The new EU Directive 2024/1799 took effect to promote repairs of goods. Under new rules, flawed products will be easier to repair, and it will, in fact, encourage consumers to fix their flawed products instead of purchasing new ones, which paves the way for more sustainable consumption. Therefore, the consumer will benefit from this by avoiding the costs of purchasing new products, and it will result in less waste, fewer resources, and less greenhouse gas emission. Member states now have until 31 July 2026 to transpose the Directive into their national law.

Warranty Repairs:

The consumer shall be entitled to request their seller to repair or replace the product within a period of two years of its delivery in case there is any defect. The new directive requires the seller, upon request to perform one of the two remedies, to inform the consumer of his or her right of choice and that - should he or she opt for repair - the warranty period will be extended for another 12 months, a statement with which he should urge the consumer to prefer this option. The directive further provides for the defective product being replaced with a refurbished product, on condition that the consumer makes an express request to this effect.

The Right to Repair outside of Warranty: When the consumer is no longer able to invoke the warranty against his seller, this being because of the expiry of the period, then for example, the new directive gives him a right to repair for some technically repairable goods under the European eco-designs standards, which include washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, television, vacuum cleaners, phones, and tablets. This right can be directly exercised with the manufacturer, who is not the seller. This would be in those situations where the manufacturer is technically incapable; at that point, a refurbished product may be offered to the consumer.
The main manufacturers will no longer be able to refuse repairs for the sole reason that a previous repair was done by a third party.

More transparent conditions of repair: The conditions for repair can, in some cases, be imprecise and not comparable; the new directive establishes a form in the field of repair information, like an estimate in great detail. This form, which shall be provided free of charge by the repairer or third-party seller or by the manufacturer, shall be supplied before any signature in a repair contract. This shall include: the identity and the contract details of the repairer, a description of the product to be repaired, including the nature of the defect and the type of repair proposed, the cost of the repair, either as the total price or, where the price cannot be reasonably calculated in advance, a method for calculating the price as well as a maximum estimated price, and lastly, the date of delivery of the product after repair, etc. After the estimate form has been prepared, which is mandatory to determine the cost of repair, invoicing of charges can be done; however, in case the consumer accepts the terms of the form within its validity, the repairer shall be obliged to carry out the repair under those conditions.

Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said, "With the European Green Deal, we have set out to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world. Under the new rules, repair will become a reality - and not just during the legal guarantee period. This will contribute to the development of the whole ecosystem of repair, reuse and remanufacturing. The new directive now provides for a free online European platform to inform consumers where a repairer can be found, in order to help consumers find repairers, sellers of refurbished goods, buyers of defective goods which are intended to be refurbished and participatory repair initiatives. It shall comprise national sections using a common interface and providing links to existing national platforms. By 31 July 2027, the Commission shall create and maintain an online interface accessible in all the Union languages, offering homogeneous and complete access to those resources.

Reference:
Eu directive 2024/1799 sustainable Goods (Repaire and re use goods)
https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/consumer-protection-law/consumer-contract-law/directive-repair-goods_en#:~:text=Promoting%20repair%20contributes%20to%20sustainable%20consumption.&text=The%20Directive%20on%20common%20rules,it%20from%2031%20July%202026.