The circular economy and the right to repair: a critical view of the new paradigms of european environmental law

Abstract

This article offers a critical assessment of the European Union’s circular economy strategy through the lens of the  emerging right to repair.After more than a decade of policy development, the EU presents circularity as a key pillar of environmental governance, alongside climate neutrality. However, the paper argues that the circular economy has largely evolved within the structural limits of the prevailing linear production model, prioritising industrial and  resource-security interests over genuine reductions in resource consumption.

The right to repair illustrates both the transformative potential and the shortcomings of this approach. While recent reforms in ecodesign and consumer law introduce binding requirements on durability, reparability and access to information, their scope remains limited and heavily  conditioned by economic and technical exceptions. The article concludes that, without stronger design obligations, broader consumer rights and robust incentives at national and local levels, the right to repair risks remaining a symbolic rather than systemic instrument of environmental
transformation.