The European Parliament voted on Thursday 11 May in Strasbourg to strengthen the rights of consumers to be properly informed at the time of purchase about the real repairability and durability of products and to be better protected against ‘greenwashing’ and early obsolescence of products by companies.
By 544 votes to 28, with 17 abstentions, it endorsed the report by Biljana Borzan (S&D, Croatian) on the Commission proposal to revise directives 2005/29/EC on ‘Consumer Rights’ and 2005/29/EC on ‘unfair commercial practices’ (see EUROPE 13151/10). This vote, which toughens the proposal on the table, “will enable citizens to choose products that are more durable, repairable and sustainable”, Borzan said.
In particular, the Parliament calls for: - banning of overly general and unsubstantiated green claims such as ‘climate neutral’, ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘biodegradable’, ‘eco’; - a ban on early obsolescence; - mandatory labelling of the commercial guarantee of durability of products in addition to the legal guarantee; - the obligation to design products in such a way that other companies can also supply suitable spare parts and accessories.
The report is referred to Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) with a view to launching negotiations with the EU Council (see EUROPE 13177/21, 13174/10).
See the text: https://aeur.eu/f/6tt (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)