From 20 June 2025, consumers are able to benefit from smartphones and tablets that are both longer-lasting and more easily repairable thanks to new rules. It will also be much easier to choose more durable phones, thanks to a new energy label with repairability and reliability scores.  

Why it's important

In 2020, as part of its Green Deal, the EU adopted a new circular economy action plan, with the aim of limiting natural resource waste and improving products’ circularity. This also included new rules on designing more resource-efficient mobile phones and tablets and prolonging their lifetime as much as possible, thanks to more durable batteries and more repairable designs.

BEUC and its members have long called for the introduction of these rules, pinpointing the recurrent issues consumers face when trying to repair their smartphones. These include the impossibility of finding spare parts (e.g. new screens), expensive repairs, or decreasing battery performance after a few years.

Apart from the expected environmental benefits resulting from these new rules (such as less e-waste), they also partially respond to some of the challenges consumers face. It will be easier to keep a phone for longer, rather than buying a new one every couple of years.

The new rules also include a new energy label accompanying new smartphones and tablets. This label resembles the one that already exists for household appliances (like fridges and washing machines) but contains additional useful information, such as battery life and a repair score.

What BEUC did

BEUC contributed to the development of Ecodesign and energy labelling requirements for smartphones since the start of the process. As an official member of the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Consultation Forum (EELCF), a group of stakeholders assisting the Commission in the development of Ecodesign measures, BEUC attended several dedicated meetings and provided the consumer perspective. For example, BEUC contributed with figures on consumers’ reported defects on their smartphones (collected via the PROMPT project) and made recommendations to address these failures.

Thanks to BEUC’s recommendations and input, consumers can access spare parts for seven years after the date of end of placement on the market of a specific model. The Commission had initially proposed a shorter timeline of five years, which did not align with the requirement to provide repair instructions for two years longer. BEUC also contributed to a requirement asking manufacturers to provide security and functionality updates for at least five years. This ensures that consumers can hold on to their phones for longer and be adequately protected when using them.

BEUC also supported the development of a repair score, which can help consumers choose more sustainable options, along with information requirements on the battery’s endurance.