Right to Repair – things are happening in Europe

Sustainability and transparency are becoming increasingly important in business. With the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the EU is tightening reporting requirements for companies. This article provides an overview of the new requirements, the German Sustainability Code, and other developments, such as the EU energy label for the repairability of devices.

The CSR Directive Implementation Act

In the meantime, the European Union has started to move in this area. Already on October 22, 2014, the Parliament and the Council of the EU adopted the Directive 2014/95/EU on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information Information for European companies. With this directive, Company obligated for the first time to provide information regarding sustainability to publish their own business activities.

This European Directive on non-financial reporting (NFRD) has Germany with the CSR Directive Implementation Act in 2017 in implemented national law. For the time being, the reporting obligation only concerns certain Corporations. These are companies with more than 500 employees and the are considered large companies according to § 267 para. 3 sentence 1 HGB.

Starting from summer 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) the CSRD Implementation Act. The new directive expands the Reporting obligations clearly. It is also more clearly defined which Information that this report must contain. At its core are details about the the following six environmental objectives of the European Union:

1. Climate protection
2. Adaptation to climate change
3. Protection of water and marine resources
4. Transition to the circular economy
5. Combating environmental pollution
6. Preservation and restoration of biological diversity and ecosystems

Additionally, the report must include information on corporate governance and social aspects. From 2024, companies of public interest are subject to the reporting obligation. The definition of when a company belongs to this group is set out in the EU Directive 2013/34. This includes all listed companies, credit institutions, and insurance companies. Additionally, companies above a certain size must publish a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive annually. This initially applies to companies with a balance sheet total of more than 25 million euros, net turnover exceeding 50 million euros, or an average of more than 250 employees per year. From 2026, the reporting obligation will be further expanded. Then, the reporting obligation will apply to all companies with more than 50 employees, a balance sheet total of over five million euros, and net turnover of more than ten million euros. For the criteria, two of the three points must be met to trigger the reporting obligation.

What content must a report according to CSR or CSRD include?

The reports that companies have to prepare annually are intended to provide information about certain areas of business activity. One point concerns a Insight into the company's management concept. This is intended to provide information about the company's goals and strategies are given and how these Internal specifications are to be checked. Furthermore, it is important to reflect on whether it is in the past fiscal year succeeded in implementing the goals. In addition, Making companies visible, what impact due diligence processes have have. This concerns the immediate environment such as one's own employees, but also the supply chains as well as the environment. Accordingly, the companies are to disclose from which sources raw materials, semi-finished products, services, and all other products that flow into the own operation.

A central goal of the reporting obligation is to create public visibility for to ensure transparency in corporate structures. This is intended to clearly become, what impact the activities have on the environment. It is also about therefore, to improve human rights worldwide. At the same time, it aims to Reporting obligation aimed at preventing corruption. Through the disclosure of the Anyone can examine business activities to see which strategies the companies track and whether sustainability plays a role.

The German Sustainability Code as an option for more sustainability

The German Sustainability Code has existed since 2011 a transparency standard that companies on the way to more Sustainability supported. Participation in this code is voluntary and also includes a report that is published about the organization.

The German Sustainability Code defines a total of 20 criteria for the Report with specific indicators each, allowing for monitoring and adjustment of the Enable business activities. These are divided into the following four Categories on:

• Strategy
• Process management
• Environment
• Company

Within the categories, there are a number of points about which companies provide information in the report. These include, for example, the extent of the use of natural resources, energy consumption, and the proportion of recycling.

Human rights are also in focus. For example, companies report on the social impacts in the supply chain and what measures they take, to improve the situation in Third World countries.

The new EU energy label indicates repairability

Another step towards the circular economy and more sustainability is the new energy label of the EU. On November 18, 2022, the European Union the introduction of this labeling for smartphones and Tablets as well as some other telecommunications devices. The focus is here are the ecodesign requirements. Thus, the EU energy label shows on a scale from A to E, how easy a device is to repair. This gives you as a customer more options to choose a manufacturer who values Environment sets and allows you to repair a defective device. From 2025 this EU energy label will be introduced within the Union.

Right to Repair – when will there be a legal regulation?

Activist groups have been demanding a right to repair for some time is legally anchored or products that cannot be repaired no longer receive approval for the domestic market. Not yet a such legal requirement utopia, but the development is going in the right direction Direction. Until then, as a consumer, you still have other options to To protect the environment and promote more sustainability in everyday life. A One option is to deliberately opt for used technology or your old devices to put to a second, meaningful use.