MEPs send a letter to the European Commission on a European repair score

To the European Commission

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for “A Europe Fit for the Digital Age”
Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for “A European Green Deal”
Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for “Environment, Oceans and Fisheries”
Thierry Breton, Commissioner for “Internal Market”

 

Brussels, 02/12/2021

Dear Vice-Presidents, Dear Commissioners,

In its own-initiative report “Towards a more sustainable market for consumers and enterprises” in November 2020, the Parliament called for the development of a repair score on relevant products.

Countries like France have already implemented a repair score on five categories of electronic devices since January 2021¹. Now, other countries like Spain and Belgium have announced their willingness to develop similar tools.

According to an IPSOS 2021 EU-wide poll, commissioned by the Greens/EFA, 74% of Europeans surveyed want environmental labels on electronic devices, while 90% of Europeans surveyed think that durability is important when choosing a new electronic device. However, a study commissioned by the European Commission points out that one main barrier to consumers willing to purchase durable and reparable products was the lack of clear and comparable information.².

To this end, the European Commission should propose a mandatory EU-wide repair score. Such a score would take into account multiple criteria throughout the life cycle of products according to product category, based on research-based and transparent standards demonstrating relevance, proportionality and effectiveness in reducing negative environmental impacts and protecting consumers.

These criteria are as follows: documentation provided by the manufacturer, ease of disassembly of the product, accessible product design, availability and affordability of spare parts, usage counter (optional) or other criteria specific to the category of products concerned.

The repair score should provide immediately visible, clear and easy-to-understand information to consumers at the time of purchase, helping them to identify and compare the most devices available on the market. This repair score can be based on the success of the european energy label. Consumers will have increased confidence in products and markets, ultimately leading to sustainable consumption.

Mandatory rules should apply to the repair score to ensure a minimum level of reparability, upgradability and durability of devices across Europe, while facilitating market surveillance. Indeed, the planned legislation should apply to all electrical and electronic equipment intended for consumers. For each category of electrical and electronic equipment, the Commission shall specify all of the criteria and sub-criteria including criteria specific to the category as well as the methods of calculating the index.

The EU legislation should provide for the EU repair score to pave the way for a durability index by adding greater traceability and information on materials, the degree of recyclability, of reusability, of circularity, its environmental footprint and energy efficiency.

As a first milestone, the European consumers should enjoy an effective right to repair, conditioned by the implementation of a repair score. We therefore call on the Commission to put forward a proposal for a mandatory EU-wide repair score.


Yours Sincerely,

David Cormand (Greens/EFA, FR)
Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, DE)
Rasmus Andresen (Greens/EFA, DE)
François Alfonsi (Greens/EFA, FR)
Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA, DK)
Benoît Biteau (Greens/EFA, FR)
Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA, DE)
Patrick Breyer (Greens/EFA, DE)
Damien Carême (Greens/EFA, FR)
Ignazio Corrao (Greens/EFA, IT)
Ciaran Cuffe (Greens/EFA, IR)
Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, FR)
Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, FR)
Anna Deparnay-Gruenenberg (Greens/EFA, DE)
Pascal Durand (Renew, FR)
Eleonora Evi (Greens/EFA, IT)
Laurence Farreng (Renew, FR)
Evelyne Gebhardt (S&D, DE)
Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, DE)
Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D, FR)
Markéta Gregorová (Greens/EFA, CZ)
Claude Gruffat (Greens/EFA, FR)
Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA, PT)
Sylvie Guillaume (S&D, FR)
Sandro Gozi (Renew, FR)
Markéta Gregorová (Greens/EFA, CZ)
Henrike Hahn (Greens/EFA, DE)
Anja Hazekamp (Left, NL)
Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, FR)
Petros Kokkalis (Left, GR)
Marcel Kolaja (Greens/EFA, CZ)
Aurore Lalucq (S&D, FR)
Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, BE)
Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA, DE)
Pierre Larrouturou (S&D, FR)
Sara Matthieu (Greens/EFA, BE)
Emmanuel Maurel (Left, FR)
Nora Mebarek (S&D, FR)
Karen Melchior (Renew)
Niklas Nienaß (Greens/EFA, DE)
Juozas Olekas (S&D, LT)
Piernicola Pedicini (Greens/EFA, IT)
Mikuláš Peksa (Greens/EFA, CZ)
Kira Peter-Hansen (Greens/EFA, DK)
Manu Pineda (Left, ES)
Anne-Sophie Pelletier (Left, FR)
Sira Rego (Left, ES)
Diana Riba I Giner (Greens/EFA, ES)
Frédérique Ries (Renew, BE)
Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, FR)
Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, FR)
Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, FR)
Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA, ES)
Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, FR)
Kim van Sparrentak (Greens/EFA, NL)
Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, AT)
Sarah Wiener (Greens/EFA, AT)
Salima Yenbou (Greens/EFA, FR)
Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew, FR)