EU Parliament Votes in favor of More Repair

Great news for Right to Repair out of Europe last week .   The EU Parliament voted to require OEMS to officially disclose the repairability and durability of products to the public. 

Details available at this link: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201120IPR92118/

This is great - and badly needed. Its actually an extension of work already being done in France requiring OEMs doing business in France to fill out a repairability scorecard which will allow such comparisons.  This vote effectively makes repairability comparisons a policy goal for the entirety of the EU. 

Despite our excitement, this vote is not Right to Repair.  Armed with the information that a product is suitable repairable, if the consumer cannot get the item repaired that information is worthless.  Much remains to be done. 

We view the vote as a gigantic warning to manufacturers that their repair monopolies are coming to an end. We are hopeful that once a few OEMS start marketing their commitment to repairability -- savvy competitors will follow suit.  Legislation is still needed to make sure that repair monopolies are permanently prohibited.