Overview
- The Bundestag approved the government bill on Thursday, June 25, putting Germany on course to transpose the EU right‑to‑repair directive into national law.
- The law creates a statutory claim to have specified electrical products repaired during their usual lifetimes, requires manufacturers to supply parts, bans repair‑blocking designs such as software locks, and extends the seller warranty by 12 months when a repair is carried out within the two‑year warranty period.
- The rules cover a defined list of devices — including smartphones (parts available for at least seven years) and washing machines (parts for at least ten years) — and let buyers demand repairs at a price the law calls “reasonable” without defining that term.
- Key details remain unresolved: the law needs Bundesrat approval and implementing regulations to set concrete price caps, maximum delivery times for parts, sanctions for non‑compliance and how the repair obligation will work in practice, concerns stressed by industry groups.
- Consumer groups say the law must be paired with measures that boost repair capacity and affordability, such as a manufacturer‑funded repair bonus or VAT cuts on repairs, while policymakers may look to France’s repair platform as a model.