The entry into force of new EU rules introducing minimum repairability requirements and repair scores for smartphones and tablets mark a significant step toward improving the circularity of the sector. However, industry pushback has successfully blocked more ambitious measures that would have ensured genuine user-repairability. The Right to Repair Europe coalition remains committed to pushing for stronger rights and fairer practices.
The good news: we are getting closer to 7 year devices and there will be more transparency on repairability upon sale
The regulation brings promising developments. Manufacturers will be required to provide access to repair and maintenance information, as well as spare parts, to professional repairers and end-users for at least seven years after a product is removed from the market. Software updates will need to be available for at least five years.
In terms of durability, smartphones must now withstand at least 45 accidental drops without losing functionality. Additionally, batteries must retain at least 80% of their original capacity after 800 charging cycles.
Starting on the 20th of June 2025, a new EU-wide energy label for smartphones and tablets will be introduced. This label will, for the first time, assess not just energy efficiency but also reliability, durability, and repairability. While this should help guide consumers toward longer-lasting and more repairable devices, we regret that the label will not include the cost of spare parts. This element is included in the French repair index – which is now abolished for smartphones, as it will be for any product covered by a European repair label in the future – and crucial for real consumer awareness.
Barriers remain: cost, software locks, screen-replaceability and limited part access
Despite the positive steps, many opportunities for meaningful progress were missed.
One major concern is the cost of spare parts. Under the new rules, manufacturers must only provide indicative pre-tax prices, meaning that they are not required to actually stick to the declared prices. This is a missed opportunity for real transparency on parts prices. The Right to Repair Europe coalition will continue advocating for fair pricing and more accurate repairability scores, particularly as future repair indexes for laptops and other devices are developed.
Another significant issue is the continued use of part pairing, a software practice that restricts repairs by linking individual components to a specific device. This allows manufacturers to block independent repairs or disable certain functionalities if non-original parts are used. Although we called for a complete ban on this practice, it remains permitted under the new regulation. Once the rules are in place, any replacement of key components will require professional repairers or refurbishers to notify the manufacturer and request repair authorisation. This limits the ability of both end-users and repair professionals to use non-OEM parts and may reduce the functionality of replaced components.
The regulation mandates that manufacturers make 15 types of spare parts available to professional repairers. However, only five parts will be accessible to end-users and community repair initiatives such as repair cafés. This list excludes important components like camera assemblies and external audio connectors. Furthermore, if manufacturers meet certain durability thresholds for batteries, they will not need to make batteries accessible to consumers.
One particularly disappointing outcome concerns screen repair. While displays must still be made available to end-users, a last-minute correction means that in the end they don’t need to be user-replaceable with basic tools as was the case in the text as originally voted and published. Instead, the final – more lenient – requirements merely mandate replaceability by professionals using commercially available tools (which could very well be quite expensive), in a workshop setting. This change undermines accessibility and essentially maintains the status quo, falling short of driving any real ecodesign innovation.
Despite these setbacks, it’s important to remember that this regulation would not have seen the light of day without the relentless efforts of our coalition, its partners, and supporters. While we welcome its entry into force, our work is far from over. Close monitoring of its implementation will be essential, especially regarding compliance and real-world impact. Some changes should be visible immediately: repairability labels ought to be displayed on all existing models available in stores, even those released before the 20th of June 2025, and manufacturers should already publish indicative spare parts price lists online.
These new rules fall under the Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2023/1670, which applies to cellular phones, cordless phones, and tablets. At the same time, the European Commission issued Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1669, establishing energy labeling requirements. For more information, please visit: Ecodesign requirements for smartphones & tablets (corrective act to Regulation (EU) 2023/1670)
Contact: Cristina Ganapini – info@repair.eu