Customers will get to choose between fixing and swapping their borked products during a liability period that sellers must offer.  The liability period is slated to be a minimum of two years before any extensions.

The 12-month extra is part of a deal between the Euro Parliament and Council on how to do the Euro Commission's right-to-repair rule that was passed in March 2023.

The Parliament and Council still need to say yes to the deal, which would then start 20 days after it is printed in the Official Journal of the European Union.

"Once agreed, the new rules will give a new 'right to repair' for customers, both inside and outside the legal promise, which will make it easier and cheaper for them to fix products instead of just binning them for new ones," the Euro Commission said.

The rules say spare parts have to be available at fair prices, and product makers will be banned from using "contractual, hardware or software related blocks to fix, such as stopping the use of second-hand, compatible and 3D-printed spare parts by independent fixers," the Commission said.

The new text "says manufacturers have to do the needed fixes in a reasonable time and, unless the service is free, for a reasonable price too, so that customers are keen to pick fix," the Euro Council said.

There will be options for customers to get fixes both before and after the minimum time runs out, the Commission added.