Prime Minister, Mr Jean Castex,
Open Letter, 16/02/2021 and find the petition to sign at: https://www.change.org/CopiePrivee
The reconditioning of used products plays an essential role in preserving the environment and building a circular economy. In this respect, we would like to express our deep concern about the proposal to make reconditioned second-hand products subject to the Private copying fee. There is no legal basis for this. Such a project would reduce sales in the French circular economy sector by more than 150 million euros. We would like to thank the Ministries of Ecological Transition, Economy, Finance and the Digital Economy for their attention and support.
Today, it seems essential to preserve culture without penalizing local employment, and to take part in the fight against waste and global warming, in line with the Paris agreements and COP21. Reconditioning a second-hand product means prolonging its lifespan, while avoiding the use of new raw materials and protecting the planet's resources. Reconditioning a smartphone avoids the equivalent of 30Kg of CO2 emissions.[1].
In France, the sector generates more than 5,000 direct jobs in the commercial sector, in adapted companies and in community organizations integrating people undergoing training, in integration and with disabilities. It has also enabled the emergence of leading French players on the European scene.
The marketing of reconditioned equipment spearheads more sustainable consumption, and makes information technology accessible to as many people as possible. This sector helps consumers gain purchasing power thanks to attractive prices: over 70% of French people regularly buy second-hand products.
A fee of up to €14 on a second-hand product (which would represent between 12% and 3% of the sale price) would destroy an entire economic sector that is only just beginning to take shape, threatening half of all direct jobs, weakening the attractiveness of reconditioned equipment compared to new, and consumer purchasing power.
This fee also raises a number of questions: Why make consumers pay the same fee several times at different stages in the life cycle of the same product? What would this fee mean for French reuse players, who are already facing unfair competition and tax dumping from fraudulent foreign players? Reconditioning is a concrete solution already adopted by many French consumers to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, and is in line with the French Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Act (AGEC), which supports repair and reuse. We hope that your government will abandon this levy, which would have a serious impact on the second-hand and reuse sector.
Business and Civil Society Coalition for Digital Responsibility
SIRRMIET - Chairman - Jean-Lionel Laccourreye
RCUBE - President, Benoit Varin
Read the open letter below: Lettre_Ouverte_Redevance_copie_privee_V4_RCube_SIRRMIET_2021_Fev
Some of the signatories:
Institut du Numérique Responsable (INR) - Chairman - Jean-Christophe Chaussat
Halte à l'Obsolescence Programmée (HOP) - General Delegate - Laetitia Vasseur
Friends of the Earth - Alma Dufour
France Digital - Director - Baptiste Fournier
....
[1] Sources: ADEME study https://www.ademe.fr/sites/default/files/assets/documents/ademe-ges-tic-0212.pdf
