this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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Great in theory until companies start charging 80% of the product price for a single spare part so you'd rather buy a new product than try to repair your existing one.
This is also mentioned in the directive, and directives are legislative texts. The price may not be set so high as to deter repair.
In practice how does that work?
Let’s say they have replacement phone batteries that cost them $20 to make, does the EU limit their profit margins? Do they investigate to make sure it isn’t excessive? If the company tries to sell it for $50, is that too much?
No, the EU does not limit profit margins.
We are talking about legislative texts. These are the kind of texts that are interpreted in court. They don't specify details because they need to be universally applicable.
Let's interpret it like most would. A $50 replacement battery for a smartphone costing hundreds of dollars to replace does not deter repair and therefore is probably in line with the directive. A $50 dollar replacement battery for a $40 dumbphone does deter repair and such a scheme would therefore be illegal.
Depends on how it's done. If they have to make schematics and binaries available, it's different than having to provide parts at whatever cost they'd like.