According to the recent Eurobarometer, 77% of Europeans feel personally responsible to take an action in order to limit climate change. Discarded products are usually convenient goods which are fit to be repaired, however; they are often tossed prematurely and for this reason there are 35 million tons of waste. Just in the European Union, 30 million tons of resources and 261 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are generated each year. Moreover, the waste generated from consumers that choose replacement rather than repair is estimated at almost 12 billion tons per year.
On the 22nd of March, the European Commission adopted a new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods. This proposal will result in a room for savings for consumers and support the objectives of the European Green Deal via reducing waste, among many others. One of the major reasonings behind this project is the prioritisation that has been given to replacement over repair. When used products become defective and insufficient, incentives are given to consumers to repair them when the legal guarantee expires. For decades, there has been very limited encouragement to consumers to repair their goods, especially when the legal guarantee expires. The EU hopes to break this routine using the measures proposed by the plan, to make repair easier and be more cost-effective for consumers instead of replacing old goods with new ones.
The proposal aims to assure that products are repaired within the legal guarantee, in addition to providing easier and cheaper options to repair products that are out of the legal guarantee span or not functional anymore but repairable from a technical aspect. Currently, EU repairability requirement includes household washing machines and washer-dryers, dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, electronic displays, vacuum cleaners, and servers and data storage. Mobile phones, wireless phones and tablets are not involved in the list, however; they will be added to it once respective eco-design reparability requirements are adopted by the bloc’s lawmakers.
This right to repair is both within and beyond the legal guarantee.
Within the legal guarantee, sellers should provide the repair of the product unless it is more expensive than the replacement.
Beyond of the legal guarantee, a new set of rights and tools will be available to consumers to make repair an easy and accessible option:
- A right for consumers to claim repair to the producers for products which are under the repairable section of EU law. Therefore, it will be ensured that consumers will always have someone to rely on in case repair need appears. Additionally, producers will be encouraged to develop more sustainable business models.
- A producers’ obligation to inform consumers about the products when its mandatory to repair them by themselves.
- An online matchmaking repair platform to connect consumers with repairers and sellers of refurbished goods in their areas. Users of the platform will be able to sort their search by location and quality standards, helping customers to find attractive offers, and boosting visibility for repairers.
- A European Repair Information Form through which the consumers will be able to create a request for any repairer, hence bringing transparency to repair conditions and price, and make it easier for consumers to compare repair offers.
- A European quality standard for repair services will be developed to help consumers to identify repair services who commit to a higher quality.
Despite the proposal, another piece of EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan has been welcomed by stakeholders although it has faced some criticism from the campaigners. Cristina Ganapini, Coordinator of the Right to Repair Europe coalition, focused on an affordability issue of repair and anti-repair practices: “We welcome this attempt at making repair more accessible, especially via the introduction of online registers for repairers and the harmonisation of cost estimations. However, the Commission missed an opportunity to concretely address the burning issues of the affordability of repair and of anti-repair practices”.
She remarks that the proposal’s focal point is to reduce replacement of products within legal guarantee and require sellers to repair them only when costs are equal or lower. While welcoming the attempt to make repair more accessible, including through online registers for repairers and the harmonisation of cost estimations, Cristina highlighted that the proposed legislation missed addressing the pressing issues of affordability of repair and anti-repair practices. She argues that manufacturers' obligation to provide repair services does not necessarily translate into affordability, and the legislation does not cover the cost of spare parts. Another concern she raises is that the Commission does not clarify who should verify whether a repair would be more affordable than a replacement and via which methodology. She said “The Commission’s proposal focuses primarily on the direct role of manufacturers and vendors and only covers a tiny scenario of repair cases. Yet empowering independent repair networks is essential to make repair more mainstream and ensure affordability”.
The Commission's proposal requires the backing of the European Parliament and the Council in order to be adopted as an EU law. Despite of its deficits, this proposal is a remarkable step in the right direction.
Resources:
https://unsplash.com/fr/photos/3osQ7M_qO00
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1794
https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/eu-publishes-right-to-repair-proposal/
https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/22/eu-right-to-repair/
https://www.digitalsme.eu/the-european-commission-launches-a-right-to-repair-proposal/
https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/22/new_eu_right_to_repair/
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L'Autore
Mehmetcan Karakoyun
Categorie
Europa Ambiente e Sviluppo Organizzazioni Internazionali Società Città e comunità sostenibili Consumo e produzione responsabili Lotta contro il cambiamento climatico Mondo Internazionale Turchia
Tag
European Union EU European Commision European Parliament 2030 repair politics policy proposal