Dear Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Castex,
Open Letter, February 16, 2021. Find the petition to sign at:https://www.change.org/CopiePrivee
The reconditioning of second-hand products plays an essential role in preserving the environment and building a circular economy. As such, we would like to express our deep concern about the proposal to subject reconditioned second-hand products to private copying levies. There is no legal basis for this tax. Such a project would reduce the turnover of the French circular economy sector by more than €150 million. We would like to thank the Ministries of Ecological Transition, Economy, Finance, and Digital Affairs for their attention and support.
Today, it seems essential to preserve culture without penalizing local employment and to participate in the fight against waste and global warming in line with the Paris Agreement and COP21. Refurbishing a used product means extending its life by avoiding the use of new raw materials and thus protecting the planet's resources. Refurbishing a smartphone avoids the emission of the equivalent of 30 kg of CO2.[1].
In France, the sector generates more than 5,000directjobs in commercial enterprises, adapted companies, and social organizations that integrate people in training, in integration programs, and with disabilities. It has also enabled French players to emerge as leaders on the European scene.
The sale of refurbished equipment is spearheading more sustainable consumption and making information technology accessible to as many people as possible. This sector increases consumers' purchasing power thanks to attractive prices: more than 70% of French people regularly buy second-hand products.
A fee of up to €14 on a second-hand product (representing between 12% and 3% of the sale price) would destroy an entire economic sector that is just beginning to take shape, threatening half of all direct jobs, weakening the appeal of reconditioned equipment compared to new equipment, and reducing consumer purchasing power.
This fee also raises questions: Why should consumers be charged the same fee several times at different stages of a product's life cycle? What would this fee mean for French reuse operators, who already face unfair competition and tax dumping from fraudulent foreign operators? Refurbishment is a practical solution that has already been adopted by many French consumers to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and is in line with the Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Act (AGEC), which supports repair and reuse. We hope that your government will abandon this tax, which would have serious impacts on the second-hand and reuse sector.
The Business and Civil Society Coalition for Responsible Digital Technology
SIRRMIET – President – Jean-Lionel Laccourreye
RCUBE – President, Benoit Varin
Find the open letter below: Open_Letter_Private_Copying_Royalty_V4_RCube_SIRRMIET_2021_Feb
Some signatories:
Institute for Responsible Digital Technology (INR) – President – Jean-Christophe Chaussat
Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP) – General Delegate – Laetitia Vasseur
Friends of the Earth – Alma Dufour
France Digital – Director – Baptiste Fournier
….
[1] Sources: ADEME studyhttps://www.ademe.fr/sites/default/files/assets/documents/ademe-ges-tic-0212.pdf
