France Criminalises Planned Obsolescence
France has formally criminalised planned obsolescence under its Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law (Loi AGEC). Companies proven to be deliberately shortening product lifespans or making goods unnecessarily difficult to repair can be fined up to 5% of annual turnover, with potential prison sentences of up to two years for executives. The law specifically names domestic appliances as in scope. While it currently applies only in France, the legislation provides a working template that could be adopted across the EU and, in time, the UK.
What has France actually done?
The French Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law – known as the AGEC Law (Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire) – is now fully in force after a phased implementation that began in 2020. Among its many provisions, the law makes deliberate planned obsolescence a criminal offence for the first time anywhere in the world.
Under the legislation, manufacturers can face heavy fines and individual executives can face prison if their company is proven to have engaged in practices that artificially shorten the useful life of a product. The law specifically targets components or products made impossible to repair, including those where critical parts are permanently glued, welded, or otherwise bonded together without a justified technical reason.
The law explicitly names domestic appliances and white goods as within scope, alongside the electronics, phones, tablets, and IT equipment that the headlines have mostly focused on. Spare parts must be available for at least five years and must be supplied within 15 days of order.
What are the AGEC law penalties at a glance?
Maximum fixed fine for planned obsolescence
Of annual turnover – if higher than the fixed fine
Maximum prison sentence for executives
Minimum parts availability and delivery window
Why does this matter for the appliance industry?
Several practices that are widely considered routine in the modern appliance industry are now potentially exposed to criminal liability in France. The four design choices below stand out as the most exposed under the AGEC framework.
The shift to welded plastic outer tubs that cannot be split for bearing replacement is now standard across almost the entire mainstream UK washing machine market. Whether this design constitutes planned obsolescence under French law has not yet been tested in court, but the design choice is exactly the kind of permanently bonded assembly the AGEC law was written to address. See our detailed analysis in sealed drum vs split tub washing machines.
Several manufacturers foam temperature sensors permanently into the inner wall of the refrigerator cabinet, where they cannot be replaced when they fail. The components themselves cost only a few pounds, but the design renders them effectively non-serviceable – leading to whole-appliance replacement when a low-value part fails.
The refrigerant unit at the heart of a heat pump tumble dryer is typically only available as a complete sealed assembly costing more than half the price of the entire dryer. When the unit fails, the economic decision in most cases is to replace the whole dryer rather than the part. For context on heat pump dryer ownership generally, see our heat pump vs vented vs condenser tumble dryers guide.
Components for relatively recent appliances frequently become unavailable from manufacturers within just a few years of the appliance leaving production. The AGEC law sets a hard minimum of five years for spare parts availability – shorter than UK Right to Repair regulations require for white goods, but enforced with criminal rather than civil-only sanctions.
How does the French AGEC law compare to the UK Right to Repair?
The two frameworks share goals but differ sharply in scope, enforcement, and consequences. The table below summarises the key contrasts for white goods.
| Provision | UK Right to Repair | French AGEC Law |
|---|---|---|
| Planned obsolescence as an offence | Not directly criminalised | Criminal offence – prison and fines available |
| Minimum spare parts availability | 7 to 10 years (white goods, after last sale) | 5 years minimum, all categories in scope |
| Parts supply commitment | No fixed delivery window | 15 days from order |
| Maximum penalty | Civil enforcement, varying penalties | €300,000 fine or 5% of annual turnover, whichever is higher |
| Personal liability for executives | Not specified | Up to 2 years in prison |
| Targets sealed / bonded designs | No direct provision | Yes – explicitly targets unjustified bonded assemblies |
| Repairability index / scoring | Not currently required | Mandatory repairability index on labels |
The AGEC law requires certain products to display a repairability score from 0 to 10 at the point of sale, calculated against criteria including documentation, parts availability, ease of disassembly, and price of spare parts. This shifts the buying decision before purchase rather than relying on enforcement after the fact – and is arguably the part of the law with the greatest practical influence on manufacturer behaviour.
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Whatever the regulators decide, the day-to-day reality of keeping a working appliance working comes down to qualified diagnosis, available parts, and informed repair-vs-replace decisions. Our nationwide repair and parts services support exactly that.
Could the AGEC law spread beyond France?
France is the first country in the world to criminalise planned obsolescence, but it is unlikely to be the last. The AGEC law gives the rest of the EU a working template that other member states or the European Commission can adapt. France’s track record of pioneering consumer protection legislation that later spread across the EU suggests this is a realistic possibility within the coming years.
For the UK, the question is more complicated post-Brexit. UK regulations no longer automatically track EU consumer law, and the existing UK Right to Repair framework has already diverged from the EU equivalent. However, the political appeal of cracking down on appliance manufacturers is high, the cost to UK consumers is low (since the rules apply to manufacturers rather than households), and similar consumer protection frameworks have historically followed similar trajectories across both jurisdictions.
For now, the immediate practical effect is limited to manufacturers selling into the French market. The longer-term effect, if the AGEC law is taken up across the EU, is potentially significant for the entire industry.
What does this mean for UK consumers in practice?
UK buyers cannot rely directly on French law. But the law’s existence will likely change manufacturer behaviour in ways that benefit UK consumers indirectly.
Manufacturers selling appliances across multiple European countries rarely maintain entirely separate product lines for each one. If a design needs to meet AGEC requirements for the French market, the same design – or close to it – often appears in the UK.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires goods to be durable. A premium machine that becomes economically unrepairable after a short period may give rise to a UK consumer rights claim against the retailer, independently of any French legislation.
Where French retailers must display a repairability score, those scores tend to leak into UK-language product reviews and buying guides. Consumers researching washing machines online increasingly see repairability mentioned regardless of where the appliance is sold.
UK consumer groups and repair-sector trade bodies have already used the AGEC law as a reference point in submissions to UK regulators. Whether the UK adopts comparable legislation will depend on political and trade conditions, but the existence of a workable European model removes the “it cannot be done” argument.
What is the Whitegoods Help view?
Whitegoods Help welcomes the AGEC law. Several of the design practices we have been writing about for years are now, in at least one major European market, exposed to criminal liability. Whether French courts will ultimately use the powers given to them, and whether the law spreads beyond France, are open questions.
But the legislation itself sends a clear message to manufacturers across the appliance industry – design choices that prematurely end the useful life of an appliance for the manufacturer’s commercial convenience are no longer a guaranteed safe space. For our deeper analysis of the specific appliance industry practices that are most likely to draw scrutiny under this kind of legislation, see our companion piece on planned obsolescence in the appliance industry.
The other side of any planned-obsolescence regime is the workforce required to actually carry out repairs. As regulations push manufacturers toward serviceable designs, demand for qualified appliance engineers rises – which is the practical reason Whitegoods Help has long supported formal training routes into the industry. See our guide to appliance repair training.
Considering a career or qualification in appliance repair?
The shift toward repairable designs raises demand for qualified engineers. The NAC National Training Centre delivers practical hands-on courses and online training in appliance repair across all major categories, taught by working engineers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the French AGEC law?
The AGEC law (Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire – the Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law) is a French statute aimed at reducing waste and promoting a circular economy. Among its many provisions, it criminalises deliberate planned obsolescence, requires spare parts availability for at least five years with a 15-day supply commitment, mandates a repairability index on certain products, and targets goods designed to be impossible to repair.
What penalties does the AGEC law impose for planned obsolescence?
Companies proven to have engaged in planned obsolescence can be fined up to €300,000 or 5% of their annual turnover, whichever is higher. Individual executives can face prison sentences of up to two years. Enforcement is criminal rather than civil, which makes the AGEC framework significantly more punitive than equivalent regulations in most other European countries.
Does the AGEC law apply to domestic appliances?
Yes. The legislation explicitly names domestic appliances and white goods as within scope, alongside electronics, phones, tablets, and IT equipment. Components or products that are permanently glued, welded, or bonded together without a justified technical reason are specifically targeted – which is directly relevant to sealed-drum washing machines and similar designs.
Does the AGEC law apply in the UK?
No. The AGEC law is a French statute and applies only in France. The UK has its own Right to Repair framework which sets different rules and uses civil rather than criminal enforcement. However, the AGEC law is widely seen as a template that could be adopted across the EU and potentially influence future UK consumer protection legislation.
What does the AGEC repairability index actually measure?
The repairability index scores certain products from 0 to 10 based on factors including the availability of technical documentation, the availability and price of spare parts, ease of disassembly using common tools, and length of support. It is displayed at the point of sale, with the goal of making repairability visible to consumers before they buy rather than only after they need a repair.
What does the AGEC law mean for UK consumers in practice?
In the short term, very little directly. UK consumers buying appliances in the UK continue to rely on UK consumer law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the UK Right to Repair regulations. In the longer term, manufacturers facing AGEC-level liability in France may choose to standardise more repairable designs across all markets including the UK – which would be a positive consumer outcome regardless of whether the UK adopts similar legislation directly.
Could the UK adopt something similar to the AGEC law?
It is politically possible but not currently planned. UK consumer groups and repair-sector trade bodies have referenced the AGEC law in submissions to UK regulators. The existence of a workable European model removes the “it cannot be done” argument, but UK adoption would require a deliberate legislative push that is not on the current parliamentary timetable. The more likely near-term outcome is incremental tightening of UK Right to Repair rules rather than a wholesale shift to criminal enforcement.
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