The sheet to print
Subscription trap: the sheet to keep
Seven reflexes, in the order they serve, from the renewal email to the real desks. Each carries the text that grounds it.
File EU 93/13
This page is made to be printed: when printing, the whole screen around it disappears.
Law as verified onJuly 29, 2026
- 01
Find the clause, compare it to the list
The directive's annex is an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair: automatic renewal with a distant cut-off (point 1(h)), hidden terms (1(i)), price rises with no way out (1(l)), confiscated interpretation (1(m)). Cite the precise point in your challenge.
Article 3(3) · Directive 93/13/EEC (unfair contract terms), Article 3, paragraph 3 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 02
Do not let them hold your ticked box against you
Pre-drafted means not negotiated, always, and that is the ground where the directive applies. If they claim the clause was negotiated with you, proving it is on them.
Article 3(2) · Directive 93/13/EEC (unfair contract terms), Article 3, paragraph 2 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 03
Demand what was owed before payment
Duration of the contract, automatic renewal, conditions for terminating: this information was owed clearly before you were bound, and the proof of compliance weighs on the trader. Screenshots of the sign-up flow are exhibits.
Article 6(1), point (o), and Article 6(9) · Directive 2011/83/EU (consumer rights), Article 6 (Information requirements for distance contracts), paragraph 1, point (o), and paragraph 9 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 04
The promise from back then is part of the contract
The information provided before the sale forms an integral part of the contract and cannot be altered without express agreement. “Cancellable online”, displayed at the moment of selling, reads like a clause.
Article 6(5) · Directive 2011/83/EU (consumer rights), Article 6, paragraph 5 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 05
Read ambiguity in your favour, and say so in writing
Clarity is an obligation of whoever drafts. Where there is doubt about the meaning of a term, the interpretation most favourable to the consumer prevails: an unreadable clause gets challenged, not endured.
Article 5 · Directive 93/13/EEC (unfair contract terms), Article 5 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 06
Challenge without smashing everything
As long as the unfair term is not an essential element of the contract, the rest of the contract remains valid. Keep paying what is due at the agreed rate, challenge the rest in writing: stopping all payments at once puts you in the wrong.
Section “If you find unfair terms in your contract” · Unfair contract terms: the rest of the contract remains valid · europa.eu - 07
Go to the desks provided
The national consumer association for a problem in the country where you live, the European Consumer Centres Network for a cross-border dispute: two doors named by the official page. Your file also serves every other subscriber.
Warning of the section “If you find unfair terms in your contract” · Unfair contract terms: where to seek advice · europa.eu
General information on the European baseline, not legal advice on your case. Independent educational site, unconnected to the institutions of the European Union. Only a judge or an authority can declare a term unfair: this sheet teaches spotting and challenging, not deciding.
Sources checked on July 29, 2026. · https://depleindroit.odersa.org/en/fiches/l-abonnement-piege · Content licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What the law owes you
Every right with its amount or its deadline, the extract of the official text it rests on, and its address.
Standard terms must be fair
Standard contract terms used by traders have to be fair: the contract is not allowed to create an imbalance between your rights and obligations and theirs. The principle holds for “terms and conditions” as much as for a detailed contract.
The official text · Opening of the page “Unfair contract terms”
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treatment/unfair-contract-terms/index_en.htm“Under EU law, standard contract terms used by traders have to be fair. This doesn't change if they're called "terms and conditions" or are part of a detailed contract that you actually have to sign. The contract is not allowed to create an imbalance between your rights and obligations as a consumer and the rights and obligations of sellers and suppliers.”
Ticking a box is not negotiating
A term drafted in advance, whose substance you could not influence, is always regarded as not individually negotiated: that is the ground where the directive applies. And if the trader claims a standard term was negotiated, the burden of proof is on them.
The official text · Article 3(2)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01993L0013-20220528“2. A term shall always be regarded as not individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term, particularly in the context of a pre-formulated standard contract. […] Where any seller or supplier claims that a standard term has been individually negotiated, the burden of proof in this respect shall be incumbent on him.”
An official list describes the known set-ups
The directive's annex is an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair: automatic renewal with a distant cut-off, terms impossible to know before signing, price rises without a right to cancel, exclusive rights of interpretation. The spotting belongs to you, the declaring belongs to the judge.
The official text · Article 3(3)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01993L0013-20220528“3. The Annex shall contain an indicative and non-exhaustive list of the terms which may be regarded as unfair.”
Renewal is stated before payment
Before you are bound by a distance contract, the trader provides, in a clear and comprehensible manner, the duration of the contract and, for a contract extended automatically, the conditions for terminating it. The burden of proof regarding compliance with that information obligation is on the trader.
The official text · Article 6(1), point (o), and Article 6(9)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0083-20220528“1. Before the consumer is bound by a distance or off-premises contract, or any corresponding offer, the trader shall provide the consumer with the following information in a clear and comprehensible manner: […] (o) the duration of the contract, where applicable, or, if the contract is of indeterminate duration or is to be extended automatically, the conditions for terminating the contract; […] 9. As regards compliance with the information requirements laid down in this Chapter, the burden of proof shall be on the trader.”
Clarity is their obligation, doubt is your ally
Written terms must always be drafted in plain, intelligible language, and where there is doubt about the meaning of a term, the interpretation most favourable to the consumer prevails.
The official text · Article 5
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01993L0013-20220528“In the case of contracts where all or certain terms offered to the consumer are in writing, these terms must always be drafted in plain, intelligible language. Where there is doubt about the meaning of a term, the interpretation most favourable to the consumer shall prevail.”
The unfair term does not bind you, the contract survives
Unfair terms are not binding on the consumer, as provided for under national law, and the contract continues to bind the parties on the same terms if it can survive without them. You do not have to choose between enduring and cancelling everything.
The official text · Article 6(1)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01993L0013-20220528“1. Member States shall lay down that unfair terms used in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier shall, as provided for under their national law, not be binding on the consumer and that the contract shall continue to bind the parties upon those terms if it is capable of continuing in existence without the unfair terms.”
Means provided to stop these terms
The directive requires the Member States to ensure that adequate and effective means exist to prevent the continued use of unfair terms. Consumer associations, authorities, judges: the way out of the one-on-one is organised by the text itself.
The official text · Article 7(1)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01993L0013-20220528“1. Member States shall ensure that, in the interests of consumers and of competitors, adequate and effective means exist to prevent the continued use of unfair terms in contracts concluded with consumers by sellers or suppliers.”
This site is educational and independent: it is not an official site of the European Union, and this verdict is not legal advice on your case. Only a judge or an authority can declare a term unfair; the wordings quoted are copied from the official text or the official page, whose link appears under each right.
File EU 93/13
The items in this file
Every item has its own page. The situation is played here; what you keep, what you send and what you re-read live next door.