and without a customer account, and build it into your returns journey. Run the ten-minute test described above first, then get in touch.