European Parliament Votes to Support Right to Repair

The European Parliament has this week voted to support the recommendations of the EU Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on the "Right to Repair," including a system of mandatory labelling on consumer electronics to provide explicit information on the repairability and lifespan of products (via iFixit).

european parliament

The motion will compel the EU Commission to "develop and introduce mandatory labeling, to provide clear, immediately visible and easy-to-understand information to consumers on the estimated lifetime and reparability of a product at the time of purchase." This includes a repair score, akin to the repairability scores assigned by iFixit, being clearly shown on goods at the point of purchase. France is already planning to roll out repairability ratings for smartphones, laptops, and other products from January 2021.

"By adopting this report, the European Parliament sent a clear message: harmonized mandatory labeling indicating durability and tackling premature obsolescence at EU level is the way forward," said French MEP David Cormand.

According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them and 79 percent think that manufacturers should be legally obliged to facilitate the repair of digital devices or the replacement of their individual parts.

"We hope this will translate into swift action to bring a mandatory repairability score index for all electricals and electronic products sold across the EU, to help consumers to shop with confidence," said Ugo Vallauri, Co-Founder of the Restart Project and the European Right to Repair Campaign

Apple has repeatedly been criticized for disproportionate repair prices, such as the $79 fee to service the $99 HomePod mini, and arbitrary limits on repairs, such as barring repair of the iPhone 12's camera without access to Apple's proprietary cloud-linked System Configuration app.

Yesterday, the UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee published a report chastising Apple for contributing to a "throwaway culture" of "short-lived products."

The EU motion is likely to encourage a range of repair-friendly policies and product disclosures, but this will be contingent on the European Commission legislating to bring them into effect.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

justperry Avatar
40 months ago
Apple should stand behind its products with a minimum 3 year warranty, i
I find it absurd that a giant company like Apple has only a 1 year warranty.

I applaud the EU for this, lots of things are glued in now, nearly impossible to repair, and then there are absurd RAM prices, RAM should be removable and replaceable by the user.
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DanielDD Avatar
40 months ago

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.
Not stupid. Read the bill. It does not require any manufacturer to sell repairable products or the toolkits to repair them. It does require labelling products according to repairability score. This is good. Access to consistent and transparent information is good for the consumer.
This labelling thing is not new. We also have it, for instance, for energy efficiency ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_energy_label'), or for nutritional information ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition_facts_label'). What is wrong with this? You can choose to ignore them. You can choose to make more informed decisions.
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeanL Avatar
40 months ago

"According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them"

According to my own survey of EU public opinion, 77 percent are clueless about modern electronics. Apparently they'd rather go back to the days of cell phones the size of shoe boxes.
You're the perfect example of why this law needs to exist.
The fact that you cannot imagine phones that are not the size of shoe boxes but still highly repairable shows that Apple's brainwashing has been successful.
What you probably do not understand is that repairability is not in the economic interests of companies like Apple, so of course they'll make you believe that modern phones and repairability are mutually exclusive when they aren't...
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NightFox Avatar
40 months ago

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.
But don't you think there's benefits to having a system whereby consumers would be able to know in advance how repairable products will be to allow them to make informed choices, as is being suggested here?

This isn't just targetted at Apple or phones - if I buy a new washing machine, I know that there's certain components that will probably wear out after a few years. Having this sort of information would mean I could choose a washing machine that I knew I could easily replace those parts on rather than end up with one with a sealed unit that cost more to replace than a new machine.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GeoStructural Avatar
40 months ago

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.
The first word of your post applies perfectly to your line of thought.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Manzanito Avatar
40 months ago

"According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them"

According to my own survey of EU public opinion, 77 percent are clueless about modern electronics. Apparently they'd rather go back to the days of cell phones the size of shoe boxes.
You are aware this is not about phones only, right?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
iOS 16 4 Web Push

Apple Confirms Governments Using Push Notifications to Surveil Users

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:06 am PST by
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
airpods pro 2 pink

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 2 Firmware

Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware update for both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Pro 2. The new firmware is version 6B34, up from the 6B32 firmware introduced in November. Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware beyond "bug fixes and other improvements," so it is unclear what's new in the update, but prior software releases ...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

'All-Screen' iPhone Under-Display Camera Enters Development

Wednesday December 6, 2023 2:03 am PST by
Apple's Korean suppliers have begun developing smartphone under-display cameras (UDC), paving the way for the first iPhone with a true "all-screen" appearance. According to The Elec, LG Innotek has entered the preliminary development of the UDC, which sits under the display and does not result in a visible hole in the panel when the camera is not in use. A UDC differs from a typical front ...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 May Reuse Existing iPhone 14 Battery

Wednesday December 6, 2023 1:17 pm PST by
Recently, MacRumors has received details on the battery currently being tested on the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE, and the information corroborates previous findings in relation to the device. The iPhone SE 4, known by its device identifier D59, is expected to use the exact same battery found in the base model iPhone 14. Partially assembled prototypes of the next iPhone SE have been ...
magsafe blue 2

iOS 17.2 Brings Qi2 Support to iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 Models

Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:04 am PST by
The iOS 17.2 update that Apple is set to release to the public in the near future will bring support for the next-generation Qi2 wireless charging standard to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models. Qi2 was mentioned in the release notes for the RC version of the update that came out today. With the addition of support for the new standard, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models will work with Qi2...
airpods pro bulbs

Black Friday Prices Return for AirPods Pro 2 With USB-C, iPad, and More

Tuesday December 5, 2023 7:30 am PST by
Today we're tracking a collection of deals that are matching - or nearly matching - the same all-time low discounts we saw during Black Friday. This includes the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, 9th generation iPad, and M1 MacBook Air. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the ...
12

Apple to Launch Two iPad Air and Two OLED iPad Pro Models Early Next Year

Wednesday December 6, 2023 9:53 am PST by
To boost falling iPad sales, Apple has a major refresh planned for the iPad lineup in early 2024, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple plans to debut new iPad Air and iPad Pro models, both of which will feature notable changes. The iPad Air will come in two sizes like the iPad Pro for the first time. The smaller model will continue to measure in at 10.9 inches, but the larger version...