Incoming EU Right To Repair Requirements: Is Your Business Ready?

Earlier this year, the EU enactedDirective (EU) 2024/1799 on common rules promoting the repair of goods(theRtR Directive). The RtR Directive is part of the EU's broader sustainability strategy under the Green Deal. EU Member States have until31 July 2026to transpose the Directive into their national laws.

The RtR Directive aims to promote product durability and repairability. It seeks to ensure that European consumers will have access to products that will last longer and that will not need to be discarded if something goes wrong with the product. It is an important element of the EU's ever-developing circular economy and complements the EU'sEcodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation(on the supply side) and theEmpowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive(on the demand side).

The RtR Directive has three primary elements:

1. imposing obligations on the manufacturers of certain products to effect or facilitate repairs, including by making spare parts and information available;
2. requiring manufacturers to ensure that consumer products are designed with 'repairability' in mind; and
3. amending consumer law to incentivise repairs.

Below, we consider the RtR Directive in more detail and set out some recommendations for businesses.

1. Which businesses will be affected?

In short, the RtR Directive affects businesses that:

• manufacture consumer goods for the EU market; and
• sell consumer goods in the EU.

The RtR Directive's repair obligations apply primarily to manufacturers. This includes companies marketing products under their name or trademarks, even if they have not actually manufactured them (so-called 'own branders').

Where the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the repair obligation will apply instead to the manufacturer's EU-based authorised representative and, where there is no authorised representative, to EU-based importers and distributors. Such non-manufacturer entities are permitted to sub-contract repairs (as are EU-based manufacturers).

The RtR Directive also amends the existing EUSale of Goods Directiveto incentivise repair over replacement when goods are not in conformity with the sales contract. These changes will primarily impact businesses that sell products to consumers, although they also indirectly impose obligations on manufacturers (who may not be directly involved in business-to-consumer sales).

1. Which products are in-scope of the right to repair?

The RtR Directive applies to product categories subject to existing repairability requirements under EU law. These are listed in Annex II of the RtR Directive and include mobile phones, cordless phones and slate tablets, servers and data storage products, electronic displays, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and goods incorporating light transport batteries.

While this means that the RtR Directive does not create a general right to repair for all products, the list of products in Annex II will be added to in future, especially given the pending expansion of the EU's Ecodesign regime (from where the existing repairability requirements derive) to new product categories.

1. Key manufacturer obligations

• Manufacturers must offer timely and cost-effective repair services for in-scope products, even beyond the statutory warranty period. The duration of this obligation varies by product category, but extends in some cases for up to 10 years after the last item has been placed on the market.
• Repairs can only be refused where they are impossible. In such cases, the manufacturer may offer the consumer a refurbished good.
• Repairs are to be carried out within a reasonable period of time from when the manufacturer has physical possession of the good, has received the good or has been given access to the good by the consumer.
• Spare parts and repair information (which again vary by product category) must be made available at a reasonable price. Manufacturers must also inform consumers about the obligation to repair and typical repair prices.
• Without affecting a manufacturer's repair obligation, consumers are entitled to seek a repair from any repairer of their choice.
• Manufacturers cannot obstruct or impede repairs through contractual clauses, hardware, or software techniques unless this is objectively justifiable, nor can they refuse to repair a product solely because a previous repair has been performed.
• Manufacturers cannot prevent the use of spare parts produced with 3D printers, second-hand or otherwise compatible parts by independent repairers provided those parts conform to safety requirements and do not impinge upon intellectual property rights.

1. Broader measures to promote and incentivise repairs

The RtR Directive also contains measures intended to incentivise repairs, including:

• a requirement that Member States must implement at least one measure to promote repair, such as repair vouchers, funds, information campaigns, or support for community repair initiatives.
• the establishment of a European online platform to help consumers find local repair services and refurbished goods.

1. Obligationon sellers to promote repairs and extended statutory warranty periods

While consumers can, in addition to requesting a refund, elect to have a defective product repaired or replaced, sellers are obliged to incentivise consumers to choose repair ahead of the other remedies available for a breach the sale contract. Sellers will only be able to refuse a repair if it would entail disproportionate costs.

If a consumer chooses to have a defective product repaired during the minimum statutory warranty period (which is typically two years from delivery, although it can be longer), the warranty period is extended by at least 12 months. This aims to make repair a more attractive option as compared to replacement.

1. Repairability as a reasonable consumer expectation

The RtR Directive adds a new requirement of 'repairability' as a legally required product characteristic in addition to the existing durability, functionality, compatibility and security requirements.

In practice, this means that a seller of a product could be found to be in breach of its contracts of sales with consumers if, given the nature of the goods and taking into account any public statements by the seller or other persons in the supply chain (which could be made through advertising or on the product's labelling), the product is less repairable than consumers reasonably expect.

1. Scope of the Sale of Goods Directive amendments

Unlike the right to repair discussed above (which, as a reminder, applies to goods otherwise subject to repairability requirements under EU law), the amendments to the Sale of Goods Directive apply to all goods sold to consumers under the auspices of the Sales of Goods Directive.

Given that the Sale of Goods Directive encompasses business-to-consumer sales of physical products, including those with digital elements (such as consumer electronics preloaded with software), the RtR Directive's amendments have an extremely wide scope.

1. What should affected businesses do now?

Businesses such as manufacturers and companies selling products in the EU should start preparing for the eventual implementation of the RtR Directive, which must be undertaken by Member States by 31 July 2026 at the latest. Some of the measure which businesses may need to take include:

• review current product designs to ensure they meet repairability
  requirements;
• consider redesigning products to improve ease of disassembly and repair;
• review marketing materials to ensure that claims about, or which may impact on consumer's assessment of, repairability are accurate;
• assess stocks and spare parts and ensure adequate supplies for the necessary period of time (which depends on product type);
• assess existing service and repair networks to ensure that expanded repair requests can be met;
• prepare to provide repair information and tools to consumers and independent repairers;
• for products not subject to an express existing repairability requirement, review current product designs to ensure they meet the general 'repairability' requirement; and
• in due course, review and as necessary update warranty and guarantee terms.

1. What about the UK?

The RtR Directive will not apply in the UK. That being said, the RtR Directive has the potential to apply to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework (through which Northern Ireland is to remain aligned with a limited set of EU rules relating to goods, including new laws as they are introduced by the EU).

The UK introduced a 'right to repair' law in 2021 aimed at extending the lifespan of household and other appliances and reducing electronic waste. This 'right to repair' is contained in the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010 and the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021 (together, theEcodesign Regulations).

The Ecodesign Regulations oblige manufacturers, importers and authorised representatives to provide access to spare parts and maintenance information for a small number of household consumer products. As a result, the UK 'right to repair' does not apply to consumer products generally (and does not include, for example, widely held and oft-broken consumer products such as smartphones and computers).

There is also a statutory consumer right to receive a repair under the UK's Consumer Rights Act 2015 in certain circumstances. In broad terms, this right applies in relation to defective goods or goods which do not conform with the contract of sale (such as in relation to standards of satisfactory quality or fitness for purpose).

Under the previous UK government,policy measures were contemplatedwhich would have expanded access to repair facilities and increased rates of reuse, repair and remanufacture. However, these were at a relatively early stage of development, and it remains to be seen whether the new Labour government will take them forward or put forward new proposals.

1. If you need assistance

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this blog with a Fieldfisher lawyer, please contactAonghus Heatley, a senior EU-qualified lawyer in the firm's Regulatory team.

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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.