The German government is currently in negotiations with the EU Commission in an attempt to advocate strict environmental regulations for smartphones and tablets, that would mean support and parts were made available by manufacturers for a seven-year period.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics says the EU Commission’s recent proposals of a five year period doesn’t go far enough. Parts should be available “at a reasonable price” and manufacturers should be forced to publish the RRP of spare parts at the time of releasing the phone.
There is a need to “increase the reliability and repairability of the devices,” according to the spokeswoman.

Apple has recently expanded its third-party repair network.
The German government also wants to mandate how quickly these spare parts are provided, with a maximum delivery time of five working days.
The Digital Europe Industry Association, which represents device manufacturers, feels that companies should deliver security updates for three years, and function updates for two, and that “the association’s obligation to spare parts also goes too far: manufacturers should only have to deliver displays and batteries; other parts such as cameras, microphones, speakers and connectors would rarely fail.”
Samsung didn’t comment about the proposal, instead noting it already works to extend the life of its devices.
“While the average initial usage time was around 21 months in 2015, we were able to increase this to an average of 29 months in 2020,” a Samsung spokeswoman said.