Cell phones, vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, washing machines and dishwashers: These and many other devices will have to be repaired in the EU in the future if it is technically possible and the customer requests it. A long-demanded “right to repair” has overcome the crucial hurdle, because on Friday night negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU states announced a breakthrough and agreed on new EU requirements.
“We can no longer afford to live in a throwaway society,” says parliament’s chief negotiator, German SPD MP René Repasi. The problem is indeed massive. European consumers produce 35 million tons of waste every year because products are not repaired but replaced with new goods.
The EU Commission estimates that the planned requirements could save at least three million tons of waste over the course of 15 years. In addition, 18.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be avoided and 1.8 million tons fewer resources would be used. The chairwoman of the EU Parliament’s Internal Market Committee, Anna Cavazzini, sees the negotiation result as a breakthrough for consumer protection, but also for the environment.
The agreement is based on a proposal that the EU Commission presented almost a year ago. The new rules should not only make it easier, but also significantly cheaper to have broken things repaired. The agreement obliges manufacturers to provide information about spare parts on their website. This is intended to improve competition among repair providers. This information must also be made available to small workshops at a reasonable price. In addition, practices that prevent independent companies from using used or 3D-printed spare parts should be banned. Another plus: In the future, manufacturers will have to inform customers online about the expected costs of a repair.
The waste management industry also welcomes the outcome of the negotiations. What is particularly pleasing is that every EU state must introduce at least one measure to promote repairs, said the Association of Municipal Companies. This could be repair vouchers, for example.
However, it will take some time before consumers actually benefit from the new rules. As soon as the European Parliament and the EU states have given their final approval, the requirements can come into force and must be implemented into national law after a transition period of two years.
Rules should also help the environment
The new directive primarily covers so-called white goods. This primarily includes household appliances – and typical everyday products such as smartphones. Exactly which products are covered will become clear very soon. A precise legal text is usually published a few weeks after the negotiators reach an agreement. Parliament and the EU states still have to agree to the compromise. In most cases this is a formality.
So that consumers can rely on the fact that a repair is worth it, another innovation is to be introduced: Anyone who has an electrical device repaired should receive a one-year warranty on this repair. “It’s only fair that longer-lasting products mean longer warranty periods,” said Ursula Pachl, deputy director general of the European consumer protection organization Beuc. The Central Association of German Crafts criticized that the longer warranty period after a repair was associated with legal uncertainty. Repair companies often find it difficult to enforce recourse claims against manufacturers. In principle, the association welcomed the right to repair.