An effective right for consumers to repair defective products after sale is the missing piece of the legislative puzzle to promote the sustainable, environmentally and climate friendly consumption that the EU is aiming for. With its proposal for a directive on the right to repair, presented on Wednesday 22 March, the European Commission is completing the puzzle to make the right to repair a reality (see EUROPE 13102/20).
A right of this kind, now proposed in the ‘European Green Deal’ legislation, has long been called for by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12928/15).
“This proposal aims to ensure that all consumers have the possibility of having defective goods repaired in a more accessible and attractive way” to put an end to the waste of resources represented by the tendency to throw away rather than repair, for lack of an alternative, and to allow consumers to make informed choices, emphasised EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders.
It will be limited to products covered by reparability criteria in EU law, such as the March 2022 ‘Eco-design for Sustainable Products’ regulation. This will include washing machines, TVs, smartphones and tablets, for example.
This future legislation will in addition usefully complement the corollary proposal, also from March 2022, to empower consumers in the green transition (see EUROPE 13122/17) - a proposal on which the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) will vote on 28 March.
During the two-year legal guarantee period, provided for in Directive (EU) 2019/771 on the sale of goods, the Commission proposes to impose an obligation on manufacturers to repair the defective product if the price of repair is less than or equal to that of replacement.
The proposal also aims to encourage aftersale repair, outside the legal guarantee - whether the damage occurs after 2 years from the purchase, or is the result of an accident. This would mean that the manufacturer could no longer refuse to repair the product, unless repair is technically impossible.
Manufacturers would be required to inform consumers of their obligation to repair and the availability of their repair services.
A European repair information form - which consumers will be able to request from any repairer - should help make it easier to compare repair services, whether in terms of the duration of the repair, the availability of replacement products during the repair or the price.
However, the Commission does not propose any price capping, out of respect for the free market and free competition. “Independents will be able to use their advantages, such as lower prices or their proximity to the consumer”, according to a senior EU official.
The proposal also provides for the establishment of an online repair platform in each Member State to connect consumers with repairers and sellers of refurbished goods in their area, which will help develop the repair sector. “Consumers will also be able to turn to independent repairers and find options that better suit their needs or offer more attractive options. We will develop a repair network”, Reynders stressed.
This platform will also allow consumers to sell their used goods so that they can be bought back by refurbishers for second-hand sales.
In addition, a European quality standard for repair services will be developed by the European Commission to help consumers identify repairers who are committed to better quality. This ‘easy repair’ standard will be open to all EU repairers willing to commit to minimum quality standards, based, for example, on product duration or availability.
Why not extend the duration of the guarantee as requested by the European Consumer Organisation? According to one EU official, such an extension does not serve the intended purpose, as a Eurobarometer showed that 2/3 of consumers preferred replacement.
“The Sale of Goods Directive gives a choice between repair and replacement. Extending the warranty will result in more replacement than repair and will not serve the purpose of reducing waste, greenhouse gas emissions and the economical use of valuable resources”, he said.
See the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/5ym (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)