Life cycle of consumer goods, towards a single European market

The next event to explore the topic of repairs is the CSR Fair on October 9th in Milan, where the European REPper project , in which Altroconsumo is a partner, will be presented: a platform offering advice and solutions for repairing or having your device repaired, as well as information on consumer rights . "Meanwhile, we hope that the implementation of the EU directive will proceed quickly," explains Anna Vizzari, Public Affairs Coordinator at Altroconsumo. "The goal is to ensure uniform rules across the entire Union, creating a single market of 450 million people."

The key point Vizzari emphasizes is the need to provide financial resources to support the measure, which "especially in the initial phase, requires economic support, tax breaks, and accompanying measures. This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses and consumers who should benefit from opting for repairs . The transposition document emphasizes that the measure will not result in new or increased burdens on public finances. This is an aspect that leaves us perplexed, but we hope that something will change when it passes through Parliament," Vizzari adds.

The EU directive, in fact, recommends that member states introduce financial incentives for repairs, such as bonuses or vouchers, which have already been successfully implemented in France and Germany. Ugo Vallauri, co-president of The Restart Project, which represents over 100 organizations from 21 European countries, emphasizes that "the French model—a fund funded by EPR ( extended producer responsibility ) resources for the management of electrical/electronic waste and intended to reduce the cost of repairs—would also be an excellent option for Italy, at no cost: allocating existing resources to reducing 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: first, because it requires repair prices to be "reasonable," but does not define what that means, leaving it up to individual countries to identify effective tools. Second, because, at least for the first few years, the directive's scope will remain limited: according to Vallauri, "when the directive enters into force, it will still cover only a few product categories, and this will continue for years, until further implementing acts of the new European Ecodesign Regulation (Espr) are approved." A late-2024 study by The Restart Project indicates that for 96% of the products consumers seek to repair at repair cafes , there is currently no provision that provides a right to repair: "We're talking about printers, coffee makers, vacuum cleaners, small kitchen appliances, and 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 effort for ambitious implementation: "We hope many other companies and organizations interested in this issue will join us," adds Vallauri.