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The EU Just Made It Illegal to Refuse to Fix Your Stuff

By Stefano September 27, 2026 5 min read

Europe’s most ambitious consumer protection law since GDPR is quietly reshaping how manufacturers think about the products they sell — and what happens when those products break.

Every year, Europeans discard millions of tonnes of repairable electronics. The EU’s Right to Repair Directive, passed this summer and now in force across all 27 member states, is designed to stop that waste — 35 million tonnes of it — by making repair the path of least resistance.

What’s actually changing

  • Choosing repair during a product’s legal guarantee period automatically extends that protection by at least 12 months — a meaningful incentive to patch rather than pitch.
  • After the warranty expires, manufacturers must still repair a defined list of goods on request: washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, TVs, smartphones, tablets, vacuum cleaners, tumble dryers, servers, welding equipment, and e-bike and e-scooter batteries.
  • Companies can no longer turn down repair requests because parts are pricey, an independent shop previously opened the device, or the owner attempted a DIY fix. The only valid excuse? Repair is genuinely impossible.
  • Consumers unhappy with a refusal can escalate to national authorities, which are required to enforce “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” penalties.

The catch

Repairs won’t be free — manufacturers can still charge reasonable rates for parts and labour. To help consumers navigate pricing, Brussels is rolling out a standardised repair information form. By 2027, a free online repair platform will let shoppers compare deals.

Notably absent from the list: laptops, gaming consoles, and furniture. But regulators have signalled the covered categories will expand over time.

What’s next…

The directive puts pressure squarely on manufacturers to redesign products with repairability in mind — not just to comply with the law, but to compete on it. Brands that make repair easy could turn it into a selling point. Those that drag their feet risk fines and a customer base that’s increasingly been told they have rights.

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Author
Stefano