Rethinking non-conformity of a serious nature: From the CISG and the PICC’s concept of fundamental breach towards a Nachfrist principle—learning from the amendments to Catalan sales law’s cure regime

Whereas the European Commission’s endeavours to codify European contract law are at an impasse, the harmonization effect of European Union (EU) Directive 2019/771 should not be under-estimated. Such effect extends beyond consumer legislation and is particularly remarkable in EU jurisdictions that did not enact ad hoc consumer acts. This article takes the amendments to Catalan sales law after the transposition of Article 13 of the Directive as a benchmark. It delves into the recently introduced seriousness threshold under Article 13(4) lit. (c) of the Directive as an additional basis for contract avoidance in case of the delivery of non-conforming goods. The article further discusses whether such a serious nature threshold should (or can) coexist with the previous notion of fundamental breach and rethinks the contours of these legal thresholds from a cure perspective.