Parliament adopts its negotiating position on new rules promoting the right to repair and more sustainable consumption of consumer goods. MEPs debate on draft legislation to make it easier for consumers to repair defective goods even after the expiration of the guarantee. The proposal complements other ongoing EU initiatives that pursue the European Green Deal objective of sustainable consumption and the circular economy. Opening statements by René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, Sunčana GLAVAK (EPP, HR), and Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

waste of electrical and electronic equipment (T)

circular economy (T)

SINKEVIČIUS, Virginijus (LT, EC)

GLAVAK, Sunčana (EPP, HR)

REPASI, René

Common rules promoting the repair of goods: opening statements by René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, Sunčana GLAVAK (EPP, HR), and Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And good evening, ladies and gentlemen. COP 28 marks a crucial moment, a truly crucial moment for global climate action. European Union's bar for success will be very high. And that is because next generations are expecting us to take responsibility for their futures to.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, And the window for action, unfortunately, is closing. We can still for these next generations, a 1.5 degree future. But it does require that the entire world does take action to reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, In Dubai, parties will have to advance on all elements of the global climate agenda, and that means mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation. And this includes climate finance and, of course, loss and damage. Yes, we have seen important progress in the past couple of weeks and even a breakthrough on the set up of a fund for loss and damage.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, And a recent joint statements on climate action from the US and China is not a welcome development. In the past six weeks, I've also met with a range of counterparts from across the globe. I spoke to some of our closest progressive allies from Africa and from Latin America, and I've reached out to major economies like Brazil and China. And in each of these meetings, I stressed the need, the absolute need to raise climate ambition.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, I've reiterated the EU's readiness to play its part. And I emphasised that we must let ourselves be guided by science and by facts. We know the direction of travel. We have our plans on how to get there. We simply need to speed up. So, let me go briefly into the three areas I mentioned before mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, First of all, mitigation. This year, COP 28 marks the first global stocktake. One thing is clear. All countries should take meaningful action to cut emissions, particularly the world's largest emitters. The EU has been doing just that for long the adoption of nearly all Fit for 55 proposals. We have updated our NDC to provide transparency on how we plan to continue to reduce emissions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, And I have noticed in every single meeting that I had these past weeks, what we do at home is the foundation of our climate diplomacy abroad. So, I want to thank again this House and the leaders in this House for their work on our climate and energy legislation. Our model shows that full implementation of our policies will bring an emission reduction of around 57% by 2030.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, And it puts Europe firmly on track to reach climate neutral strategy by 2050. To say the same about the entire world, we need to peak fossil fuels consumption this decades and phase out unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050. And we also need to stop new coal based power capacity, triple renewable energy, and double the rate of energy efficiency by 2030.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, And frankly speaking, we must quickly decarbonise the global power system. And your resolution points exactly in this same direction. And it is also in line with the global energy pledge that we jointly pursue with the COP 28 a presidency.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Ladies and gentlemen. As the climate crisis intensifies, preparing for its impacts will become, unfortunately, more and more important. And our guiding star for adaptation is strengthening resilience while focusing on the lives and livelihoods of particularly those who are in the most vulnerable places of our continent, but frankly speaking, the whole world.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Through the global goal of adaptation, we must strengthen adaptation planning, strict progress and mainstream climate resilience into every investment decision. But for all these goals to be achieved, COP 28 must also bring progress on aligning all financial flows with the Paris Agreement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Strong commitments. And I say it again. Strong commitments to shift funds away from fossil fuels are particularly important, and this can include phasing out fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or just transition, promoting the use of domestic carbon pricing and agreeing international crediting rules that truly help transform financing for climate action. And in this context, we have initiated, which invited different countries to join a call to action for Paris and Lines carbon markets.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Solidarity is another key component of our climate finance discussions. The EU will continue to deliver its fair share and frankly speaking, more than its fair share of the hundred billion goal. A new target for after 2025 should be part of global efforts to mobilises a wide variety of sources, both public and private, to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement. A last, but certainly not least, I remain committed to enabling the launch of the Endowment Fund at COP 28.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, This needs to happen in a context where we can all feel confident that in parallel we will see deep emissions reductions this decade. That is, and remains the best way to minimise future loss and damage. The fund is open to contribution from all parties and this is crucial because I strongly believe that all who do have the ability to pay should indeed do so. And I will continue to push for that in the conversations I'm having.

SOUNDBITE (English), Wopke HOEKSTRA, European Commissioner for Climate Action, We cannot base this kind of funding simply on an economic division between developed and developing countries that might have made sense in 1992. Climate action is truly a global responsibility and climate change is a threat that we all face. So, every country, literally every country, must do its utmost to eliminate its emissions and to defend its citizens and its future generations from the impacts of climate change. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, Madam President, Commissioner, Ladies and gentlemen, every year the Commission concludes we produce 35 million tonnes of waste simply because we are throwing it away, unable to repair it. The majority of citizens, however, want to repair their product or get it repaired.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, What happens now if you want to get a defective product repaired? The legal guarantee deadline doesn't allow enough time for the manufacturer to repair or they might not be a network to repair it. And so, the manufacturer will have a warehouse full of defective goods and the necessary skills may be available, but they'll refer it back to the seller.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, After the legal guarantee expires, the consumer is still sent home empty handed, the manufacturer shakes their head saying, I don't have to repair it, and the independent repair will give an estimate to the bill that is more expensive than buying a item. It's a system that's not working at all, and that's what we have to change.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, If we want to see this change from a disposable society to a repair society. Therefore, it's good that the Commission put forward its proposal in March for a right to repair. But we must be more ambitious.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, Ladies and gentlemen, we must change what's happening to consumers taken for a ride and we therefore need to put in place something different incentives, so people can decide to repair. Such incentives might be adding an additional one year guarantee for repaired goods, consumers ultimately will then get two years if they buy a new product. Consumers need a replacement device if that repair will take longer than estimated and they should be able to go to the manufacturer if they want a repair done.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, The manufacture will then have done their duty by consumers in terms of the guarantee and repairs sometimes are in competition with the cheap goods. Now we need to look at real repair workshops. Consumers shouldn't have to send their goods in. We want them to be able to get them repaired just around the corner.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, But the repair provider now faces a challenge that many replacement parts are either not available or cost an astronomical sum, or the software manufacturer makes a repair impossible. 3D printed replacement parts are being squeezed out. That must change. And that's why we believe that excessive prices for spare parts should be ruled out. And we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that it's not always a repair of a new item, either a repair or a new item. That's the choice.

SOUNDBITE (German), René REPASI (S&D, DE), Rapporteur, But either a repair or nothing. That's the real choice for consumers. This is because repairs are unaffordable for the very poorest. We want to make these changes for there to be a real right to repair. At this stage, I'd really like to thank the shadows and the different groups represented in the Internal Market Committee for their excellent cooperation, which led to this agreement with a broad majority vote, which I think will show this House has recognised the need for an ambitious and wider right to repair. The Commission has recognised more, not less. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Honourable Members, I am pleased to be with you for this debate about the proposal on promoting the repair of goods. This proposal is a major contribution to the Green Transition aiming to make a more attractive alternative to replacement.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, And together with other initiatives such as the adopted proposal on empowering consumers in the Green Transition and the proposal for Eco design on sustainable products regulations, it aims at ensuring an effective right to repair for consumers. It would encourage consumers to have products repaired and as a result use them for longer.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, I would like to thank the Parliament for its support to this important proposal and in particular the Rapporteur, Mr. René REPASI. I would like to express my gratitude for the work done in at all committees level and following a demanding timeline to make it possible the adoption of the proposal still within this Parliament to remind it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, The Commission welcomes the draft report, which supports the overall goal of our proposal. That is to make it easier for consumers to repair defective products. The Commission is pleased to see that the draft report maintains the key elements the proposal. We also note that on some elements the report goes further than the Commission, or on the contrary, falls short on certain provisions compared to the Commission's proposal. And in this context, let me highlight two important aspects.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Firstly, in order to meet consumers expectations about the right to repair goods on the market must be technically repairable. This is why the Commission proposal links the obligation to repair for producers with product specific repairability requirements under EU law. Such requirements are set, for example, in the ecodesign measures that regulate the design of the goods and availability of spare parts to make the repair. Technically and practically possible.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, 'The proposed obligation to repair would apply to the goods that are already subject to such requirements and as listed in Annexe two of the proposal annexe, which will continue to grow in the future. And in this context, we also welcome the co-legislators progress on the proposal on Ecodesign for sustainable product regulation. So by linking the manufacturers obligation towards consumers with their product related obligations, the right to repeal proposal creates a coherent legal framework for the business and consumers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Secondly, the Commission's proposal includes another important feature with the European Repair Information form. So, transparency and predictability are key for consumers. So, the repair form aims at giving consumers clear information in a standardised format on the overall costs and main parameters of repair that is valid for 30 days.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Having this information would enable consumers to look for alternatives offers from producers and other repairers. There would be increasing competition on the European market. The Commission does not consider that provision of the form would generate significant cost and burden for repairers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, From a legal point of view, by providing the form, repairers would ensure compliance with consumer information requirements that apply to them under the existing EU rules in any case. In addition, repairers could ask consumers to cover the necessary costs for inspecting the product and establishing the defect before providing the form if such costs arise.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Therefore, the Commission believes that the mandatory appeal form is a win win for all parties concerned. Finally, Commission would like to welcome the Parliament's support towards the establishment of national information platforms together with the repair information from such national platforms will help the consumers in their search for repairers to conclude.

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, To conclude, I'd like to thank again for your support to this file. The Commission hopes that we will start the trilogues as soon as possible, and once the Council has adopted its position, which should happen very soon. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Sunčana GLAVAK (EPP, HR), Rapporteur, Thank you Chair, as Rapporteur for the ENVI Committee, I can say that this proposal has a very important role when it comes to reaching our climate goals. 77% of consumers in the European Union would rather repair their products, but ultimately they need that to throw them away because there is no repair service available or the cost there is too high.

SOUNDBITE (Croatian), Sunčana GLAVAK (EPP, HR), Rapporteur, Our focus was on facilitating the procedure which will reduce the waste. We want to repair services to be more accessible for final consumers. It is also important to have available spare parts. I also believe that it is necessary to improve the repairer culture to conduct awareness raising measures at the national level. This way we support the rights of consumers, but also of SMEs, and we make our contribution to the repair service market. Thank you.