Covered services
Under Article 2(2) of the EAA, the following services provided to consumers after 28 June 2025 are covered:
- electronic communications services (except transmission services used for machine-to-machine communication);
- services providing access to audiovisual media services;
- elements of air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport services – websites, mobile services, electronic tickets and ticketing services, travel information and interactive self-service terminals;
- consumer banking services;
- e-books and dedicated software;
- e-commerce services – services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile apps, at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract.
Covered products
Consumer general-purpose computer hardware and operating systems; payment terminals; ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines and interactive information terminals; consumer terminal equipment for electronic communications and for audiovisual media services; e-readers.
Who is responsible?
Manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers and distributors of products, and service providers. For a website, that usually means the business that offers the service to consumers – not the agency or platform that built it, although contracts often pass work on to them.
Probably not in scope
- B2B-only offers – the service rules cover services provided to consumers.
- Microenterprises providing services – see the microenterprise exemption.
- Purely informational websites that do not offer a covered service (for example a brochure site without online ordering) – but check carefully, since booking or contract forms may change this.
- Public sector bodies fall under a different law: the Web Accessibility Directive (EU) 2016/2102.
Outside the EU?
The EAA applies to products and services on the EU market. A business based outside the EU that sells to consumers in the EU can therefore be affected too.
Germany
In Germany, the scope is set out in § 1 of the BFSG, which mirrors the directive.
In scope, or unsure? Start with a free scan and see our plans for ongoing monitoring.