The critical issues of the Italian transposition and the cost issues of the “Right to Repair” directive

“The Directive deserves credit: it bans contractual, hardware and software tricks that manufacturers have used for years to block repairs,” says Kilian Kaminski, co-founder of refurbed and member of the board of directors of EUREFAS, the European Refurbishment Association. “But it never says what a fair repair price actually is and that’s the only number that decides whether repair beats replacement.”

Kilian Kaminski, co-founder of refurbed and member of the EUREFAS board of directors

A further element of debate concerns the exemptions provided for the protection of intellectual property, which could allow manufacturers to limit the use of compatible spare parts, used or made through 3D printing, as well as maintaining blocking practices such as the coupling of components.

In the Italian context, the implementation of the law provides for the establishment of a National Observatory on Repair with monitoring tasks and the allocation of fifty percent of the proceeds of sanctions to the promotion of the circular economy. Given this approach, the proposals from the refurbished industry aimed at strengthening the measure suggest the introduction of a maximum price ceiling for the main components set at twenty percent of the value of the product, the limitation of the causes of exemption linked to patents and the adoption of direct tax incentives or reuse bonuses for citizens.

Furthermore, the responsibility between the right to repair and the European Ecodesign Regulation, responsible for establishing the original design criteria of the products, remains distinct. “Everyone will celebrate this Directive as the moment when repairs became easier in Italy and Europe. It hasn’t.” Concludes Kaminski. “It’s the moment when blocking the repair has become a little more embarrassing to do in public, but no one has put a number on how much it should cost. If a replacement part still reaches 80% of the price of a new device, the right to ask for it is worth nothing. We don’t need another right on paper or yet another Observatory. We need a price on record and a real incentive. A right to repair only matters if the product is actually repairable.”