CSR - Planned obsolescence in Europe

 LEGISLATION/POLICIES

1/ Overall, no binding law regulates planned obsolescence

In the United-States, there is no specific federal or State law prohibiting planned obsolescence. Nonetheless, consumers are protected by other laws. For example, mandated warranties may be imposed and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has the power to issue durability standards as well as enforce several federal laws if a consumer is harmed by a dangerous product. However planned obsolescence is not regulated by laws. This is probably linked to the freedom of activities that companies have in the United States

Moreover, under the U.S. Code §45 deceptive or unfair business practices are unlawful. The latter wrongfully harm consumers or other businesses. In the context of planned obsolescence, one could argue that forcing consumers to buy a new product by rendering the current product defective at a given time economically harms them.

In Belgium, Parliament has adopted a resolution which recommands to write the lifespan directly on the product.

In Germany, Green Party report advocate to :

• set minimum standards for repairing products showing signs of planned obsolescence.
• companies to provide consumers with instructions for repairing the products as needed and keeping spare parts available for purchase
• future products include information on labels mentioning the length of an item’s “expected useful life.”

EUROPE level: 

EU resolution aims to comprehensively limit "planned obsolescence"

In 2018, The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling on the European Commission (the EU's civil service) to craft rules that will severely limit planned obsolescence in electronics by forcing manufacturers to design products to facilitate repair by third parties, extend first-part warranties, warrant and support software, label products with an estimate of their overall life-expectancy, and publicly track and disclose how long products last in the field before breaking down.

The European Parliament also hopes the resolution will also stimulate job creation, because it should result in more independent repair services. The second-hand market should also benefit from the resolution, because products will get a new lease on life.

Although awareness of planned obsolence has begun, it remains recommendations and not constraints. Even for Europe, work is under way, but no European legislation exists.

2/ The French exception

France is an exception: In 2015, as part of a larger movement against planned obsolescence across the European Union, France has passed legislation requiring that appliance manufacturers and vendors:

• declare the intended product lifespans
• inform consumers how long spare parts for a given product will be produced

From 2016, appliance manufacturers are required to :

• repair or replace, free of charge, any defective product within two years from its original purchase date. This effectively creates a mandatory two-year warranty.

Ccl: Planned obsolescence has became an offense punishable by 2 years of jail, 300 000 or in some cases 5% of annual profits for a company

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