EU Commission Proposes Green Deal Consumer Protection Measures
On 22 March, the European Commission proposed two new legislative files to enhance consumer protection and guarantee sustainability on the market. The first one is to promote the repair of goods, encouraging consumers to repair rather than replace products that are technically repairable. It puts forward a new “right to repair” for consumers within and beyond the legal guarantee, with producers required to inform consumers about products they must repair themselves. Secondly, a directive to mitigate the risks of greenwashing is proposed.
The regulation on the right to repair will require manufacturers to make a range of goods, including household appliances and smartphones, easier to fix by design. Currently, goods covered by reparability requirements include household washing machines and household washer-dryers, household dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, electronic displays, welding equipment, vacuum cleaners, and servers and data storage. Mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets are to be included in this list under the proposal. The legislation will make repair both within and beyond the legal guarantee more accessible, with producers of repairable goods required to fix them for between five and ten years, depending on the type of product. When repair is cheaper or equal in cost, within the guarantee-time frame, sellers are to provide free repair as a remedy instead under the proposal. Consumers will also have the right to request that repairers provide a so-called European Repair Information Form. Furthermore, the proposal includes an online matchmaking repair platform and a European quality standard for repair services.
Anna Cavazzini, Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection in the European Parliament and Greens shadow rapporteur on the right to repair, welcomes the proposal and notes that the Greens want to ensure that consumers are not left to bear the costs of repairs in the upcoming negotiations. Likewise, the S&D Group already positioned themselves positive towards the initiative as stated by S&D spokesperson on the internal market and consumer protection, Christel Schaldemose.
The proposal aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce waste and increase transparency growth with a view to supporting the objectives of the European Green Deal and save consumers almost €12 billion per year.
On the same day, the Commission also proposed a Directive on Green Claims. The proposal complements and further operationalises the proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers in the green transition. Many existing environmental labels and claims on products and services on the market can be confusing for consumers and bear the risk of being unreliable, as stated by the Commission. The Commission is proposing a new law to address this issue and protect consumers and the environment by ensuring that environmental claims are credible and trustworthy. The proposal aims to benefit consumers by allowing them to make more informed purchasing decisions. The directive could also benefit businesses that are working to increase the sustainability of their products and activities.
In the next steps, the European Parliament and the European Council will develop their negotiating mandates on the files to enter tri-partite interinstitutional negotiations with the Commission eventually. It is to be noted that a directive is not directly implemented into national law, but it is the duty of each state to fulfil the goals outlined in the legislation through measures. Member countries would, hence, have a degree of freedom to transpose the legislation on greenwashing.