Recital 18

Ensuring transparency in the general terms and conditions can be essential to promoting sustainable business relationships and to preventing unfair behaviour to the detriment of business users. Providers of online intermediation services should therefore also ensure that the terms and conditions are easily available at all stages of the commercial relationship, including to prospective business users at the pre-contractual phase, and that any changes to those terms are notified on a durable medium to business users concerned within a set notice period which is reasonable and proportionate in light of the specific circumstances and which is at least 15 days. Proportionate longer notice periods of more than 15 days should be given where the proposed changes to the terms and conditions require business users to make technical or commercial adaptations in order to comply with the change, for example by requiring them to make significant technical adjustments to their goods or services. That notice period should not apply where, and to the extent that, it is waived in an unambiguous manner by the business user concerned or where, and to the extent that, the need to implement the change without respecting the notice period stems from a legal or regulatory obligation incumbent on the service provider under Union or national law. However, proposed editorial changes should not be covered by the term ‘change’ in as far as they do not alter the content or meaning of terms and conditions. The requirement of notifying proposed changes on a durable medium should enable business users to review effectively these changes at a later stage. Business users should be entitled to terminate their contract within 15 days from the receipt of the notice of any change, unless a shorter period applies to the contract, for example as resulting from national civil law.