On Tuesday 18 July, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) confirmed its support for the March 2023 proposal for a directive establishing common rules to promote an effective and attractive right to repair defective products (see EUROPE 13147/7, 13150/9).
The highly ambitious draft report by René Repasi MEP (S&D, German), presented to his colleagues on Tuesday, reinforces this proposal, with the support of The Left and the Greens/EFA.
However, it goes too far for right-wing MEPs and liberals, given that this legislation complements the future ‘Ecodesign for Sustainable Products’ regulation and the directive proposed for March 2022 to empower consumers to act in favour of the green transition (right to information on the durability of products and better protection against programmed obsolescence) (see EUROPE 13122/17).
As part of the legal guarantee, Mr Repasi wants to shorten repair times and make it compulsory for all sellers and repairers to loan a replacement item free of charge during the repair period.
He also proposes extending the scope of the directive to include all repairable goods, such as mobile phones, bicycles and batteries.
In his view, the main obstacle to repairs is the lack of spare parts and their “prohibitive cost”, which needs to be tackled through greater competition. It therefore advocates greater access to spare parts and information on the prices of these parts for both independent repairers and consumers.
The EPP is keen to maintain consistency with the “balanced approach of the ‘Ecodesign’ regulation” and will not agree to go further. So there is no question of extending the scope to vehicles and batteries, warned German MEP Andreas Schwab.
Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, German) retorted that the Ecodesign regulation will take years to implement. Her group will be submitting amendments “to go even further in terms of the availability and cost of spare parts”. Anne-Sophie Pelletier (The Left, French) added: “Consumers will regain purchasing power”.
For Renew Europe, the key aspect is to preserve the balance between benefits for consumers and feasibility for SMEs. This group stressed “the need to harmonise certain aspects outside the legal guarantee and to reduce the cost for SMEs”.
Adam Bielan from Poland confirmed the ECR group’s wish that there should be no obligation: “The final choice between repair and replacement must rest with the consumer”.
All the political groups supported the rapporteur in his desire to see this dossier completed before the European elections in June 2024.
The deadline for the tabling of amendments is 3 pm on 5 September.
The vote in the IMCO Committee meeting is scheduled for October.
See the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/851 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)