Right to Repair in France: What Sellers Must Do

France has long been a front-runner on repairability, so the arrival of the EU-wide Right to Repair Directive (EU) 2024/1799 lands on ground that is already well prepared. The Directive entered into force on 30 July 2024, and Member States must transpose it into national law by 31 July 2026. For sellers into France, it adds a common EU layer on top of measures the country already applies.

This guide explains what the Directive introduces, how it interacts with France’s existing repairability rules, and what a store should watch for. For the wider framework, see our Right to Repair law page.

What the Directive introduces

The Directive creates a right to request repair from producers for goods covered by EU reparability requirements — a category that includes items such as smartphones and tablets, along with many household appliances. Importantly, this right can apply even after the legal guarantee has expired, extending the practical repairability of covered products.

Several supporting mechanisms come with it:

• A European Repair Information Form, giving consumers clear, comparable information about a repair — what it covers and what it costs.
• National online repair platforms to help consumers find repairers.
• A 12-month extension of the guarantee on a product that has been repaired under the guarantee.
• Restrictions on anti-repair practices that obstruct independent or self-repair.

How it sits alongside France’s repairability index

France already operates its own repairability index (indice de réparabilité), which scores certain products — such as smartphones, laptops and several appliance types — on how easy they are to repair, and displays that score to consumers at the point of sale. It has been evolving towards a broader durability index for some categories.

The EU Directive and the French index are distinct tools pulling in the same direction. The index is about informing the purchase decision with a repairability score; the Directive is about securing repair after purchase. A seller into France should expect to keep displaying index scores where required and, in due course, to accommodate the Directive’s repair-request and information duties as France transposes it.

Transposition is still pending

The precise national detail — how the repair-request right, the information form and the platform obligations are framed in French law — depends on transposition, which is still pending in France. Until that national text is finalised, the sensible course is to track developments and treat the Directive’s structure as the direction of travel rather than a fixed set of French rules.

France already scores repairability at the point of sale; the EU Directive adds a right to repair after it. Both point the same way — but the national detail awaits transposition.

A practical checklist for the French market

• Keep displaying the French repairability index score where it is required for your products.
• Identify which of your goods fall under EU reparability requirements (for example smartphones, tablets, many appliances).
• Prepare for repair-request handling and the European Repair Information Form as France transposes the Directive.
• Review your terms for any anti-repair practices that may fall foul of the new rules.

If you would like a structured review of how your store handles repairability information for French buyers, our PrestaShop compliance audit checks your product information against the applicable rules.

This article is educational and does not constitute legal advice.