BEUC comments following the Ecodesign consultation forum meeting on the repairability score for the tumble dryers of 11 March 2024

Giving clear, trustworthy and comparable information to consumers can facilitate identifying the most durable and repairable products on the market. A repair score, if designed and implemented appropriately, can be a good step in this direction, always in combination with strengthened product design and consumer rights
 

• BEUC welcomes the development of an EU repairability score for tumble dryers, as, if correctly implemented, it could be a useful information tool for consumers that currently lack any adequate means to compare the repairability of p ducts. However, we find the proposed calculations for a repair score extremely unambitious. 
• To effectively incentivise reparable design through a scoring system, the EU repairability score must take minimum Ecodesign requirements as a basis. The higher classes of the repairability score cannot simply match these minimum Ecodesign requirements. 
• The price of spare parts is a key criterion for an effective repair score, as cost of repair (including the cost of repair services, e.g. installation) is often the main driver influencing whether consumers choose to replace or repair a product. 
• For the score to be effective, it is important that the European Commission assesses how the repair score is understood by consumers. The scale of the repairability score for tumble dryers should match the one used for smartphones and tablets and other EU repairability scores under development (A-to-D), to avoid confusion among consumers.