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EU agrees new law granting consumers a ‘right to repair’ products

European consumers will have the right to have common household appliances, including mobile phones, repaired, while EU countries will have to produce schemes to boost repair rates according to a new law adopted on Friday (2 February).

“With the agreement reached today, Europe makes a clear choice for repair instead of disposal,” said Alexia Bertrand, the Belgian consumer protection state secretary, who led the negotiations on behalf of EU countries. European Parliament’s lead negotiator, the German centre-left politician René Repasi, said, “In the future, it will be easier and cheaper to repair products instead of buying new, expensive ones.” Adding smartphones to the list is a form of regulatory pushback against dominant manufacturers like Apple, whose policy of linking software to parts had long blocked traditional shops from repairing their products.

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