The European Commission has adopted a new set of rules on the right to repair which will add electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets to the list of goods that must be manufactured with the possibility of repair in mind.

The new rules will have to be negotiated between the European Parliament and the Member States before they can become law. Yes they are, they will change much more than the repairability requirements.

Stores selling consumer goods in the EU will have to offer free repairs within a statutory warranty period, unless it is cheaper to replace a damaged item.

In addition, the Directive adds a series of rights for the repair of devices outside the legal warranty periods that, according to the EC, will help make repair a better option than simply discarding a damaged product.

Under the new post-warranty rule, companies that make goods that the EU defines as subject to repairability requirements (for example, household appliances, commercial computing equipment, and soon phones and tablets) will be obligated to repair such items for a period of five to ten years after purchase if requested by the customer and repair is possible.

Equipment manufacturers must inform consumers about the products they are required to repair, and consumers can request a new repair information form from the person performing a repair that makes prices and fees more transparent.

The post-warranty repair rule also provides for the creation of a “repairer search platform” on-line for EU consumers and calls for the creation of a European redress standard that “Help consumers identify repairmen who are committed to higher quality.”

In addition to approving the rule on the right to reparation yesterday, the EC proposed a series of laws against “green wash” that would make it illegal to make green claims about a product without proof. This could be another area where Big Tech could struggle.