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At the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, the right to repair was adopted with 590 votes in favour.
The legislative file, first presented by the EU Commission in March, aims to support the European Green Deal targets by increasing incentives for a circular economy, such as making repair a more attractive option than replacement for consumers.
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Apart from ensuring favourable conditions for an independent repair market and preventing manufacturers from undermining repairs as an attractive choice, the IMCO position also extended the product category for a right-to-repair to bicycles.
“We do need this right to repair. What we are currently doing is simply not sustainable. We are living in a market economy where after two years, products have to be replaced, and we must lead Europe to a paradigm shift in that regard,” Repasi said.
Sunčana Glavak (EPP), the rapporteur for the opinion of the ENVI (Environment, Public Health and Food Safety) Committee, added it was “necessary to strengthen the repair culture through awareness raising campaigns, above all at the national level”.
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To incentivise the choice for repair, the Parliament introduced an additional one-year guarantee period on the repaired goods, “once the minimum guarantee period has elapsed”, Repasi explained, as well as the possibility for a replacement product during repair if the repair takes too long.
Moreover, the Parliament intends to create a rule that market authorities can intervene to lower prices for spare parts to a realistic price level.
“Manufacturers must also be obliged to provide spare parts and repair information at fair prices. The European Parliament has recognised this correctly,” Holger Schwannecke, secretary general of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts and Small Businesses, said.
He warned that customer claims against vendors and manufacturers must not result in craftspeople being held liable for third-party repairs.
To ensure that operating systems of smartphones continue to work after repair by an independent repairer, the Parliament aims to ban phone makers’ practice of running a closed system that limits access to alternative repair services.
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Source: EU Parliament adopts Right to Repair law with broad support – EURACTIV.com
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