More than a year after the EU's repairability rules for smartphones and tablets took effect, over 80% of new devices still fail to provide the mandatory repair information, according to campaign group Right to Repair Europe. Manufacturers are required to publish a self-assessed repairability score along with links to spare parts pricing and repair instructions, but the group's review found widespread non-compliance, with some non-compliant brands nonetheless awarding themselves top repairability grades. This matters because it undermines a flagship EU consumer protection measure and raises doubts about whether self-reported compliance schemes can be trusted without proper enforcement.

Of 2,334 smartphone model records checked in the EU's Product Registry for Energy Labelling, only about 18% listed a working link to repair information, while roughly half left the required URL field blank and 19% pointed to irrelevant pages; some even directed customers to Temu or AliExpress. Spare parts prices were often listed with absurdly wide ranges, such as €14 to €128 for a replacement battery, and even compliant links from major brands like Apple and Samsung could be hard to navigate. Right to Repair Europe is calling for better enforcement and greater transparency around how repairability scores are calculated, while the EU is set to introduce further rules from February requiring user-replaceable batteries in most new mobile devices.