Life cycle of consumer goods, towards a single European market

The next appointment to delve into the theme of repair is the Salone della Csr on 9 October in Milan, where the European REPper project will be presented, of which Altroconsumo is a partner: a platform with advice and solutions for repairing or having one's own device repaired and information on consumer rights. "In the meantime, we hope that work on the transposition of the EU directive will proceed swiftly," explains Anna Vizzari, Public Affairs Coordinator at Altroconsumo. "The aim is to guarantee uniform rules throughout the Union, creating a single market of 450 million people.

The node that Vizzari insists on is the need to provide financial resources to support the measure, which 'especially in the initial phase, needs economic support, tax breaks and accompanying measures. For small and medium-sized enterprises and for consumers, who must benefit from repair. In the transposition it is emphasised that the measure will not lead to new or increased burdens on public finance. This leaves us perplexed, but we hope that something will change in the passage through Parliament,' adds Vizzari.

The EU directive in fact suggests that Member States introduce economic incentives for repairs, such as bonuses or vouchers already successfully adopted in France and Germany. Ugo Vallauri, co-president of The Restart Project, which represents over one hundred organisations from 21 European countries, emphasises that "the French model - a fund fed by Epr (extended producer responsibility) resources for the management of electrical/electronic waste and destined to reduce the cost of repairs - would be an excellent option also for Italy, at zero cost: by allocating existing resources to reduce the cost of repairs, which is one of the main barriers for consumers,' says Vallauri.

Combining the directive with economic incentives is necessary for two reasons: both because the directive requires repair prices to be 'reasonable', but does not define what it means by this term, leaving it up to individual countries to find effective instruments. And because, at least for the first few years, the scope of the directive will remain limited: according to Vallauri, "when the directive comes into force it will still cover only a few product categories, and this will continue for years, until further implementing acts of the newEuropean eco-design regulation (Espr) are approved". Research from the end of 2024 by The Restart Project indicates that for 96 per cent of the products that consumers seek repair at repair cafés, there is no provision today for a right to repair: "we are talking about printers, coffee machines, hoovers, small kitchen appliances, laptops," Vallauri continues.

In Italy, The Restart Project is coordinating - together with the Italian members of the Right to Repair Europe coalition, Reware, Zero Waste Italy, General Computer Italia and WeFix - a coordinated action for an ambitious transposition: 'We hope that many other companies and organisations interested in this issue will join us,' adds Vallauri.