Europe introducing “right to repair”

Based on the Ecodesign Directive the European Commission sets requirements in Eco-design regulations for various types of energy-consuming products. These regulations, cover, among other, requirements for reparability of electronic products and must be met by manufacturers and importers who will market such products in the EU/EEA countries.

Reparability has increased attention by both environmental organisations and consumers. The main reason is the relatively short lifespan of electronic devices and the difficulty of disassembling these devices in order to reuse well-functioning parts and components.

The repair requirements are added to already existing other ecodesign requirements for certain products, and distinguish between the following three main aspects:

    -Availability of spare parts to ensure that certain spare parts are available for professional repairers
     for a specified period of time after the products have been placed on the market;
     -Repair and maintenance information to allow professional repairers to access certain repair and
       maintenance information;
     -Information obligations to provide the users of the product instructions for use, including specific
     instructions to enable them to carry out maintenance work, on a website accessible free of charge.

So, the Eco-design regulations which are now under preparation for smartphones and tablets will mandate the access to spare parts and availability to repair instructions to independent repair shops.

Some manufacturers preparing for this may choose to take further steps and allow capable product owners to make their own repairs by providing access to genuine parts and tools. In fact, Apple has already  announced that for some of their newer mobile phone models, owners will have possibility to replace displays, batteries and cameras themselves. To which extent this really will be an option, will surely depend on the prices of these parts.

For further information, please contact JonIvar.Tidemann@nemko.com