Directive 2011/83/EU (art. 13)
The EU 14-day refund deadline (Directive 2011/83/EU, art. 13) - and France's late-refund uplift, art. L.242-4
The uplift for a late refund
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Directive 2011/83/EU (art. 13) sets a 14-day refund deadline across the EU. Each member state enforces it in its own way - France, for example, with an automatic uplift of the sums due under article L.242-4 (from the statutory interest rate up to +50% and beyond, depending on the delay); Ireland through the CCPC under S.I. No. 484/2013.
The rule - and France's article L.242-4
The 14-day refund deadline is set by article 13 of Directive 2011/83/EU. France reinforces it with a specific civil sanction, article L.242-4 of the Code de la consommation: where the trader has not refunded within the periods set out in article L.221-24, the sums due are uplifted as of right - at the statutory interest rate if the refund is at most ten days late, by 5% from ten to twenty days, 10% from twenty to thirty, 20% from thirty to sixty, 50% from sixty to ninety, then five points per further month up to the price of the product, and thereafter again at the statutory rate.
A synthesis faithful to the EU text and to France's transposition. Primary source: Directive 2011/83/EU (art. 13) on EUR-Lex. France's transposition, article L.242-4, in full: the French transposition on Legifrance
In plain language
The refund deadline is EU-wide: Directive 2011/83/EU (art. 13) gives the trader 14 days. How a late refund is punished is left to each member state, and France chose an automatic, self-executing uplift (article L.242-4) that complements the 14-day duty (article L.221-24).
The French uplift is progressive and quickly deterrent: symbolic in the first days (statutory rate), it reaches 20% after a month, 50% after two months, and keeps climbing by 5 points a month until it doubles the sum. Other member states enforce the same deadline through their own regulators and remedies.
For a consumer in France, it is a concrete lever: a formal notice citing article L.242-4 and quantifying the uplift often speeds up the refund. A consumer elsewhere relies on their own national enforcement of the same EU deadline.
Key takeaways
- The 14-day refund deadline is EU law (Directive 2011/83/EU, art. 13).
- France's enforcement: an automatic uplift, as of right, without going before a judge (art. L.242-4).
- Progressive scale: statutory rate → 5% → 10% → 20% → 50% → +5 pts/month.
- Triggers as soon as the 14-day refund deadline is exceeded (L.221-24).
Going further
This page is an educational synthesis and does not constitute legal advice. The law that applies is that of the consumer's own country (Rome I Regulation). The reference texts carry authority: the EU directive on EUR-Lex and France's transposition on Legifrance.