According to polls carried out by the EU’s statistics office, 77 per cent of European citizens would rather repair their devices than buy new ones, while 79 per cent think that manufacturers should be legally obligated to make that practice more straightforward.
Last week, both those wishes became more likely.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s tech tsar, confirmed that the European Commission will next year publish its plan to offer citizens a ‘right to repair’ and that groups interested in the issue should now get in touch to help her staff draft the proposal.
“As for anything in the tech market, users shouldn't be locked in with one supplier. We should be free to choose which device we buy, the data we share, the apps we use and where we go when we need something to be fixed,” the European commissioner said.
Vestager used washing machines as an example of an appliance that consumers buy with its operating lifespan firmly in mind: “I don’t buy it for...