We first reported on the Right to Repair campaign back in July 2008 when it was primarily aimed at trade awareness.

Right to Repair campaign

Recently SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) have taken the campaign to the end users as the response from the trade was not as high as hoped for. Many enthusiasts don’t run ‘modern’ cars and can’t see the relevance of the removal of new car service information to them.

A major part of the problem is that the removal of the Block Exemption could lead to the demise of cheaper independent servicing and also to the trade supplying them. This in turn means a reduction in manufacturing companies and could make older car components non financially viable without the large ‘new car ‘ (up to 10 years old) market.

We recently spoke with Bob Davis, Head of Aftermarket Service at SMMT and he said :-

“Present state of affairs:

The EU announced in July its preferred way forward on Block Exemption. For the ‘primary market’ (vehicle distribution and sales) there will be a three-year extension of the present Regulation, after which the sector will be brought within scope of the general competition rules. In the case of the aftermarket,the present Block Exemption Regulation would be replaced from 1 June. 2010 by the general competition rules and either an aftermarket-specific Block Exemption Regulation or aftermarket-specific guidelines. (This is the first time that the Commission has differentiated between the two parts of the automotive market.)

UK Right to Repair Campaign, and the Campaign at European level, welcomed the broad approach but suggested that the aftermarket be covered by the general competition rules supported by both an aftermarket Block Exemption Regulation and aftermarket-specific guidelines. The Regulation would include fundamental matters, such as access to technical information, which would stand the test of time, while the guidelines could cover relatively short-term issues.It looks as though the Commission will accept this suggestion, though we can’t be sure until formal proposals for a new legislative framework are published. This will occur either mid December or early in January.

The UK continues to be the major source of signatures on the e-petition. At the last count, it had produced around 10,150 signatures out of a total of approximately 34,500 across the EU. The petition is still open and there is an informal target of 10,500 signatures from the UK; if we reach that, the next one will be 11,000.

Regards

Bob Davis
Head of Aftermarket Services

Click on this link to see the content of the R2RC relating to the effect on the private customer and also to add your signature to the on line petition.

http://r2rc.eu/documents/About_us-QA.pdf