Creating the conditions for a sustainable single market for consumers and ensuring the safety of all products, whatever they are, throughout their lifecycle, are the concerns at the heart of recommendations made by the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee (IMCO) in two reports adopted on Monday 26 October.
The aim is to enable the consumer to be a sustainability player on the basis of reliable information - sustainability advocated by the European Green Deal and its Action Plan for Circular Economy (see EUROPE 12440/3, 12444/1), while ensuring a high level of consumer protection.
Towards a sustainable single market. The own-initiative report by David Cormand (Greens/EFA, France) was adopted by 20 votes (2 against, 23 abstentions).
It calls on the Commission to grant the consumer a right to repair products by making repairs more attractive and systematic, at an affordable cost, through the availability of spare parts.
A Eurobarometer survey showed that 77% of EU citizens would prefer to repair rather than buy a new product and 79% think that manufacturers should be obliged to make it easier to repair digital devices or replace their spare parts, MEPs recall.
The report calls for labelling that informs the consumer about the durability of products and services, such as, for example, a usage meter and clear information on the estimated lifecycle of the product.
MEPs believe that practices that deliberately lead to the premature obsolescence of products should be restricted and that version updates of certain digital devices should continue throughout their estimated lifespan and not lessen their performance.
They also call for more sustainable public procurement and responsible marketing and advertising that encourages businesses and consumers to make sustainable choices. This, they say, requires clear guidelines for environmental claims on products and common sustainability criteria.
The report also recommends the introduction of new rules for waste management, especially the removal of legal barriers to repair, resale and re-use, which will also benefit the market for secondary raw materials.
Safety for all products. The report by Marion Walsmann (EPP, Germany) was adopted by 45 votes (none against and no abstentions). It calls for a stepping up of the fight against unsafe products and services - especially those sold online - be they chemicals, software or other products posing risks to consumer safety, whether they are manufactured in the EU or imported.
MEPs are calling for a review of current product safety legislation, such as the General Product Safety directive and the machinery directive, to adapt it to the digitisation of products.
They want online platforms and markets to take proactive measures to combat misleading practices and are calling for rigorous enforcement of EU product safety rules.
They are also calling for effective controls on high-risk products incorporating artificial intelligence.
While the EU Product Safety Regulation 2019/1020, which will come into force in 2021, brings significant improvements in market surveillance, these do not apply to so-called non-harmonised products. For example, a doll's bed, which is subject to harmonised rules as a toy, is subject to stricter rules than a crib, which, as a piece of furniture, is a 'non-harmonised' product.
Adaptations are also needed to extend existing safety rules to products that use new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things and robotics. Hence the need to clarify existing regulations and close regulatory gaps, say MEPs.
The European Parliament's vote on these two reports is scheduled for November. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)