EU Parliament votes for standardized repairability ratings on electronic devices

[Luxzio22]

The vote calls for the EU Commission to “develop and introduce mandatory labelling, to provide clear, immediately visible and easy-to-understand information to consumers on the estimated lifetime and repairability of a product at the time of purchase.”

 

Quotes

Quote

''Harmonised mandatory labelling indicating durability and tackling premature obsolescence at EU level are the way forward,” said Rapporteur David Cormand, MEP from France.

 

My thoughts

 So the EU has decided to make it mandatory for devices to have a repairability rating, in a way similar to efficiency ratings for PSUs. Hope this really encourages manufacturers selling inside and outside the EU to take repairability seriously and makes them understand that they can't just sell old components as a new ''Product'' and get away with it. If nothing else, it will make both the manufacturers and the consumers realize the nature of the things they're selling / buying and make them question what they really claim and want in terms of longevity and long term usability. I don't know the implications of this on software-based obsolescence but I'm hoping that the law is eventually amended to cover future software support as well. 

 

Sources

https://www.ifixit.com/News/47111/european-parliament-votes-for-right-to-repair

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201120IPR92118/

 

EDIT: another source added

[Sakkura]

Great news. Of course the first version of this will probably have some flaws, but it's important to get started on making repairability a priority. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

I mean it's not much, but it's a step in the right direction, hopefully the EU will soon start pushing right to repair forward, since if it passes chances are, other countries or/and outside the EU will follow suit.

[Bombastinator]

Is this a “came up for a vote” or a “passed a vote”?  

[Sakkura]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

Is this a “came up for a vote” or a “passed a vote”?  

The latter. 

 

Quote

The resolution was adopted with 395 in favour and just 94 against, with 207 abstentions.

 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

8 minutes ago, Luxzio22 said:

 So the EU has decided to make it mandatory for devices to have a repairability rating, in a way similar to efficiency ratings for PSUs.

I think it's eve more comparable to the energy efficiency ratings we already have for electronics in general (A, B, C, A++, etc). Hopefully it turns out like that one, as people actually pay attention and use it as another input in their decision making process when buying stuff.

[AndreiArgeanu]

18 minutes ago, Luxzio22 said:

similar to efficiency ratings for PSUs

I think it's closer to their efficiency ratings for electronic devices. All appliances in EU needs to have one of these, including light bulbs.

[Luxzio22]

I wonder how this would impact non-computing electronics like cameras and watches. Some cameras are still made to last a lifetime or more but can't be repaired after certain generation-dependent spare parts go out of manufacture. Hopefully its a step in the right direction that's followed by better specialization in different product categories. IMO this has come at the right time since some companies are on the verge of disabling repairs entirely *cough*Apple*cough* and destroying the spare parts market.

 

I know for a fact that India uses EU vehicle emission standards so hopefully this catches on as well. 

 

EDIT: another source added to the OP.

[Bananasplit_00]

This is really awesome, hopefully this will make people buy less gurbage and more repairable and longer lasting items

[RejZoR]

29 minutes ago, Luxzio22 said:

I wonder how this would impact non-computing electronics like cameras and watches. Some cameras are still made to last a lifetime or more but can't be repaired after certain generation-dependent spare parts go out of manufacture. Hopefully its a step in the right direction that's followed by better specialization in different product categories. IMO this has come at the right time since some companies are on the verge of disabling repairs entirely *cough*Apple*cough* and destroying the spare parts market.

 

I know for a fact that India uses EU vehicle emission standards so hopefully this catches on as well. 

 

EDIT: another source added to the OP.

In Europe it's mandated by certain period of time when companies are required to provide repair service (in my country it's 7 years iirc). Often, parts are available past that time until they dry out and are then gone. Some brands like Rowenta brag on their boxes with 10 year repairability. I wonder how much of this is true down the stated 10 years. But vacuum cleaner or fryer are a bit of a different thing than a super compact thin smartphone...

[Spindel]

In my experience with a lot of electronics is that even if you can repair it it's either not worth it or there is some new standard which means you want to replace it anyway. And on new stuff i have 2 year consumer warranty (by law) on everything anyway. 

 

Personally I think this is pointless and won't change my personal decision in buying stuff, just like the energy rating that comes with everything now is just another plastic sticker that go right in the trash.

 

Example:

I have an A/V-reciver for my home cinema system, it works great, but if it goes bust I won't repair it since it only supports HDMI 1.2 which means no support for 4K (not that I really care about this one), no eARC, no HDR etc etc 

 

If my microwave oven breaks, I could probably fix it, but it costs more than to get a new, so I'll toss it. 

 

My OG iPod mini has a dead battery, but I won't fix it (why would I lol)

 

Heck it's even cheaper to buy a new ink jet printer than to get new ink cartridges, and that stuff isn't even broken. 

[Mark Kaine]

25 minutes ago, Spindel said:

In my experience with a lot of electronics is that even if you can repair it it's either not worth it or there is some new standard which means you want to replace it anyway. And on new stuff i have 2 year consumer warranty (by law) on everything anyway. 

 

Personally I think this is pointless and won't change my personal decision in buying stuff, just like the energy rating that comes with everything now is just another plastic sticker that go right in the trash.

 

Example:

I have an A/V-reciver for my home cinema system, it works great, but if it goes bust I won't repair it since it only supports HDMI 1.2 which means no support for 4K (not that I really care about this one), no eARC, no HDR etc etc 

 

If my microwave oven breaks, I could probably fix it, but it costs more than to get a new, so I'll toss it. 

 

My OG iPod mini has a dead battery, but I won't fix it (why would I lol)

 

Heck it's even cheaper to buy a new ink jet printer than to get new ink cartridges, and that stuff isn't even broken. 

Yeah but not everyone has this throwaway mentality, I rather prefer my stuff to last, and easy repairability helps with that obviously... 

 

Also your printer / ink cartridge example is incorrect, most popular printers you can get knock off cartridges that usually work just as well or better - which btw is not illegal or anything, at least in the EU 

[AndreiArgeanu]

21 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Also your printer / ink cartridge example is incorrect, most popular printers you can get knock off cartridges that usually work just as well or better - which btw is not illegal or anything, at least in the EU 

To add to that not everyone buys cheapo 20-30$ printers. There's plenty of people who spend over 100$ on a good quality printer that perhaps uses ink instead of cartridges and when spending that much repair-ability is a factor worth taking.

[Drama Lama]

that's great news

now let's hope they do it right and it's not confusing or unnecessarilly bureucratic

[Bombastinator]

5 hours ago, Spindel said:

In my experience with a lot of electronics is that even if you can repair it it's either not worth it or there is some new standard which means you want to replace it anyway. And on new stuff i have 2 year consumer warranty (by law) on everything anyway. 

 

Personally I think this is pointless and won't change my personal decision in buying stuff, just like the energy rating that comes with everything now is just another plastic sticker that go right in the trash.

 

Example:

I have an A/V-reciver for my home cinema system, it works great, but if it goes bust I won't repair it since it only supports HDMI 1.2 which means no support for 4K (not that I really care about this one), no eARC, no HDR etc etc 

 

If my microwave oven breaks, I could probably fix it, but it costs more than to get a new, so I'll toss it. 

 

My OG iPod mini has a dead battery, but I won't fix it (why would I lol)

 

Heck it's even cheaper to buy a new ink jet printer than to get new ink cartridges, and that stuff isn't even broken. 

The last is apparently more about the scam of ink jet ink though.  At one point that stuff cost  multiple times It’s weight in gold.