# Energy Labelling in Online Prize Draws > The CJEU classifies operators of commercial online prize draws as dealers and requires energy efficiency information for prizes. Source: https://www.mtrlegal.com/en/energy-labelling-online-prize-draws/ · Language: en · Updated: 2026-10-28 --- In its judgment of 15 October 2026 in Case C-120/25, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interpreted the definition of a dealer under European energy labelling law broadly. Accordingly, a person is also deemed to be a dealer if, in the course of their business activities, they operate an online prize draw and offer a television as a prize. They must therefore state the appliance’s energy efficiency class and the range of efficiency classes available on the label in visual advertising. ## Dispute over the labelling of a television offered as a prize ### Online newsletter without energy efficiency information The defendant company operates a multi-partner loyalty scheme designed to retain customers and attract customers for participating partner companies. Users can earn points when making purchases and, upon reaching a specified minimum number, use them to make payments to the partner companies. On 1 February 2022, the company advertised a prize draw in an online newsletter in which a new prize could be won each day. The prizes offered included two units of a specifically identified television model. The newsletter contained both an image of the television and a table listing the potential prizes. However, two items of information were missing from the image and the list: - According to the information in the order for reference, which the Bundesgerichtshof (BGH, Federal Court of Justice) has yet to assess conclusively, the energy efficiency class of the television offered as a prize was not stated. - According to that information, the range of efficiency classes available on the energy label for this product group was likewise not stated. A competition association objected to this presentation. After its cease-and-desist letter proved unsuccessful, it brought an [action for injunctive relief](https://www.mtrlegal.com/wiki/unterlassungsklage/) before the Landgericht München I (Munich I Regional Court). ### Different assessments by the lower courts By default judgment, the Landgericht München I ordered the defendant, among other things, to refrain from visual advertising for a specific model of electronic display if the energy efficiency information required by law was missing. Following the defendant’s objection to the default judgment, the court upheld its decision. The Oberlandesgericht München (Munich Higher Regional Court) subsequently set aside the judgment and dismissed the action as unfounded. In its assessment, the defendant was not a dealer within the meaning of Art. 2(13) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 (European Union Energy Labelling Regulation). A prize draw was not intended to offer or display the products offered as prizes for purchase, hire or hire-purchase. According to this view, the participants also did not choose the television, but merely chose to enter the prize draw. The association appealed on points of law to the Bundesgerichtshof. It sought to have the appellate judgment set aside and the decision of the Landgericht München I reinstated. ## Relevant energy labelling provisions ### Definition of a dealer Art. 2(13) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 defines a dealer as a retailer or other natural or legal person that offers for sale, hire or hire-purchase, or displays, products to customers or installers in the course of a commercial activity, whether or not in return for payment. Under Art. 2(16) of the Regulation, a customer is a natural or legal person who buys, hires or receives a product for their own use. It is immaterial whether that person acts for purposes that are private or relate to their trade, business, craft or profession. Under Art. 5(1)(a) of the Regulation, dealers must display the label provided by the supplier in a visible manner. This obligation expressly also applies to online distance selling. ### Information requirements in advertising Art. 6, first paragraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 requires suppliers and dealers to include the following information in visual advertising or technical promotional material for a specific model: - The energy efficiency class of the advertised product must be stated. - The range of efficiency classes available on the label must also be indicated. For electronic displays, this requirement is specified in greater detail by Art. 4(d) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2013 (European Union Delegated Regulation on energy labelling of electronic displays). Accordingly, any visual advertisement for a specific model of electronic display, including advertising on the internet, must include both items of information. ## Question referred to the CJEU by the Bundesgerichtshof The Bundesgerichtshof considered it necessary to clarify whether the operator of an online prize draw must be classified as a dealer in relation to a television offered as a prize. This determined whether the requirements to state the energy efficiency class and the available range of classes had to be complied with. By order of 23 January 2025 (case reference I ZR 53/24), the BGH decided to refer the question to the CJEU. The court pointed out that a purchase free of charge is consistent neither with German civil law nor with the understanding of a contract of sale under EU law. At the same time, the term customer could also encompass persons who receive a product without providing consideration. Another possible interpretation was to regard the display of a product as a separate alternative to offering it for sale, hire or hire-purchase. In that case, the decisive issue could be whether presenting a television as a prize in an online prize draw already constitutes displaying it within the meaning of the Regulation. In her Opinion of 26 February 2026, the Advocate General had proposed that the operator of such an online prize draw be regarded as a dealer. In her view, the operator should be required to state the energy efficiency class and the range of efficiency classes. ## Broad interpretation of the definition of a dealer ### Differences between the language versions The CJEU first held that a television is an energy-related product within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369. In interpreting the definition of a dealer, it considered the wording, the regulatory context and the objectives of the Regulation. The German-language version differs in this respect from several other language versions. Under the German wording, both offering and displaying can linguistically be linked to the purpose of sale, hire or hire-purchase. On that basis, acting in the course of a commercial activity and a connection with one of these forms of contract would be cumulative requirements. Other language versions distinguish more clearly between offering a product for sale, hire or hire-purchase and displaying it. Under this interpretation, displaying a product in the course of a commercial activity may in itself result in classification as a dealer. According to the Court’s assessment, the phrase “whether or not in return for payment” relates, in all the language versions examined, both to the specified forms of contract and to displaying the product. The wording therefore does not preclude the definition of a dealer from also encompassing persons who display an energy-related product for reasons other than obtaining financial consideration. ### Objectives of energy labelling The Regulation is intended to enable customers to choose more efficient products on the basis of standardised information and to reduce their energy consumption. Accurate, relevant and comparable information is intended to facilitate the selection of products with lower energy consumption. At the same time, innovation and investment in the manufacture of more energy-efficient products are to be promoted. In the CJEU’s view, a narrow interpretation encompassing only activities aimed at obtaining financial consideration could undermine these objectives. Energy efficiency information may be material to the decision to acquire or use a product. Less efficient appliances may also result in higher operating costs. The energy labelling requirements are also intended to benefit companies that develop and offer particularly energy-efficient products. In its interpretation, the Court also took account of the Regulation’s overarching objectives relating to energy efficiency and environmental and climate protection. ### Development of the statutory definition The CJEU also considered the legislative history of the Regulation. In the European Commission’s proposal of 15 July 2015, a dealer was still described as a retailer or other person who sells, hires, offers for hire-purchase or displays products to customers. The subsequent text of the Regulation expressly added the words “whether or not in return for payment”. The Court therefore found no indication that the EU legislature intended to exclude from the scope persons who display an energy-related product in the course of their commercial activities without financial consideration. ## Prize draw participants may be customers Art. 2(16) of the Regulation also describes a person who “receives” a product as a customer. The CJEU held in this regard that this expression is not limited to transfers made for consideration. As sale and hire are already listed separately as important forms of contract involving consideration, receiving a product may also include its provision free of charge. In the Court’s view, this interpretation is consistent with the objectives of the Regulation, which are not linked solely to a purchase but more generally to informed choices by customers. Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 replaced Directive 2010/30/EU (European Union Energy Labelling Directive). While the earlier Directive focused on end users and purchasing decisions, the Regulation uses the broader term customer. The CJEU regarded this as an indication that the labelling obligations should also apply in relation to persons to whom an energy-related product is offered as a prize free of charge. Accordingly, a person who enters a prize draw in which they may win such a product may also be a customer. In the Court’s assessment, the opposing view that a participant merely receives a chance of winning and not the product itself would construe the term customer too narrowly. ## Offering a prize online constitutes displaying a product ### Unilateral presentation of a product is sufficient The Regulation does not expressly define the term displaying. According to its ordinary meaning, displaying is a unilateral act. Offering a product as a prize to participants in a prize draw is likewise unilateral in nature. The process therefore differs from a sale, which is based on a contract concerning the product in question and is directly aimed at transferring it. The CJEU consequently classified the offering of the television as displaying it within the meaning of Art. 2(13) of the Regulation. In doing so, it answered only the question of interpretation referred to it; the final assessment of the specific case, including whether the defendant committed any infringement of competition law, is a matter for the Bundesgerichtshof, whose proceedings have not yet been finally concluded. ### No restriction to physical presentation According to the judgment, displaying a product does not require its physical presentation in a shop. Several provisions of the Regulation expressly also encompass products displayed online. For example, recital 21 covers products displayed on the internet. Art. 5(1)(a) refers to online distance selling, while Art. 11(4) and Art. 11(13)(c) distinguish between display in shops and online display. These provisions presuppose that a product can also be displayed digitally. Unilaterally offering an energy-related product as a prize in an online prize draw therefore falls within the term displaying. ## Prize draw as a commercial activity The Regulation does not contain its own definition of commercial activity. The CJEU interpreted the term broadly to ensure the practical effectiveness of the labelling provisions. In doing so, it took account of Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices (European Union Unfair Commercial Practices Directive). Art. 2(d) thereof covers acts, omissions, courses of conduct, representations and commercial communications, including advertising and marketing, directly connected with the promotion, sale or supply of a product to consumers. This definition distinguishes the supply and promotion of a product from its sale. Since supply in return for payment is generally already covered by a sale, the term supply may also include providing a product without consideration. Consistently with this, the judgment states that commercial activity within the meaning of the Energy Labelling Regulation encompasses both the supply of a product free of charge and its promotion. Displaying a television as a prize in a commercially operated prize draw therefore falls within this term. At the same time, the Court clarified that this does not create a general labelling obligation for every media reference to an energy-related product. A distinction must be drawn between merely mentioning a product in the context of reporting or providing information and presenting it in a manner directly connected with its sale, promotion or supply. ## Product image constitutes visual advertising Finally, the CJEU considered whether the image of the television in the online newsletter was to be regarded as visual advertising. Neither Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 nor Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2013 specifies a minimum amount of technical or commercial information for this purpose. Excluding product presentations without further information from the scope of application could impair the effectiveness of the labelling system. Moreover, in the Court’s view, the presentation of the television together with the model designation was in itself capable of inducing the target audience to purchase the product. An online image showing a product and its model designation therefore constitutes visual advertising even without additional information. It is subject to the requirements of Art. 6, first paragraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 in conjunction with Art. 4(d) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2013. ## Decision and consequences for commercial prize draws The CJEU ruled that a person must be classified as a dealer within the meaning of Art. 2(13) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 if they operate an online prize draw in the course of their commercial activities and offer a television as a prize. They must therefore state the energy efficiency class and the range of efficiency classes available on the label in the visual advertising. With regard to the specific dispute in the main proceedings, this classification remains subject to review by the Bundesgerichtshof. The decision on costs for the parties to the main proceedings is likewise a matter for that court. Costs incurred by other parties in submitting observations to the CJEU are not recoverable. The decision is therefore not limited to conventional sales situations. It also encompasses prize draws used for commercial purposes in which a product subject to labelling requirements is offered as a prize without direct consideration and displayed online. ## Advice on labelling and competition law In addition to the requirements of EU energy labelling law, advertising for prize draws may also be subject to information obligations under competition law. MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte advises companies on legal issues relating to the design of commercial communications and the scope of statutory labelling requirements. Further information is available under [competition law advice](https://www.mtrlegal.com/rechtsberatung/wettbewerbsrecht/).