Germany's Right to Repair draft law — what the Bundestag bill means and what comes next

The bill in one paragraph

On 13 May 2026 the German Federal Government formally submitted Drucksache 21/5923 to the Bundestag — the Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie (EU) 2024/1799 zur Förderung der Reparatur von Waren (Draft Act implementing the Right to Repair Directive). The bill is the German transposition of EU Directive 2024/1799 and must be in force by 31 July 2026, the deadline set in Article 22 of the Directive. It is led by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) and was signed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Why now

The Directive follows a full-harmonisation approach (Article 16(2)(b) and (c)): Member States cannot legislate stricter or looser consumer protection rules unless the Directive explicitly allows it. That means Germany — and every other Member State — has very little room to manoeuvre. The bill therefore implements the EU text one-to-one ("Eins-zu-eins-Umsetzung"), a point the Federal Government explicitly highlights in the cost section.

What the bill actually changes in German law

The transposition happens primarily through changes to two cornerstone statutes:

• Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) — the German Civil Code
• Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche (EGBGB) — the Introductory Act to the BGB

1. Repair preferred over replacement in the warranty

The sales-of-goods warranty rules (Verbrauchsgüterkauf) are amended so that consumers are nudged toward repair rather than replacement during Nacherfüllung (cure of defects). The key incentive: if the consumer chooses repair, the legal warranty period is extended by 12 months for the repaired item. This implements Article 16 of the Directive via the Sale of Goods Directive (EU) 2019/771.

2. A new repair obligation outside the warranty

A new sub-title is inserted into the BGB creating a manufacturer obligation to repair — even after the legal guarantee has expired — for the products listed in Annex II of the Directive (washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, vacuum cleaners, displays, welding equipment, servers, mobile phones and tablets, etc.). This implements Article 5 of the Directive. Manufacturers must repair at a reasonable price, cannot block independent repairers via software locks or contractual restrictions, and must make spare parts and repair information available.

3. The European Repair Information Form (ERIF) goes into the EGBGB

The Europäisches Formular für Reparaturinformationen — the standardised, binding repair quote that repairers can voluntarily provide to consumers — is added to the EGBGB. This implements Article 4 of the Directive and gives consumers a comparable, transparent breakdown of price, duration, parts, and conditions before they commit to a repair.

4. Non-legislative measures handled by the Government

Two parts of the Directive are not in the bill itself, because they don't need primary legislation:

• The European Online Repair Platform (Articles 7–9) — to be operational in 2027
• Other repair-promoting measures under Article 13

The Federal Government will implement these through administrative measures and report them to the European Commission.

Sources

• Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 21/5923 — Gesetzentwurf der Bundesregierung: Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie (EU) 2024/1799 zur Förderung der Reparatur von Waren, 13 May 2026.
• Letter from Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, 13 May 2026 (Drucksache 21/5923, p. 4).
• Stellungnahme des Bundesrates, 1,065th sitting, 8 May 2026 (Annex 3 to Drucksache 21/5923).
• Stellungnahme des Nationalen Normenkontrollrates gemäß § 6 Absatz 1 NKRG (Annex 2 to Drucksache 21/5923).
• Directive (EU) 2024/1799 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on common rules promoting the repair of goods, OJ L, 10.7.2024.
• Directive (EU) 2019/771 (Sale of Goods Directive).