New "Right to Repair" Directive 2024/1799: Impact and changes for economic operators in the EU

On July 10, 2024, the Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on common rules promoting the repair of goods ("Right to Repair Directive”) was published in the Official Journal of the EU. The directive aims to extend the lifespan of consumer products by means of repair. For this purpose, it imposes extensive obligations on economic operators in the EU to repair products outside the seller's liability period. In addition, it creates incentives for repair under the liability period and thus provides for an amendment to the Sale of Goods Directive.

Background and objectives of the directive

The new Right to Repair Directive is part of the EU's sustainability strategy, the so-called Green Deal. With the directive, the EU is pursuing the goal of establishing an environmentally friendly circular economy. The directive can therefore be seen as a direct continuation of the recently adopted Ecodesign Regulation 2024/1781. While the Ecodesign Directive addresses the level of product design and requires, among other things, that products be designed to be repairable (see our Client Alert of July 9, 2024), the Right to Repair Directive aims to promote the actual performance of such repairs by granting consumers a right to such repairs. These two legislative acts are flanked by the Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition 2024/825 (see our Client Alert from February 26, 2024 for an overview of the three pieces of legislation).

Affected economic operators and product categories

The "Right to Repair" Directive imposes obligations primarily on the manufacturer and, secondarily on the manufacturer's authorised representative, the importer and the distributor. The amendment of the Sale of Goods Directive also affects sellers of products to consumers.

The key obligations of economic operators are limited to products covered by the EU acts listed in Annex II of the directive. The products listed there - household washing machines, washer-dryers and dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, electronic displays, welding equipment, vacuum cleaners, servers and data storage products, mobile phones, cordless phones and slate tablets, and products containing batteries for light means of transport, such as e-bikes and e-scooters - are products for which ecodesign requirements have already been set. All economic operators should therefore closely monitor the adoption of new EU delegated acts on ecodesign requirements for specific product groups.

Overview of particularly important provisions

In the following, we present the provisions that are particularly important for economic operators. As a directive, the specific obligations arise from the national legislation implementing the Right to Repair Directive. However, as Art. 3 of the directive stipulates that the Member States may not maintain or introduce any deviating provisions, the national legislation will hardly differ.

• Introduction of a right to repair for the products listed in Annex II (Art. 5):
  • Obligation to repair goods to the extent that repairability requirements are provided for in the legal acts listed in Annex II. The manufacturer may sub-contract repairs to third parties. There is no obligation to repair where repair is impossible (Art. 5 para. 1).
  • The repair must be carried out free of charge or at a reasonable price and within a reasonable period of time from the moment the manufacturer has physical possession of the goods, has received the good or has been given access to the good by the consumer (Art. 5 para. 2).
  • The obligation applies primarily to the manufacturer, and, secondarily, to the authorised representative, importer or distributor of the product (Art. 5 para. 3).
  • Manufacturers that make spare parts and tools available for goods covered by the legal acts listed in Annex II shall offer these spare parts and tools at a reasonable price that does not deter repair.
  • Obligation to inform consumers via freely accessible homepages about indicative prices that are charged for the typical repair of goods (Art. 5 para. 5)
  • Prohibition on restricting/impeding the repair of goods through contractual clauses, hardware or software techniques, unless justified by legitimate and objective factors. Manufacturers may also not impede the use of spare parts produced with 3D printers by independent repairers (Art. 5 para. 6). The paragraph is without prejudice to Union and national law providing for the protection of intellectual property rights.
  • Manufacturers shall not refuse to repair a product for the sole reason that s previous repair has been performed by other repairers or by other persons (Art. 5 para. 7).
  • Obligation to provide information on the repair services free of charge in an easily accessible, clear and comprehensible manner throughout the duration of the repair obligation (Art. 6)
• Amendment of the Sale of Goods Directive/warranty for defective goods
  • Extension of the liability period by 12 months (or longer) if a repair has been carried out as a remedy to bring the goods into conformity (Art. 16 no. 2 a), b)); Member States - such as Germany – which only provide a limitation period for the remedies instead of a liability period, must ensure that the limitation period for remedies in the event of repair is at least equivalent to three years – or longer (Art. 16 no. 2 c), b)).
  • Obligation of the seller to inform the consumer about the consumer’s right to choose between repair and replacement, as well as about the possible extension of the warranty period (Art. 16 no. 3).
• Introduction of a European Repair Information Form that repairers can make available to consumers on a voluntary basis (Art. 4)
• Establishment of a European online platform for repair to facilitate the search for repairers in the EU (Art. 7)
• Member States must take at least one measure to promote repair (Art. 13).

Enforcement of the directive and consequences of non-compliance

Firstly, the directive obliges Member States to take adequate and effective measures to ensure compliance with the directive (Art. 11). This shall include provisions allowing one or more of the following bodies, as determined by national law, to take action under national law before the courts or competent administrative bodies of the Member State to ensure that the national provisions transposing this Directive are applied: public bodies or their representatives; organisations having a legitimate interest in protecting consumers or the environment; professional organisations having a legitimate interest in taking action.

Secondly, Member States must provide for effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for infringements of the national provisions adopted to implement this directive and ensure that they are enforced (Art. 15).

Timeline and outlook

Member States must transpose the directive into national law by July 31, 2026 at the latest and apply it from that date. In order to avoid future legal uncertainties, it would be desirable for the German legislator to address the (controversial) question of the restart of the limitation period in the case of subsequent replacement or repair.

At the national level, and independently of the European initiative, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment has announced that it will present a draft German repair act in 2024. The act would oblige manufacturers to stock spare parts for their products for at least ten years and to make them available within 14 days at a reasonable price so that the repair is economically viable compared to buying new.

We will be happy to advise you on all questions relating to the Right to Repair Directive. Please feel free to contact our team!