New EU-wide product repair rules come into force

> According to the European Commission, the new rules are expected to bring €4.8 billion in growth and investment within the EU.

The source of this number seems to come from here, on page 73:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELE...

Interestingly, the number is over a span of 15 years, and is only the calculated "Growth and investment".

Other numbers are "Savings in production costs" at €15.6 billion, and "Consumer savings" at 25€ per consumer per year for an impressive total of €176.5 billion.

It also lists "Business adjustment costs" at €8.1 billion, "Business administrative costs" at just €69.8 million and "Implementation and enforcement" at €105.5 million.

I wonder why "Growth and investment" was chosed as the number to use. Maybe to keep emphasising their gist of "the EU is the future for sustainable growth"?

Also, here are the announcements by the Commission:

https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/right-repai...

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/right-to-repair-...

I live in a rich European country. This is not Shenzhen. The, very scarce, technically inclined people who know how to repair a vacuum cleaner or electronic toothbrush can get a real job with an hourly rate that makes repairs economically unfeasible.

Repair cafes are nice hobby projects for pensionados but it is not going to move the needle.

> including a repair obligation for manufacturers of certain products

Unfortunately regulations often don't go far enough.

I have a ~10 year old iPad Pro in perfect working condition. I can basically do nothing with it, and increasingly it can no longer even browse the internet because Safari is so outdated on it.

So it will be waste.

See similar story about Amazon bricking old Kindles: https://www.techradar.com/tablets/ereaders/amazon-bricking-c...

But, this regulation is still a tiny step in the right direction.

Great, now require it for software.

[dead]

Good luck to hardware startups in Europe! For every developer now a company needs one technical writer or compliance specialist. That basically means that all small everyday electronics products will come from overseas. Either because it’s cheaper or it’s cheaper and nobody cares about certification.