Circular economy: Council and Parliament strike provisional deal on the right to repair directive

The Council and the European Parliament reached today a provisional deal on the directive that promotes the repair of broken or defective goods, also known as the right-to-repair (or R2R) directive. The legislation agreed today will make it easier for consumers to seek repair instead of replacement by making the access to repair services easier, faster, transparent, and more attractive.

The provisional agreement applies to all products with repair requirements on EU law, sets an obligation to repair on manufacturers of goods with repair requirements, establishes a European information form providing consumers with key data on the repair service, and unifies the national repair information platforms into a European online platform.

With the agreement reached today, Europe makes a clear choice for repair instead of disposal. By Facilitating the repair of defective goods, we not only give a new life to our products, but also create good quality jobs, reduce our waste, limit our dependency on foreign raw materials and protect our environment.

Priority: repair and reuse

Very often, when the vacuum cleaner, the dish washer, a coffee machine or any other product breaks or is defective, it is easier to dispose of it and buy a new one than have it repaired, especially when the legal guarantee has expired. The directive that co-legislators have agreed today creates incentives for consumers to prolong the life of the product by having it repaired, which in turn will boost the repair sector, reduce waste and promote more sustainable business models.