I mean the general warranty law (European or the country's implementation), so 2 years on new electronics for example (European law) or "however long a product may reasonably be expected to work" (Dutch implementation of that law, which makes manufacturers go 'wtf' and they tell everyone 2 years and most people don't know that they have any rights after 2 years, e.g. a TV definitely shouldn't break after 2 years).
I haven't been exact enough. I mention manufacturer because I guess that vendors just copy the manufacturer's warranty statement for the European market, but in reality it's the vendor that has to provide the warranty. I don't think consumer rights laws care whether the vendor has a reliable manufacturer to back them on this.
If you buy from cheap-electronics.example.nl and they order crap from China, it's still up to Cheap Electronics B.V. (or whatever they're registered as) to provide warranty. If there is no clear chain of custody, the vendor should have thought that through before deciding to buy from them. The vendor is legally not allowed to redirect you to the manufacturer: the vendor has to handle warranty, not send the customer to the manufacturer.
(I know a thing or two about our warranty system because a company tried to screw me out of a few hundred euros that I only got back after half a year of weekly nagging, and not before I had sent a letter outlining exactly what the law is and which steps and fees would be leading up to a court case which they would definitely lose. As a student, I didn't have the money to pay a lawyer for that stuff, and the law allows for self-representation in small claims so that's what I prepared for. I should also give credit to the ACM/Consuwijzer that have excellent documentation understandable for anyone.)
