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In DepthIn negotiations surrounding crucial texts like the ecodesign directive, battery regulation and the right to repair, environmental organizations struggle due to insufficient resources and the complex workings of the institutions.
Industry lobbies were on the lookout. At the end of 2023, when France submitted its draft sustainability index for smartphones to Europe, the text was challenged by three industry representatives, including the French Alliance of Digital Technology Industries (AFNUM), which includes Apple and Samsung. The lobbies chose a discreet channel to do so: the European Commission’s TRIS (Technical Regulation Information System) site, where national laws that run counter to EU laws can be denounced.
Their legal arguments were revealing: They claimed the French project “runs counter to free trade,” “violates trade secrets” and “fragments the market.” These three reasons were drawn from the European Union’s pro-business regulatory arsenal, which was built around the defense of trade. In 2024, EU institutions will see their hallways lined with posters celebrating 30 years of the free market to mark the occasion. It’s not uncommon for industrialists to rely on this rich legal corpus to get environmental laws scrapped, according to a report by the lobbying watchdog NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).
Sustainability campaigners, on the other hand, are not fighting back, and for good reason: They haven’t seen the lobbies’ contribution. Neither the British pro-repair NGO Restart nor the French NGO Stop Programmed Obsolescence (HOP) nor the repair aid company iFixit, a motley coalition whose troops are too sparse to monitor everything. “The most complicated thing is knowing what you can’t see,” said Thomas Opsomer, iFixit’s advocacy officer.
The Commission eventually rejected the French text based on arguments close to those of AFNUM, nipping the smartphone reparability index in the bud, and leaving only the less ambitious European label in place.
Three European texts aimed at extending the life of our electronic devices have been at the mercy of this kind of skirmish in recent years: The Ecodesign Directive (which encourages manufacturers to design sustainable devices), Battery Regulation and the Right to Repair Directive. All are now close to being finalized but are deemed highly flawed, albeit encouraging, by campaigners. “It’s not worthy of the climate emergency,” said Ospomer.
According to environmentalists, the main reason for this is industry opposition. Their lobbies are very active in the working meetings of the Commission, the key institution that draws up directives, as well as at the Joint Research Center, the public research consultancy that draws up legislation for the Commission. These meetings are attended by industry federations and major brands such as Samsung, Apple, Sony, Xiaomi, Epson and Bosch. Their representatives are engineers who know each targeted product by heart, public relations consultants and lawyers, “some of whom excel in the art of inserting holes in regulations,” said Catriona McAlister, a technical expert frequently commissioned by NGOs.
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