EU right to repair: who must repair what from 31 July 2026, and who carries it outside the EU

If you make a product on the Annex II list and sell it into the EU, then from 31 July 2026 a consumer in the EU can ask you to repair it, and the Directive sets the price, the time and the rules on spare parts. If you are outside the EU, the Directive puts the duty on your authorised representative in the EU, or failing one your importer, or failing that your distributor. A seller of any consumer goods to the EU is also affected by the guarantee change: a repair extends the seller’s liability by 12 months, unless your customer’s country uses the option in Article 10(5a)Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)Article 10, paragraph 5aClick opens the article on EUR-Lex. of the Sale of Goods Directive to guarantee a period at least equivalent to three years.

What you do:

1. Check your product against the list of eleven groups below. A product outside the list carries no repair duty under this Directive (Art. 1(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 1, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
2. Find your role. If you make the product, or have it made, and sell it under your name or trademark, you are its manufacturer (Art. 2(42)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 42Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 2(5)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 2, point 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). If you are outside the EU, the repair duty passes to your EU authorised representative, then to your importer, then to your distributor (Art. 5(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
3. Decide who in the EU repairs for you. The Directive does not oblige you to appoint a representative. If you have none, the duty falls on your importer, and with no importer on your distributor. You may sub-contract the repair (Art. 5(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 5(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
4. Whoever carries the duty publishes information on its repair services, free, for as long as the duty lasts, and a free website with indicative prices for typical repairs (Art. 5(5)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 6Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
5. If you make spare parts or tools available, price them so that repair is not deterred. Take out clauses and hardware or software techniques that impede repair, unless a legitimate and objective factor justifies them (Art. 5(4)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 5(6)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Germany’s text has no “if you make them available” condition: see the German section below.
6. Do not refuse a repair because someone else repaired the good before (Art. 5(7)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
7. If you sell to EU consumers, then for contracts concluded from 31 July 2026, tell the consumer before you repair or replace that the consumer can choose between repair and replacement and that a repair may extend the liability period (Art. 16Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 21Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 21Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Do nothing, and each EU country’s penalties for breaking its national rules apply. The Directive sets no amount. It requires penalties to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Art. 15Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 15Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

EU countries apply the rules from 31 July 2026, and some dates run to 2027

Annex II lists eleven groups of goods, and the duty reaches them only to the extent the listed act requires repairability

The manufacturer’s duty to repair covers goods “for which, and to the extent that, repairability requirements are provided for by Union legal acts listed in Annex II” (Art. 5(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 1(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 1, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Directive defines repairability requirements as requirements under those acts that enable a good to be repaired, including easy disassembly and access to spare parts, repair information and tools (Art. 2(11)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 2, point 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Recital 21 explains the logic: the duty is limited to goods that are “repairable by design”.

Point 11 is new. The Commission added it because Regulation (EU) 2024/1103 sets repairability requirements for local space heaters, and the Directive requires the Commission to update Annex II within 12 months of a new act of this kind (Art. 5(9)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 9Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.; recitals 2 and 3 of Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/74). Most of the acts on the list are ecodesign regulations, which is where the repairability requirements come from.

A manufacturer outside the EU is replaced by its authorised representative, then the importer, then the distributor

The Directive says the duty applies to manufacturers established outside the Union, for goods placed on the Union market (recital 15). Recital 20 gives the aim: consumers should be able to turn to an economic operator based in the EU. Article 5(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. sets the sequence:

Each of the three can sub-contract the repair (Art. 5(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The manufacturer who sub-contracts, and a representative, importer or distributor who does, stays responsible for the duty (recital 17).

Who these roles are. The Directive takes its definitions from the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Art. 2(6)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 2, point 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 2(7)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 2, point 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 2(8)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 2, point 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.):

• The manufacturer is a person who makes a product or has it designed or made, and markets it under their own name or trademark (Art. 2(42)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 42Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A brand owner that has a factory make the product is the manufacturer.
• The authorised representative is a person based in the EU with a written mandate from the manufacturer to act on its behalf for specified tasks under the Regulation (Art. 2(43)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 43Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• The importer is a person based in the EU that places a product from a third country on the Union market (Art. 2(44)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• The distributor is a person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, that makes a product available on the market (Art. 2(45)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 45Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The definition asks for a written mandate for specified tasks. The Directive gives no model mandate and does not say whether a mandate written for product safety covers repair, so the tasks named in the mandate decide. What an EU Responsible Person is under GPSR is on its own page, and the difference between the two roles is on EU responsible person vs authorised representative.

A non-EU manufacturer with nobody in the EU stays bound, but the Directive does not say how that is enforced

Article 5(3) names three operators. Two of them are defined as based in the EU: the authorised representative and the importer (Art. 2(43)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 43Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 2(44)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 44Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The distributor’s definition carries no such words (Art. 2(45)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationArticle 2, point 45Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). When a manufacturer outside the EU ships a good to a consumer in the EU and has no representative, importer or distributor there, the manufacturer itself stays bound: recital 15 says the duty applies to manufacturers established both inside and outside the Union for goods placed on the Union market, and Article 5(1)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. sets no condition on where the manufacturer is established. Article 5(3)Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. adds the EU operators where they exist. The Directive does not say whether an online marketplace counts as a distributor. EU countries must provide adequate and effective means to enforce the Directive (Art. 11(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 11, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Directive does not say how that reaches a manufacturer outside the EU, and that is the open point.

The repair itself is free or at a reasonable price, within a reasonable time

The repair under Article 5(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. follows these conditions (Art. 5(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.):

• Price. Free of charge, or for a reasonable price. The Directive gives no figure. Recital 16 says the price may reflect labour, spare parts, the cost of running the repair facility and a customary margin, and is reasonable if it is set so that consumers are not intentionally deterred from using the duty.
• Time. Within a reasonable period from the moment the manufacturer has physical possession of the good, has received it or has been given access to it. No number of days is given.
• Loan. The manufacturer may lend a replacement good for the duration of the repair, free or for a reasonable fee.
• When repair is impossible. The manufacturer is not obliged to repair, and may offer a refurbished good (Art. 5(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 5(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Recital 24 says the manufacturer should not be able to refuse for purely economic reasons, such as the cost of spare parts. Recital 16 says the price and conditions are agreed in a contract with the consumer, and the consumer decides whether they are acceptable. The consumer is free to use any repairer (Art. 5(8)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Spare parts and tools have a reasonable price, and anti-repair practices are limited

These rules apply to goods covered by the Union acts in Annex II, and Article 5(6)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. is “without prejudice to the specific requirements” of those acts and to intellectual property law (Art. 5(6)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Directive does not say how long spare parts must be available. That period sits in the listed act.

The European Repair Information Form is voluntary for repairers

Repairers “may” give the consumer the European Repair Information Form set out in Annex I (Art. 4(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A repairer is anyone providing a repair service in the course of a trade or business, including manufacturers and sellers (Art. 2(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 2, point 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). If a repairer provides it:

• It is on a durable medium, within a reasonable time after the request and before the consumer is bound by a repair contract (Art. 4(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• It is free. A repairer may charge for a diagnostic service needed to identify the defect, the type of repair and the price, and must tell the consumer the cost (Art. 4(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 4(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• It states the repairer’s identity and contact details, the good, the defect and the repair suggested, the price or the way it is calculated with a maximum price, the time to repair, whether a temporary replacement is available and at what cost, where the good is handed over, any ancillary services such as removal, installation and transport and their cost, how long the form is valid, and any additional information (Art. 4(4)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• The conditions hold for 30 calendar days from the day the form was provided, or longer if agreed. If the consumer accepts within that period, the repairer must perform the repair on those conditions (Art. 4(5)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).
• A complete and accurate form counts as meeting certain information duties on the main features of the service, the repairer’s identity, the price and the arrangements for performing it, under the Consumer Rights Directive, the Services Directive and the E-commerce Directive (Art. 4(6)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

A manufacturer or its representative has no duty to issue the form. Recital 14 says that once a repairer decides to provide it and the consumer accepts, the repairer is obliged to repair.

The European online platform for repair is due by 31 July 2027, and the Commission expects it to be live in January 2028

The Commission builds the common interface of a European online platform for repair by 31 July 2027, and its legislation page says the platform is foreseen to become operational in January 2028. EU countries use it for their national sections or link a national platform that covers the whole country (Art. 7(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 7, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 7(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 7, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 7(3)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 7, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Use is free for consumers and registration is voluntary for repairers (Art. 7(5)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 7, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Consumers can search by good, location, cross-border service, repair conditions and quality standards, and can request the Form from repairers that offer it (Art. 7(6)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 7, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The Sale of Goods Directive change: a repair extends the seller’s liability by 12 months, unless the country uses the three-year option

Article 16Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of the Right-to-Repair Directive amends the Sale of Goods Directive, Directive (EU) 2019/771Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)The whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office.. The seller is liable for a lack of conformity that existed on delivery and becomes apparent within two years (Art. 10(1)Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)Article 10, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A seller is anyone acting for purposes relating to a trade, business, craft or profession in relation to the contract (Art. 2(3)Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)Article 2, point 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). These are the changes that matter to you as a seller:

The consumer chooses between repair and replacement, unless the chosen remedy is impossible or would cost the seller disproportionately compared to the other (Art. 13(2)Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)Article 13, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The extension happens only if the good is repaired as the remedy. A replacement does not trigger it under EU law (Art. 10(2a)Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)Article 10, paragraph 2aClick opens the article on EUR-Lex.); a country may set a longer period (Art. 10(3)Directive (EU) 2019/771, Sale of Goods Directive (consolidated text of 31 July 2026)Article 10, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Germany has put the duty into its civil code, and nine other countries have notified measures

Status on 5 October 2026, from the national measures notified to the Commission. Germany passed a law of 16 July 2026 (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 212) that inserts §§ 479a to 479g into the Civil Code (BGB). Nine more countries have notified measures: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania and Slovakia. France has notified none. The other countries show no notified measure yet. A notification list can lag the law, so a country not on it may still have passed one. For the other countries the Directive itself is the text to read.

The German text, in the Civil Code on gesetze-im-internet.de:

• Scope. Goods in Annex II groups that a consumer bought and for which the consumer has no rights under the sales warranty of § 437 (§ 479a).
• Repair. The manufacturer must repair on request, within a reasonable time, free or for a reasonable fee. The claim exists “solange und soweit” the manufacturer must ensure repairability under the listed acts, and not where repair is actually or legally impossible (§ 479b(1) to (3)).
• Spare parts. § 479c says the manufacturer “hat” to offer spare parts and repair tools at a reasonable price that does not deter repair. It has no “if you make them available” condition.
• Anti-repair techniques. Hardware or software techniques that impede repair are barred unless legitimate and objective factors justify them, and independent repairers may use original, second-hand, compatible and 3D-printed parts (§ 479e).
• Manufacturer outside the EU. The duties of the whole repair subtitle pass to the manufacturer’s representative in the EU, then to the importer, then to the distributor (§ 479f).
• 12 more months. Where repair is done as the remedy under § 439, the original limitation period for claims for that defect is lengthened once by 12 months (§ 475e(5)). The text speaks of the limitation period and names no start date for the 12 months. The Directive’s recital 40 says the 12 months are added to the remaining period.

What happens if you do nothing

The Directive fixes no fine. Each country writes its own penalties for breaches of the national rules that carry Articles 4Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., 5Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. and 6Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., and they must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Art. 15Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 15Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). One or more of the following bodies, as national law determines, can take action before courts or administrative bodies: public bodies, organisations with a legitimate interest in protecting consumers or the environment, and professional organisations with a legitimate interest (Art. 11(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 11, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A contract term that cuts the consumer’s rights under the national rules is not binding on the consumer (Art. 14(1)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 14, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A repairer may offer better terms (Art. 14(2)Directive (EU) 2024/1799, Right-to-Repair DirectiveArticle 14, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).