Italian paper manufacturers urge EU to keep printed user guides

Rome – A new front is opening between industry and the European Commission. It is the Italian paper manufacturers (the second in Europe after Germany) who are rebelling against the European executive’s (still informal) proposal to provide individuals with user guides for consumer goods only in electronic format. The idea that Brussels is considering is to have no more instruction manuals, only links. 

While stating that it “welcomes” the Commission’s approach to simplify European legislation aiming to reduce administrative burdens, particularly for SMEs, the Paper and Graphic Federation today (3 September) stressed that “the Omnibus IV proposal on the alignment of product legislation in the digital age,” is fueling “the concern of defining a ‘digital-only’ approach in product legislation,” said the Federation’s Director General Massimo Medugno.

Today, “European consumers with purchased products receive instructions printed on paper that provide essential information on the use, assembly, and repair of the products and ensure their safety in the protection of all consumers,” Medugno added. The manager also said that “the sustainability and circularity of paper, and the need for consultation of the instructions also by consumers who are not digitally literate” should be remembered.

It’s worth noting that the sector is increasingly focusing on recycled wastepaper, with a usage rate of 67 percent in 2023, making it the second-largest paper recycler in Europe. 

Medugno therefore explains that “as the Paper and Graphic Federation, we participated in the public consultation on Omnibus IV,” calling on “the Commission to extend the approach adopted for professional products to consumer goods, and therefore keep paper instructions in the European legislation on consumer products.”

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