Main Article Content

Francisco López Bermúdez
Grupo ICEDE, Departamento de Economía Aplicada. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avda. Burgo das Nacións s/n, Spain
Spain
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1806-5746
Biography
Xavier Vence
Grupo ICEDE, Departamento de Economía Aplicada. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avda. Burgo das Nacións s/n, Spain
Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1263-5455
Vol 33 No 2 (2024): Special Issue. Circular economy, sustainability and degrowth, Articles, pages 1-24
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15304/rge.33.2.9429
Submitted: 06-10-2023 Accepted: 13-06-2024 Published: 23-08-2024
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Abstract

The European Commission has recently launched a proposal for a Directive to promote repair. In this paper we critically analyse the drafting process in order to understand the resulting policy options. We consider that although the ambition of the Directive was low from the beginning given the limited policy options, it became even worse during the consultation period. The selection of barriers to repair was limited, and manufacturers pushed for a narrow and closed form of Right-to-Repair (R2R) that transferred all control over the potentially emerging repair market to them. Some information measures were proposed so as to increase transparency, potentially increasing the administrative burden on independent repairers, along with measures to encourage repair when under legal guarantee. This Directive fails to promote repair or help independent repairers overcome access barriers, nor does it allow member states to go beyond the limits imposed in the Directive itself.

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