Today, the EU Parliament formally adopted ambitious rules [1] to help consumers repair their goods easily and make their products last longer. BEUC, who has supported and contributed to this important commitment from the outset, hails the votes as a consumer win.

Monique Goyens, Director General at BEUC, commented:
“The Parliament agreement is great news for consumers: the new rules will put pressure on producers to make high-quality and repairable products. This will mark the closure of the chapter on impossible-to-fix products that break too quickly.”

On the Right to Repair:
“While encouraging repair, when a product breaks, consumers will be able to choose between repair or replacement. This is a relief for consumers because not all goods can be properly repaired if the damage is too severe, think of a brand-new smartphone that breaks after a couple of days due to a manufacturing defect. Consumers should be entitled to a well-functioning product they paid for.”

“When consumers choose to repair, they will be protected with a one-year extra guarantee. This will be a strong incentive for consumers to have their broken products fixed and use them for longer. It’s only fair that products that last longer are guaranteed longer.”

On Ecodesign:
“This is great news for consumers as longer-lasting and resource-efficient products will become the norm. There's an urgent need to adopt more sustainable lifestyles, and with these new rules, consumers will finally have access to more durable products.”

“While the political ambition to encourage sustainable change is in place, the framework needs to be implemented quickly. For this to happen, it is key European Commission and market surveillance authorities in the Member States allocate resources to the development and enforcement of the new rules.  

Background info
In 2022, The European Commission announced its plans to introduce a “right to repair” and to establish a broadened framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products. In December last year, the EU reached a provisional deal on the Ecodesign file and later in February 2024, the one on the right to repair file. The votes today confirm the provisional deals.

Next steps
This Directive still needs to be formally adopted by the Council. For the Right to Repair, once it enters into force, the Member States will have two years to transpose it into their national legislation. For the Ecodesign, once published in the EUOJ, the Commission will start working on the delegated acts to implement the Regulation, starting from the publication of the first ESPR Working Plan.

[1] Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on common rules promoting the repair of goods and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, Directives (EU) 2019/771 and (EU) 2020/1828 Proposal ESPR and Proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC.