Oliver Haslam on November 29, 2020, 2:06 am

The European Parliament Has Voted To Support ‘Right to Repair’ For Consumers

The European Parliament has voted to support the recommendations of the EU Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on the “Right to Repair,” according to iFixit.

That means that products will need to be labeled to explain how long they are expected to be usable and whether they can be easily repaired or not.

That will in turn mean that products will have labels similar to the repairability score that iFixit gives to products, allowing buyers to see how easily they can have a product repaired should it be required at some point. France is already set to roll out its own ratings system for phones and other technology from January next year.

“By adopting this report, the European Parliament sent a clear message: harmonized mandatory labeling indicating durability and tackling premature obsolescence at EU level is the way forward,” said French MEP David Cormand.

Apple has come in for specific criticism of late for the way it solders and glues various components together. The end result is that repairing Apple products isn’t as simple as some might want, with iFixit being particularly vocal about that fact. The firm isn’t the only one, however.

“We hope this will translate into swift action to bring a mandatory repairability score index for all electricals and electronic products sold across the EU, to help consumers to shop with confidence,” said Ugo Vallauri, Co-Founder of the Restart Project and the European Right to Repair Campaign

Apple is also accused of inflated prices in terms of repairs. The HomePod mini is particularly poor in this regard, with a $79 repair fee attached to a product that only sells for $99 new.