EUREFAS Position Paper: Reforming the copyright levy system to support a circular economy

The Copyright levy system is in urgent need of reform

The EU copyright levy system, originally designed to compensate rights holders for private copying, has become outdated and misaligned with modern consumer behaviour. Despite the decline in private copying due to streaming services, levies become even more widespread and often unfairly apply to refurbished products. This leads to:

• Double Taxation & Higher Consumer Costs – Consumers might pay levies twice—once for the original purchase and again for the refurbished product—artificially inflating prices and making sustainable alternatives less attractive. This limits consumer choice, reduces the refurbishment market’s competitiveness, and discourages the adoption of refurbished devices.
• Market Fragmentation & Administrative Burdens – National discrepancies in levy schemes across 22 EU member states create inconsistencies and unnecessary administrative burdens. Each Member State has developed its own system and particularities, notably in terms of costs, ranging from few cents to more than 10 euros in some countries, creating barriers to free movement of goods and contrary to common market principles. This distorts and weakens the Single Market, as refurbishers, particularly SMEs, are deterred from offering their products in certain member states by the additional administrative costs that would create. The application to refurbished devices may also vary, only few countries explicitly cover refurbished products such as France, Netherlands or Belgium, leading to even more market fragmentation.
• Barriers to the Circular Economy & Unfair Competition – Levies on refurbished products contradict the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan by discouraging reuse and indirectly increasing electronic waste. Whereas price is the main reason consumers turn to second-hand products, inflating refurbished devices prices with a levy discourages consumers to make more sustainable choices. From a competition perspective, refurbished devices are thus less appealing, favoring the purchase of new devices.

EUREFAS’ Call to action: Exempt refurbished devices from the levy

To align copyright levies with today’s digital economy and the EU’s sustainability goals, we urge policymakers to exempt refurbished products from copyright levies.

This exemption must be implemented immediately as a high priority for the refurbishment sector. It is essential to:

• Promote a circular economy by making refurbished devices a more attractive and viable option for consumers by erasing any unnecessary cost.
• Reduce market barriers for refurbishers by eliminating administrative burdens and inconsistencies.
• Ensure fair competition between refurbishers and manufacturers of new devices.

If the European Commission considers a broader reform of the copyright levy system, EUREFAS stands ready to provide expertise and input to help develop a future-proof framework that supports both rights holders and sustainability.