Spare parts and repairs: A right in Europe?

1. Manufacturers must provide spare parts
2. France, a European pioneer in the circular economy
3. The right to repair in the European Union
4. The right to repairs in the European countries

Sellers must inform consumers about the availability or unavailability of spare parts. If they give no information, the spare parts are presumed to be unavailable. The manufacturer or importer has 15 days to supply the spare parts.

For certain electronic and electrical products, spare parts must be available for at least 5 years from the date they were placed on the market.  When repairing electronic and electrical products, second-hand spare parts may be used. Brands are forbidden to use any technique, including via software, which makes it impossible for an appliance to be repaired or reconditioned by a repairer other than one approved by the brand. Any practice that limits a repairer's access to spare parts, instructions for use, technical information or any other tool, equipment or software enabling the product to be repaired is prohibited.

The French Ministry for Ecological Transition and ADEME have set up a website (in French), where you can find a professional who repairs, recycles, buys back products or offers any other solution to extend the useful life of objects. The website also offers practical advice on how to buy responsibly, tools and objects to share with neighbours, etc.

To encourage people to repair rather than exchange faulty products, France provides, for example, that your legal guarantee of conformity is suspended while your appliance is being repaired, or that you benefit from a 6-month extended guarantee if you opt to have your appliance repaired. It even provides for a 2-year warranty renewal if the seller replaces your appliance instead of repairing it as you requested.

Planned obsolescence is defined under French law as "the use of techniques by which the person responsible for placing a product on the market deliberately aims to reduce its lifespan in order to increase the replacement rate".

The following are also prohibited in France:

• “any technique, including software, which aims to make it impossible to repair or recondition an appliance";

• "any agreement or practice aimed at limiting a repair professional's access to spare parts, instructions for use, technical information or any other instrument, equipment or software enabling products to be repaired"

To limit the planned obsolescence of devices, particularly smartphones, you should be informed of how long your device will be able to withstand successive updates.

To reduce the repair bill paid by consumers, France has introduced a repair bonus financed by the "polluter pays" scheme on 73 everyday electrical and electronic products: mobile phones, TVs, washing machines, ovens, cameras, speakers, computers, coffee machines, tools, etc.

Consumers therefore pay less to repair a broken product that is no longer under warranty (legal, commercial or insurance). It is the repairer who must take steps to recover the amount covered by the fund, the bonus is directly deducted from the consumer's bill.

The amount of the bonus depends on the product and varies from €15 to €60.

You can find out here which products are eligible and the amount of the repair bonus. 

To find a certified repairer, visit the Qualirépar platform.

Want to give your clothes and shoes a second life? A repair bonus for textiles and footwear was introduced in France in 2023. Reimbursements range from €6 for an undone seam to €25 for the resoiling of a leather shoe.

Only repairs carried out by professionals with the "Refashion" label are eligible for reimbursement. The professionnal can repair several things on a piece of clothing, as long as the total amount doesn't exceed 60% of the repair price.

You can check the list of eligible products and discounts and the amount of the repair bonus and find a certified repairer on the online map.

Since April 26, 2022, private individuals may apply for a repair voucher that covers up to 50 % of the repair costs of electronicequipment (e.g. smartphone, laptop, washing machine, e-bike) and/or up to 30 euros for obtaining an estimate (maximum total of 200 euros).

The repair voucher can be applied for at reparaturbonus.at and redeemed within 3 weeks upon payment of the invoice. The bonus can be redeemed as long as budget funds are available. The funding campaign runs until 2026. The repair bonus is financed with funds from the "Next Generation EU" financing and development fund made available by the European Union and comprises a total funding volume of 130 million euros until 2026.

Belgium has reduced its VAT tax rate to 6% for small repairs of bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens.

Croatia has transposed the Eco-Design Directive, which requires the supply of spare parts within a certain period (see above). 

The seller must ensure spare parts for technical products, motor vehicles and other vehicles during the commercial guarantee period.

There is no specific regulation regarding spare parts in the Finnish Consumer Protection Act. However, according to the Act, the product is defective when the product's service life is shorter than what could reasonably be expected.  If the trader is not able to provide necessary spare parts, the product is considered defective. In such a situation, the buyer may demand a reduction in the price that corresponds to the defect, or cancel the sale if the defect is not minor. Because the trader may be obliged to repair the product several years after the sale, this may encourage the trader to keep spare parts available for a relatively long time. 

In principle the consumer is allowed to choose whether to have the goods repaired or replaced. On the other hand, if the defect is minor and easily repairable, the trader is usually allowed to fix it. The latter starting point emphasizes sustainable consumption.

When it comes to defective products, France encourages circular economy including repair via various measures.

• Information and availability of spare parts

Since 2022, the seller is obliged to inform the consumer about the availability but also about the non-availability of spare parts. If no information is given, the spare parts are presumed to be unavailable. The manufacturer or importer have 15 days (not 2 months as prior ) to provide the spare parts. For certain electronic and electrical products, spare parts will have to be available for at least 5 years from the date of placing on the market. In case of repair of certain electronic and electrical products, second hand spare parts may be used. Any technique, including via software, which makes it impossible for a device to be repaired or reconditioned by a repairer other than one authorised by the brand is prohibited. Any practice that limits a repairer's access to spare parts, operating instructions, technical information, or other tools, equipment or software for the repair of the product is prohibited.

In practice, it is the manufacturer or importer who informs the seller, who in turn must inform the consumer of the availability of spare parts. This obligation only applies to purchases in a shop, not to online purchases for example (although the seller is free to make the availability of spare parts a commercial argument and to indicate this on his website).

• 1st european country to impose a repair index

There is a repair index on 11 categories of product (smartphones, laptops, TVs, lawn mowers, window and top-loading washing machines, dishwashers, pressure washers, corded and cordless hoovers and robots). Consumers are informed, at the point of sale, on the reparability of the product to purchase, based on 5 criteria.

• The availability of documentation (e.g. technical manual with repair instructions)
• The ease of disassembly of the product, the type of tools needed and the characteristics of the fixings
• The commitment of the producer on the duration of availability of spare parts and on the time of their delivery
• The relationship between the selling price of the spare parts and the price of the product
• Sub-criteria specific to each product category concerned (e.g. the presence of a usage meter for washing machines)

This index is calculated directly by the manufacturer, who sends this score to the seller, who must then display it. This index is to be replaced by 2024 by a durability index which will include new criteria such as robustness and reliability of the product.

• Visibility of repairers

The Ministry of Ecological Transition and ADEME have created a website longuevieauxobjets.gouv.fr, with all kinds of practical advice, news, tools for sharing objects with neighbours or diagnosing equipment breakdowns... But it's also, and above all, a directory that allows to quickly identify the professionals best able to meet the consumer’s needs, whether looking for an alternative to buying something new or a solution that will help avoiding throwing away something that could still be useful.

• Change in the rules on legal guarantees of conformity

Consumers are encouraged to choose repair over replacement with a new product. For example, by suspending the legal guarantee of conformity while a product is being repaired. Or by granting a six-month extension of guarantee if a consumer asks a trader to repair the product. France even has a 2-year guarantee renewal if the trader decides to exchange an appliance instead of repairing it as requested.

• Fight against planned obsolescence

Planned obsolescence is a punishable offence since 2015. And to limit programmed obsolescence of devices, and particularly smartphones, consumers also benefit from new rules concerning updates: consumers are now informed about the length of time their device will be able to withstand successive updates.

• Repair fund

To reduce the repair bill paid by consumers, France has created a repair bonus financed by the "polluter pays" scheme on 73 everyday electrical and electronic products: mobile phones, TVs, washing machines, ovens, cameras, speakers, computers, coffee machines, etc. Producers must join and pay a sum of money to a structure called "eco-organisation". 

This sum of money is placed in a fund used to finance part of the repairs carried out by professionals with the "QualiRépar" label. Since 15 December 2022, consumers have therefore been paying less to repair their broken-down product that is no longer under warranty (legal, commercial or insurance). The repairer must take steps to recover the amount covered by the fund.

The amount of the repair bonus depends on the product and varies from 15 to 60€.

Additionnally, a repair bonus for textiles and footwear was introduced in France on 7 November 2023.

Reimbursements range from €6 for an undone seam to €25 for the resoiling of a leather shoe.

The scheme works in a similar way to the repair bonus for electrical and electronic products, but this is a different fund. Only repairs carried out by professionals with the "Refashion" label are eligible for reimbursement.

Germany has transposed the Eco-Design Directive, which requires the supply of spare parts within a certain period (see above). 

In addition, consumers must be informed at the time of purchase which defects can occur, whether and how the product can be repaired and what the costs are.

Traders have also obligations to recycle more and produce less waste and take back old electronic equipment under certain conditions. They can no longer destroy returns of products that are almost as good as new.

Core measures:

- The fitness for use of goods must be maintained (e.g. through careful handling, storage, transport, donation of the goods, reduced sale of the goods, sale before the expiry date, etc.).

- If the goods can no longer be used for their original purpose, other uses can also be considered

- If the goods can no longer be used, recycling is preferable to destruction ("cascade of use").

- Already during the production of the goods, care must be taken to ensure that waste is reduced through production and use and that any waste can be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner ("product responsibility").

So far, these are rather voluntary obligations. 

The seller must ensure the supply of spare parts during the estimated lifetime of the product.

In Ireland, there is no obligation for the seller to inform the consumer about spare parts, but the law specifies that spare parts as well as adequate after-sale service must be provided by the seller for the period mentioned in the offer, description, or advertisement made by the seller.

The VAT tax rate for small repairs on bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens has been reduced to 13,5%.

There is no obligation to inform consumers on the availability of spare parts, but the seller must inform the consumer if the goods are no longer produced.

Luxembourg applies a reduced VAT rate of 8% on small repairs on bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens.

In Malta, if products purchased by the consumer need maintenance or replacement of parts, this replacement of parts and the appropriate repair service must be available within a reasonable waiting period after the delivery date. 

Furthermore, Malta applies a reduced VAT rate of 5% for small repairs on bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens.

Poland has implemented a right to repair since 1 April 2021 with an obligation of spare parts for 7 to 10 years, depending on the product.

Poland applies a reduced VAT rate of 8% on small repairs on bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens.

The manufacturer has the obligation to provide spare parts needed for the repair of goods for 10 years from the date of the placing on the market of the last item.

The professional has to provide assistance for registered goods for 10 years (not necessarly for free).

Portugal applies a reduced VAT rate of 6% for small repairs on bicycles. A reduced VAT rates for repairs on shoes, leather goods, clothing and household linen is under discussion.

The manufacturer must assure the supply of replacement parts during the estimated lifespan of the product.

In Slovenia, at the moment of a contract’s conclusion, the seller must provide a specific guarantee for certain technical goods that provides instructions for assembly and use, and which commits the seller to repair defects free of charge during the guarantee period.

The manufacturer must also, in exchange for payment, repair products and supply spare parts for at least three years after the expiration of the guarantee period. This after-sale service is guaranteed by the manufacturer itself or a third party.

Finally, Slovenia applies a reduced VAT rate of 9,5% on small repairs on bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens.

Manufacturers are obliged to have parts to repair their products for 10 years after the product is no longer manufactured. They also have to provide a proper technical service during 10 years.

Sweden has reduced the VAT rate of 25% to 12% for repairs services for bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing and household linen.

Craftsmen are allowed to offer repairs on large electric appliances at prices up to 50% less expensive than the actual cost – the difference is paid by the state.

A tax deduction, the so-called “RUT- deduction”, applies to certain services within the households. The RUT-deduction means a tax reduction of 50 % of the labor cost for the service. Services covered are for example  repairing clothes, curtains, bedding and removable sofa upholstery. IT services in the consumer's home are also covered, e.g. to repair, install and maintain computers, tablets, game consoles, televisions and smart phones, as well as updating and installing operating systems and computer programs. 

The Netherlands have reduced their VAT rate to 9% for small repairs on bicycles, shoes, leather goods, clothing, and household linens.