EU to introduce regulation on product repairs for consumers

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Belgium, the European Parliament and the European Council have reached an agreement on common rules to promote the repair of goods for consumers.

Once adopted, the new regulation will introduce a new right to repair for consumers, both within and outside the scope of legal guarantees, making it easier and more cost-effective to repair products rather than simply replacing them with new ones. This will save consumers money, promote a circular economy and support sustainable consumption goals and the European Green Deal by reducing waste.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Belgium, the above regulation will take effect this year, applying to many electronic products, such as mobile phones, tablets, washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, electronic screens, vacuum cleaners, data storage devices... The EU also plans to add electric bicycle batteries to this list. The regulation also requires EU member states to implement at least one measure to promote repairs, such as giving repair vouchers, establishing repair funds or supporting local repair initiatives...

Statistics show that the number of products such as dishwashers, televisions and mobile phones that are thrown away despite still being usable in EU countries leads to the amount of technology waste up to 35 million tons / year. Meanwhile, the cost of buying new replacement devices costs more than 13 billion USD / year. Therefore, consumer and environmental groups have long urged the EU to tighten regulations to ensure that companies have easier options for repairing their products.

By finding common ground on the right to repair regulation, the EU has shown its efforts to “fix” the negative impacts caused by humans. The EU hopes that the new regulation will not only reduce the number of technological products thrown away to protect the environment, but also help create jobs and reduce the bloc’s dependence on foreign sources of raw materials.

The “right to repair” proposal was announced in the New Consumer Agenda and the Circular Economy Action Plan. It addresses the barriers that prevent consumers from repairing due to inconvenience, lack of transparency or poor access to repair services. It therefore promotes repair as a more sustainable consumption option, contributing to the climate and environmental targets of the European Green Deal.

This initiative complements other instruments, aiming to pursue the European Green Deal objective of sustainable consumption through repair. On the supply side, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products regulation promotes the repairability of products during the production phase. On the demand side, the proposed Directive on Consumer Empowerment in the Green Transition enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions at the point of sale.

For exporters of goods, this means that if they use their own brands, they must establish an accompanying “guarantee” system in the European Union. However, this will reduce the competitiveness of non-EU countries with their own brands in the EU, at a relatively high cost.

(According to VNA)

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