The EC Directive on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees – all talk and no do?

The EC Directive on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees is the biggest step yet taken by the European Community in harmonising the substance of consumer contract law. However, the Directive itself is weak and riddled with conceptual difficulties. It is furthermore difficult to reconcile the rules of the Directive with domestic sales law. The purpose of this article is to analyse the Directive, and by comparing it with domestic sales law to suggest how the Directive could best be transposed into English law.