The European Commission welcomes the provisional political agreement reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission's March 2023 proposal on common rules to promote the repair of goods for consumers. Once adopted, the new rules will introduce a new 'right to repair' for consumers, both within and beyond the legal guarantee, which will make it easier and more cost-effective for them to repair products instead of simply replacing them with new ones. This will result in savings for consumers, boost circular economy and support the objectives of sustainable consumption and of the European Green Deal by reducing waste.
New rules facilitating repair
When a defect appears within the legal guarantee, consumers will now benefit from a prolonged legal guarantee of one year if they choose to have their products repaired.
When the legal guarantee has expired, the consumers will be able to request an easier and cheaper repair of defects in those products that must be technically repairable (such as tablets, smartphones but also washing machines, dishwashers, etc.). Manufacturers will be required to publish information about their repair services, including indicative prices of the most common repairs.
To boost the development of the repair market, the new rules will ensure that spare parts for technically repairable goods are made available at a reasonable price; and manufacturers will be prohibited to use contractual, hardware or software related barriers to repair, such as impeding the use of second-hand, compatible and 3D-printed spare parts by independent repairers, in line with applicable laws.
Practical measures to support repair
The agreed rules will also require Member States to take at least one measure promoting repair, for example in the form of repair vouchers, repair funds or support to local repair initiatives. Such measures can be supported by EU funds, as is already the case in some Member States.
The new rules also provide for setting up of a European repair platform, which will allow consumers more easily to find suitable repairers through convenient search facilities. It will be at the disposal of repairers, of which many are SMEs, to advertise their services.
Next steps
The European Parliament and the Council will now have to formally adopt the political agreement. Once formally adopted, the Directive will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Background
The 'right to repair' initiative complements several other proposals presented by the Commission to achieve sustainable consumption throughout the entire lifecycle of a product, setting the framework for a true 'right to repair' across the EU.
This proposal is part of the European Commission's broader goal of becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050. This can only happen if consumers and businesses are consuming and producing more sustainably.
The 'right to repair' proposal was announced in the New Consumer Agenda and the Circular Economy Action Plan. It tackles obstacles that discourage consumers to repair due to inconvenience, lack of transparency or difficult access to repair services. It therefore encourages repair as a more sustainable consumption choice, which contributes to the climate and environmental objectives under the European Green Deal.
This initiative complements other instruments that pursue the European Green Deal objective of sustainable consumption by means of repair. On the supply side, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products regulation promotes the reparability of products in the production phase. On the demand side, the proposal for a Directive on Empowering consumers for the green transition enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions at the point of sale. This proposal strengthens the demand side by promoting repair in the after-sales phase. The three initiatives together cover the entire lifecycle of a product, complementing and reinforcing each other.
Additionally, the initiative on Substantiating Green Claims will make it easier for consumers to support the green transition through their purchasing choices and stop companies from making misleading claims about environmental merits of their products and services. This initiative also complements the Proposal 'Empowering consumers for the green transition' which sets the horizontal framework against greenwashing.
