EU approves freedom of choice for visible repair spare parts
The Council of the European Union (EU) has voted in favour of the ‘Repairs Clause’ for visible must-match replacement parts, by adopting the European Commission proposals for a revision of the Design Directive and Design Regulation.
After more than three-decades, this vote puts an end to a non-harmonised situation of conflicting national legislations, by giving all European consumers the freedom to repair their vehicles with the spare parts of their choice, by avoiding deleterious visible spare parts monopolies.
The EU Repairs Clause will apply on all new products as from 2024. But due to diverging positions among the EU Member States, the negotiators had to strike a compromise on the timelines. For eight years following the entry into force of the Directive, design protection on visible repair spare parts will still be allowed in Member States that had not yet liberalised their national markets when the law was adopted, for existing products with registered designs before the date of entry into force of the Directive. This means that some of the already existing products will not benefit from the Repairs Clause in some countries until 2032.
Since its creation in 1993, the ECAR (the European Campaign for the Freedom of the Automotive Parts and Repair Market), has been advocating for the adoption of a European Repairs Clause which provides to all citizens a real, open and affordable ‘right to choose’.
Already existing in several Member States, the Repair Clause gives vehicle manufacturers full protection over the design of their new cars, but it ensures that this protection is not extended to the corresponding visible spare parts (such as car body panels, headlamps and windscreens). This means that these parts may freely be produced, distributed and used for repair purposes in the aftermarket.
“We welcome the vote of the Council,” said Sylvia Gotzen, chief executive of FIGIEFA. “In a truly circular economy, consumers should always be allowed to select the spare parts of their choice when repairing their products, regardless of the original brand or supplier. This reform will ensure that intellectual protection laws can no longer be misused in the aftermarket to impose unfair and unjustified monopolies on visible repair spare parts through an undue extension of design rights, which are legitimate on primary products, but lead to monopolies in the aftermarket where no design alternatives exist for vehicle-body-related spare (must-match) spare parts.”
FIGIEFA expects the EU Repair Clause to bring significant social and economic benefits. Once fully applied, experts predict that European consumers in the automotive sector will save between €450 million and €720 million annually thanks to increased competition, thus improving purchasing power and countering inflation. It will stimulate job creation and entrepreneurship in the European automotive aftermarket that counts for more than 500,000 SMEs and 4.5 million jobs.