European Union – Consumer protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union did not have jurisdiction to answer the question submitted for a preliminary ruling by the referring court on the basis that a contract for work such as the one at issue in the main proceedings did not constitute a 'contract of sale' within the meaning of Directive (EC) 1999/44 and, therefore, did not fall within the scope of that directive. The Court of Justice so held in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning a claim for expenses allegedly incurred by the applicant when repairing defective work relating to the renovation of a swimming pool by the respondent contractor.