This was to be expected. The French durability index for smartphones, a measure provided for by the AGEC law of 2020, is dead and buried. In a letter addressed to the European Commission, spotted by the Contexte media, the French authorities explain that they have taken note of the detailed decision from Brussels criticizing the French measure. They indicate that they “will not proceed with the publication of the text in question, in order to take into account the Commission’s concerns in terms of the proper functioning of the internal market“.
Issued in November 2023, the European Commission’s opinion criticized the smartphone durability index provided for by French law due to its too close proximity to the European index. expected in 2025. Brussels judged that the coexistence of the two indices could create the “confusion regarding information provided to consumers“. Substantially weakened since then, the French sustainability index intended for this category of products will therefore never see the light of day, despite work well advanced. The measure remains current for washing machines and televisions.
Paris discreetly criticizes the European index
The Ministry of Economy and Finance as well as the Ministry of Ecological Transition still defend, post-mortem, the idea of a sustainability index © French for telephones. The government believes that the French measure “constitutes a different and complementary tool for the future energy labeling of smartphones and tablets provided for by Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council” because of “the nature and readability of the information provided” and “expanded spectrum of criteria contained in the sustainability index“.
Half-heartedly, Paris therefore underlines, like many French actors involved in the creation of this index, the lack of ambition of the European measure. The European index actually has much less bite on the issue of the price of spare parts, will arrive later than that planned in France and includes fewer restrictive rating criteria. .
In reaction, the Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association criticizes the “lax method” employed by Brussels on the subject, arguing that “the devil is always in the details“. In particular, the mention of “reasonable price“spare parts in the European text, a notion which is not strictly defined enough in the eyes of the association. The risk is, according to HOP, to end up with a measure which takes “greenwashing“since in fact, the reparation could be”financially inaccessible“with these new rules. The association nevertheless recognizes the relevance of harmonization on a European scale for “inform more than 450 million inhabitants about the sustainability of products“.
The European Commission remains firm
In order to save the furniture, Paris therefore proposes to “share your experience and [dâ]fuel reflections at European level on all these aspects.” The letter underlines the character of “co-construction of the project […] with stakeholders“and the work done so that”the administrative burden induced is reduced for companies and the implementation of the system is facilitated“. By way of response, the Commission limited itself to recalling France’s obligation.”to align national measures with possible future requirements when they are defined and become applicable“.
The smartphone durability index as such will therefore see the light of day, but will be quite different from what the French authorities and the various industry players had planned. And its entry into force is not likely to happen for a good year at least. The twists and turns of European construction got the better of the French initiative.