Less waste, more consumer protection: MEPs adopt ‘Right to repair’ position

Strasbourg, 21/11/2023 – Today, the European Parliament adopted its position on the ‘right to repair’ law. The new rules will make it easier for consumers to get their defective products repaired, reducing the need to discard them. MEPs agreed that manufacturers shall be obliged to provide spare parts to independent repairers, and a digital platform shall be set up in each Member State to connect customers and repairers. The legislation also introduces rules to encourage more repairs during the warranty period instead of replacing goods. The text now moves into trilogue negotiations with the Council of the EU and the European Commission.

Czech Pirate Party MEP Marcel Kolaja, Quaestor of the European Parliament and Member of the leading Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO), comments:

“The ‘right to repair’ proposal is a milestone on the way to a more circular economy. Nowadays, most of the time, it is easier for consumers to throw away broken goods than to have them repaired, even if it is only a minor damage. The result is both unnecessary spending and tons of waste that burdens the environment. Today, Europeans are estimated to lose up to €12 billion a year by throwing away goods unnecessarily, generating 35 million tonnes of waste. Both are relatively easy to prevent, which we are now aiming to do with this mandate.”

Patrick Breyer, Member of the European Parliament for the German Pirate Party, comments:

“Pirates support this initiative because we think users should control the tech they use every day. For IT, the requirement that updates must be reversible and shall not lead to diminished performance will be useful. But we Pirates still believe that the right to repair could go further, and would like to see this implemented in future legislation. Current laws say IT device makers must provide updates for a reasonable period of time, but they’re not required to fix known vulnerabilities quickly. That needs to change to keep us safe. The source code and tools for development of information technology should be made public so the community can take care of them when a manufacturer stops supporting a widely used product. Requiring manufacturers to enable 3D printing of spare parts in case of orphan products, as now proposed by Parliament, is a significant step in the right direction.“