This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Common rules promoting the repair of goods and amending related EU legislation
SUMMARY OF:
Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on common rules promoting the repair of goods
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?
Directive (EU) 2024/1799 aims to promote the repair of broken or defective goods for the benefit of consumers, the environment and the European Union’s (EU) internal market.
KEY POINTS
Manufacturers’ responsibilities
Manufacturers must:
- repair, when requested, goods such as washing machines and mobile phones containing repair provisions (covered by existing EU legislation in Annex II), unless repair is impossible;
- carry out the repair for free or at a reasonable price, within a reasonable time;
- make available, for a reasonable price, spare parts or tools they are obliged to give access to for repairers (for goods listed in Annex II);
- ensure consumers have free access via a website to the indicative prices charged for the repair of goods listed in Annex II;
- provide free, clear and easily accessible information on their repair services;
- not use contractual, hardware, software or other reasons, such as previous repairs by another party, as obstacles to the repair without a legitimate and objective justification.
The list of goods covered in Annex II must be updated by the European Commission via a delegated act at the latest within 12 months of the publication of legal acts containing repairability requirements.
European online platform for repair
The directive creates a European online platform that aims to help consumers to find repairers. The EU Member States may decide to be part of the European platform by having a dedicated national section on the platform or create national repair platforms instead (in the latter case, the links to national platforms will be provided on the European online platform). Registration on the platform is free and voluntary.
The Member States:
- are responsible for the registration of repairers on the platform;
- may allow the registration of other entities (sellers of refurbished goods, purchasers of defective goods for refurbishment and community-led repair initiatives such as repair cafés);
- may set access conditions for registration on the platform.
The Commission will develop a common online interface for the platform by and will be responsible for its technical maintenance and the cooperation with the national contact points in each Member States (to be communicated/indicated by ).
The platform will become fully operational by .
Extension of the legal guarantee
- Where repair is chosen as the remedy to bring the goods into conformity, Directive (EU) 2024/1799 amends Directive (EU) 2019/771 on contracts for the sale of goods, requiring the guarantee period to be extended once by one year.
- Before providing the remedy to bring the goods into conformity, the seller must inform consumers about their right to choose between repair and replacement, and about the possible extension of the guarantee period.
General rules
Member States must:
- ensure that public bodies and consumer, environmental or professional organisations have access to the law to enforce the legislation;
- provide information to the public on their consumer rights under the directive;
- introduce at least one measure to promote repairs;
- adopt appropriate penalties for abuses of the law.
Voluntary European repair information form
- Repairers, when requested, may provide consumers with the form for free, in reasonable time and before a repair contract is signed;
- The completed form is valid for a minimum of 30 days and covers details of the repairer, the work, the cost and time involved and other practical information (Annex I provides the template).
The Commission will report on the directive’s application by .
The directive amends:
- Directive (EU) 2019/771 (see above);
- Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions for consumer protection;
- Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 on cooperation between national authorities on consumer protection laws.
FROM WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?
The directive has to be transposed into national law by . These rules should apply from .
BACKGROUND
Items that can be repaired are often thrown away. This leads to 35 million tonnes of waste and 261 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU every year. The cost to consumers of replacing (rather than repairing) products is estimated at almost €12 billion per year.
The directive is part of the EU’s broader goal of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
For further information, see:
- Right to repair: Commission introduces new consumer rights for easy and attractive repairs – press release (European Commission).
MAIN DOCUMENT
Directive (EU) 2024/1799 of the European Parliament and of the Council of on common rules promoting the repair of goods and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 and Directives (EU) 2019/771 and (EU) 2020/1828 (OJ L, 2024/1799, ).
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