Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The right to repair proposal

Change 37

ChangedThe proposal by the European Commission for common rules promoting the repair of goods aims toat makemaking repair of defective products more attractive and thus increaseat increasing the repairamount of consumer goods.goods getting repaired instead of being thrown away. Several studies and surveys have shown that consumers have a positive attitude towards repairing goods. Therefore, the Rapporteur wishes to support those trends in consumer as well as business behaviour and to promote the so calledso-called right to repair. The draft report follows the lines of the Commission proposal to enable consumer participation in the Green Transition towards a sustainable and circular economy. In this regard, the Rapporteur believes the draft report to be complementary to the legislative proposals on Ecodesign Requirements for Sustainable Products and Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition.

Incentivising repair within the legal guarantee

Change 38

ChangedThe draft report aims toat clarifyclarifying central elements of the proposal and toat increaseincreasing the level of ambition. Consumer legislation should encourage the repair of defective products. Therefore, the Rapporteur suggests improving the attractiveness of repair within the legal guarantee period under the Sales of Goods Directive by speeding up the requirements fora thetimely repair time, decreasing the level of inconvenience byand a proposed requirement of a loan product for consumers and confirmingif the provisionsrepair thatwill allowstake consumersan tounnecessarily rejectlong repairtime. asTo afurther meansincrease the attractiveness of remedy.repair, Asthe consumerslegal areguarantee veryperiod timeof sensitiverepaired whengoods itshould comesbe toextended. theThis repairis ofnot theironly goods,a thematter Rapporteurof proposessustainability tobut holdalso producersof directlylegal liableclarity. forThus, the repairRapporteur inproposes liabilityas casesa underone-off measure to extend the saleslegal ofguarantee goodsperiod regime.by Inadditional doingtwelve so,months theonce Rapporteura doesproduct notis intendbrought toback changeto theconformity generalvia distributiona ofrepair. responsibilitiesAs establishedconsumers byare thevery Salestime ofsensitive Goodswhen Directive,it whichcomes makesto the sellerrepair of their goods, the onlyRapporteur legalproposes counterpartythat forconsumers thecan consumer.directly Repairingaddress aproducers productfor uponrepairing thedefective requestproducts. ofMeeting the consumerrepair request by the producer doeswill thereforedischarge notthe createseller afrom newhis/her directliability contractualfor relationshipconformity betweenvis-à-vis the consumer andunder the producer but has only asSales anof effectGoods toDirective dischargewithout thecreating sellera fromseparate hislegal liabilityrelationship towardsbetween the consumer underand thisthe Directive.producer.

Change 39

RemovedTo increase the attractiveness of repair further the legal guarantee period of repaired goods should be extended. This is not only a matter of sustainability but also of legal clarity. Thus, the Rapporteur proposes to extend the legal guarantee period by an additional two years once the seller brought a product back to conformity via a repair.

Creating a repair market

Change 40

ChangedOutsideFor products whose defect is, in terms of time or in terms of scope, not covered by the legal guarantee period,under the draftSales of Goods Directive, the report proposes to strengthen the right of repair for consumers. TheseIn ideasthe willRapporteur’s ensureview, legalthe clarityright forto consumersrepair aboutis no appendix to product regulation such as the obligationsEcodesign onRegulation. producersIt does not intend to remedy a market failure and the conditionsright’s relatedscope toshould consumers’therefore, repairas rights.a Aftermatter carefulof consideration,principle, thenot rapporteurbe decidedlimited to enlargeproduct categories where market dynamics have not led to properly reparable products. Yet, the scoperight into hisrepair draftbecomes reportpractically asmeaningless itif becameproducers clearof thatproducts, for which there are moreno productlegal categoriesreparability requirements in Union legal acts yet, can successfully rely on factual or legal impossibility. The Rapporteur therefore supports the commonpositive marketlist approach proposed by the Commission, according to which products that are reparable.subject Forto instance,the batteries,right motorto vehiclesrepair orare bicycles.explicitly Additionally,mentioned ain demandan forannex. moreYet, transparencyafter incareful after-salesconsideration, situationsthe isRapporteur included.nevertheless Notdecided onlyto shouldextend producersthe providescope consumersin withhis areport detailedto overviewa category of theproducts estimatedthat costsare ofreparable thewithout designatedany repair,legal includingreparability alsorequirements theand costswhere ofconsumers’ spareclaims parts,to therepair draftwill reportbe introducesmet by producers as well as independent repairers without any specific product regulation, which are bicycles. Additionally, triggers for more accesscompetition toin after-sales situations are included. Not only should producers provide all end-users with spare parts and information onfor pricesthe forrepair sparebut partsthey forshould both,also independentprevent repairersprohibitive and consumers.discriminatory pricing for spare parts. This strengthens the independent repair market and empowers consumers to choose other repair independentservice ofproviders than producers. WithTogether with the foreseensupplementing complementinginstruments measuresproposed ofby the Commission’s proposal,proposal mainlysuch as the online platform and the repair information form,form that should in the eyes of the Rapporteur be a voluntary one in order to prevent additional burdens for businesses, independent repairers will be put into a position where they can compete with traditional producers. TheFinally creationand ofin aorder repairto marketmake wouldrepair thusaffordable providefor consumersall withcitizens, the abilityreport wants Member States to chooseintroduce betweenmeasures, such as repair offers,vouchers whichor inreduced turnVAT shouldrates drivefor downrepair theservices, pricesthat will increase demand for repair services and improvethereby kick-start the service.repair Overeconomy. all,In sum, empowering consumers to have their goods repaired and creating a proper repair market will truly supportingsupport the ambition to create a circular and climate neutral economy.