trade-e-bility had already informed about the topic "Right to Repair” a year ago, which is now becoming much more concrete. As reported by the European Commission, on 22.03.2023 the Commission adopted a new Proposal for a Directive on common rules promoting the repair of goods, which will be used to advance the goal of sustainable consumption under the European Green Deal. The proposal promotes repair both within and beyond the statutory guarantee:
Within the guarantee: The Directive on the Sale of Goods provides that consumers may, for a period of two years, require the seller to repair or replace, free of charge, a piece of merchandise if there are defects which are due to the non-conformity of the item in question with the contract of sale. Under the new rules, sellers must instead offer free repair work within a reasonable time and without inconvenience to consumers if it costs less or the same.
Beyond the legal guarantee: Manufacturers of goods such as television sets or dishwashers that are subject to the repairability requirements under Union legal acts are obliged to repair a product (depending on the type of product) five to ten years after purchase, unless this is impossible (e.g. if the products are damaged in a way that makes repair technically impossible).
The new rules will help consumers to find suitable repair services, e.g. via national online repair platforms. Here they can easily find a repair company based on different search criteria, e.g. location. They will also have the right to receive from the repairers the European repair information form with details of the price and the main repair conditions. This form will make it easier for consumers to compare different repair services based on key aspects such as price, duration of repair work or availability of a replacement product during the repair. These conditions must remain unchanged for 30 days. A European repair standard will also be developed to help identify repairers who commit to a higher quality service - e.g. in terms of usable life.
The proposal covers consumer goods (all movable tangible property) and concerns all defects that may occur in such products, whether or not they are still covered by a statutory warranty. Goods currently subject to requirements for their repair include household washing machines and dryers, household dishwashers, refrigerators, electronic displays, welding equipment, vacuum cleaners, as well as servers and data storage devices. Mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets will soon be added to this list when the relevant ecodesign requirements for repairability are adopted.
The Ecodesign Directive sets out the framework for the repair of products, in particular with regard to product design requirements and the availability of spare parts. It has so far led to the adoption of ecodesign requirements for 31 individual energy-related product groups, eight of which are currently affected by repairability requirements (e.g. television sets and electronic displays, washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators). The proposal for a regulation on ecodesign for sustainable products will replace the Ecodesign Directive and gradually increase the number of product groups, including repairability requirements. New repairability requirements will come into play for tablets and smartphones, for example.
As repairability requirements are developed for new product groups, the scope of the repair obligation will be progressively extended. The proposal therefore ensures full coherence with the ecodesign regulatory framework and is, in the Commission's view, also sustainable in the light of possible repairability requirements in other areas of Union law. The Proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition and annex will also help consumers to get more information at the point of sale about the shelf life and repairability of goods. Furthermore, this will improve consumer protection against premature obsolescence and misleading environmental claims (“greenwashing”).
The example of the“right to repair” shows that optimal Legal Monitoring is necessary as an existential risk precaution in order to protect you under product law.
If you have any questions, the trade-e-bility advisory team via beratung@trade-e-bility will be pleased to assist you via beratung@trade-e-bility.de or +49/40/75068730-0, especially in the case of labelling obligations for products or packaging.
