Back in November, the European Parliament gave a big thumbs-up to beefing up right-to-repair laws. Now, the European Council and Parliament have hashed out a preliminary agreement on the details of this specific legislation.
One of the standout rules laid out by the European Council is that sellers need to tack on another 12 months to the warranty after a product gets fixed under warranty. But, there’s a twist: EU countries might decide to stretch out this bonus warranty time even longer. Just so you know, in Europe, products already come with a two-year guarantee.
This could really push folks to get their phones and gadgets fixed, knowing they’ll have that extra year of peace of mind at least (and maybe even longer). But hey, that’s not the only cool thing about this legislation.
First off, the new law would make manufacturers spill the beans on spare parts availability on their websites and offer those parts to all repair shops at a fair price. Plus, the EU plans to put the brakes on manufacturers stopping independent repairers from using second-hand or 3D-printed parts. This second-hand parts rule is a big deal, especially considering big players like Apple making it harder for indie repair shops to fix stuff with second-hand parts.
On top of that, the deal puts the heat on manufacturers to get repairs done in a timely manner and at a fair cost (if it’s not covered under warranty). But hey, if a product kicks the bucket during the warranty period, consumers still get to pick whether they want it fixed up or swapped out.
The EU’s new rules would also bring in a standardized repair info form for the little guys in the repair game (you know, those small repair shops). Consumers would get this form for free, but repair shops could still charge a fee if they’re doing diagnostic work.
Last but not least, the EU’s cooking up an online repair hub where you can find all the repair services in the EU, both in the whole bloc and in each member state. Anyway, with these laws in place, fixing stuff should be way simpler in Europe. Here’s hoping other markets outside the EU follow suit with similar measures, because big players like Apple probably won’t change their tune without some legal nudging.