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Right of Withdrawal (EU 'Widerrufsbutton')

This is not definitive legal advice

This page explains Events Manager features that can help you meet the EU right-of-withdrawal rules. It is not legal advice and does not make your site automatically compliant. The rules differ by country, change over time, and depend on what you sell and to whom. Always confirm your specific obligations with a qualified lawyer before relying on any setup described here.

The law, in brief​

From 19 June 2026, Germany's new § 356a BGB requires online businesses to provide an easy-to-use electronic right-of-withdrawal button (the Widerrufsbutton) wherever consumers can conclude distance contracts online and a statutory right of withdrawal exists.

This is not Germany-only. It implements Article 11a of the EU Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2023/2673), so equivalent rules apply across the EU under each country's own transposition.

In short, the function must be:

  • Prominent and permanently available, and reachable without logging in.
  • A two-step process: the consumer declares the withdrawal, then confirms it on a separate page.
  • Data-minimised — it may only require the consumer's name, something to identify the contract, and an electronic contact for the reply.
  • Followed by an acknowledgment of receipt on a durable medium (email) that reproduces the declaration and records the exact date and time it was received.

Does it affect you?​

The button is only required where a statutory right of withdrawal exists, so this matters a great deal for event organisers:

  • Tickets for fixed-date events are generally exempt (§ 312g Abs. 2 Nr. 9 BGB — leisure services tied to a specific date). Many organisers selling dated tickets do not need a withdrawal button.
  • It does typically apply to non-dated services, courses or memberships without a fixed date, digital content/downloads, and physical goods. If your site sells any withdrawal-eligible item, the function is expected to be reachable site-wide.
  • It follows the consumer, not your location. If you target consumers in Germany or the EU (language, currency, shipping, marketing), the rules can apply even if your business is based elsewhere (Rome I Regulation, Article 6).

Where it applies, ignoring it carries real risk: German law allows fines up to €50,000 or 4% of annual turnover, plus cease-and-desist actions from competitors and consumer associations.

A valid withdrawal also triggers a refund duty — the full amount, within 14 days, with no cancellation fee (§§ 357/357a BGB). That is separate from the contractual cancellation terms (Stornobedingungen) you are free to set for exempt, fixed-date events.

How Events Manager helps​

Events Manager includes an optional, guest-accessible Right of Withdrawal flow that provides the mechanism the law expects. You still supply your own legal wording. It is off by default, so dated-ticket sellers are unaffected unless they switch it on.

When enabled it adds:

  • An [em_withdrawal_form] page with the two-step, no-login flow, offering two ways in:
    • By reference — the consumer enters their booking reference and email.
    • By email — if they don't have the reference, they enter only their email and receive a secure, time-limited link to choose the booking.
  • A legally-shaped acknowledgment email to the consumer (the declaration reproduced verbatim plus the exact receipt timestamp, worded as confirmation of receipt only), and a notification to you for review.
  • An optional, prominent footer link so the function is reachable from every page.
  • Locale-aware default labels (for example German on German sites), all editable.
  • A field to paste your own withdrawal policy and model withdrawal form.

It records each declaration against the booking. It does not auto-cancel the booking or issue refunds — you review whether the withdrawal is valid and process any refund through your normal workflow.

The email path is built so attendees can withdraw on their own, with minimal work for you:

  1. On your withdrawal page the attendee enters just their email address — no booking reference, no account, no login.
  2. Events Manager looks up bookings for that email and emails a secure, time-limited link (valid 24 hours). The page shows the same neutral "if a booking exists, we've sent a link" message either way, so it can't be used to probe which emails have bookings.
  3. The attendee clicks the link and sees a list of their own bookings to choose from.
  4. They pick one and confirm. Events Manager then automatically:
    • emails them the acknowledgment of receipt (the declaration plus the exact date and time it was received), and
    • sends you a notification containing the booking, the statement, the timestamp, and whether it arrived inside the withdrawal window.

For event planners, this is where the time savings are. Attendees identify and select their own booking, the legally-required acknowledgment goes out automatically, and you simply receive a notification to review and action (cancel and refund) on your own terms — no looking up bookings by email or chasing confirmations by hand. Attendees who already have their booking reference can skip the email step and go straight to confirmation by entering the reference and email instead.

Setting it up​

  1. Go to Events → Settings → Bookings → Right of Withdrawal (EU) and switch it on.
  2. Create a page (for example "Withdraw from a contract") containing the [em_withdrawal_form] shortcode, then select it as the Withdrawal page.
  3. Set the withdrawal period (14 days by default) and the admin notification email address.
  4. Paste your lawyer-provided withdrawal policy / model withdrawal form into the policy field.
  5. Leave the labels and acknowledgment email blank to use the built-in defaults, or customise them.

The law expects the function to be continuously and easily reachable, so don't bury it. We recommend:

  • The built-in footer link (enable Show footer link) so it appears site-wide.
  • A link in your booking confirmation email and on the My Bookings page.
  • A link from your terms or withdrawal policy page.

Keep the label unambiguous — "Withdraw from contract" / "Vertrag widerrufen". Avoid vague wording such as "Cancel", which German guidance treats as insufficient.

What this feature does not do​

  • It does not provide legal text. You must supply your own withdrawal policy (Widerrufsbelehrung) and model withdrawal form.
  • It does not judge whether a withdrawal is valid, cancel bookings, or issue refunds automatically. You review each request and act on it.
  • It does not replace advice from a qualified lawyer for your particular situation.