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LIVING IN FRANCE

France to offer €25 to cover the cost of mobile phone repairs

Breaking your phone screen or messing up your speaker can be a real pain, but luckily the French government is here to help with a flat-rate bonus on repairs for the everyday tech you rely on.

Published: 22 December 2023 12:28 CET
France to offer €25 to cover the cost of mobile phone repairs
Broken or used smartphones in France (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)

From 2024, a smashed phone screen or damaged laptop will be added to the items that qualify for a ‘repair bonus’ – with €25 to go towards phone repairs and €50 for laptops. 

In 2022, France launched a ‘repair bonus’ for electronic goods, which helps households fix white goods and small electronic items when they break, rather than simply tossing them out.

It is part of the landmark legislation – the Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire (law on anti-waste and towards a circular economy, also called “loi Agec”) – which was passed in 2020 and phases in new measures up until 2026.

Several different items are eligible for the flat-rate bonus, which is automatically deducted from your invoice, including washing machines, dryers, kettles, and even DVD players. You can see the list of all 73 items eligible here.

READ MORE: How you can now save money in France if you need to repair electrical goods

But the tech that most people rely on day in and day out qualify as well, and starting in 2024, the French government will expand the help households can get when trying to fix a smartphone or laptop.

Keep in mind that some of these devices require a threshold for the total cost of the repairs, and the item must not be covered by insurance or under a warranty. The damage must also affect the item’s functionality, meaning small problems like minor scratches would not be covered.

Smartphones – the electronic bonus can help pay for repairs to your battery, speaker, microphone and photo lens. Starting in 2024, screen damage will also be covered by the bonus. Overall, you can claim up to €25 in assistance for smartphone repairs. The bonus also allows up to €15 in repairs for landline phones.

Laptops – aside from software issues, you will be able to get up to €50 in 2024 to get your laptop fixed. This is an increase of €5 from the 2023 amounts. 

The threshold for the minimum cost of repairs will also decrease in 2024, from €180 to €150.

Desktops (‘tout-en-un’) – these devices will become eligible for the repair bonus in 2024. Consumers will be able to claim up to €50 in assistance for repairs as long as the total repairs cost more than €150.

Monitors – these devices will also be added to the repair list in 2024, with households eligible for a ‘bonus’ of up to €30. Keep in mind this will only be available as long as total repairs cost at least €100.

TV Screens – in 2024, households will see the repair bonus for TV screens double from €30 to €60. 

How to benefit

In order to benefit from the repair bonus, log on to the ecosystem.eco website to find a registered nearby repair service. Any discount will be automatically deducted from the invoice.

The item must have a nameplate or identification (IMEI number), and if the total repair bill (including VAT) ends up less than the amount of the bonus then you will not be eligible.

The work must be carried out by a professional who has been awarded the QualiRépar mark. You can find the list on the Ecosystem website.

As of 2022, only 500 professionals across France had been awarded the QualiRépar mark, but there has been an effort to expand the qualification to more workers.

A repair bonus can also apply to repairs of clothes and shoes – full details here. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

Can I use my French carte de séjour for travel?

The carte de séjour is an official document attesting to your right to live in France - but can it be used as a travel document?

Published: 14 May 2024 16:09 CEST
Can I use my French carte de séjour for travel?

Travel within the EU’s Schengen zone is usually a fairly slick business with reduced or no checks as you cross borders – but that doesn’t mean that you can leave your passport at home.

So integrated is the Schengen Area that if you’re travelling by car or train you may not even notice that you’ve crossed a border and entered another country until you start to see signs in a different language – and that’s the intention of the zone of free movement, created in 1995.

But while EU/EEA citizens can move freely within the zone, it’s a different story for non-EU/EEA citizens.

The rules

Borders between countries in the EU/Schengen area still exist and in order to cross an international border you will need a valid travel document – for EU citizens this can be a national ID card, but for non-EU citizens that means a passport.

France’s carte de séjour residency permit is neither of these – it is not a valid travel document and nor is it an ID card (although it can function as proof of ID in non-travel scenarios such as picking up a parcel from the post office). Technically the card is a ‘titre’ – title – which acts as proof of your status as a resident. 

If you try to cross a border without a valid passport you can be turned back.

The carte de séjour acts as proof of your right to live in France and your right to re-enter the country if you have left, so it’s a good idea to have this with you. If you travel without it, you may have your passport stamped as a visitor when you re-enter France. 

If your passport is stamped in error this may cause delays and questions when you next cross a border, but you cannot be penalised or denied entry provided you can show a valid carte de séjour.

On the ground 

As is often the case, there’s a difference between what the rule book says and what happens on the ground, and this is particularly apparent for travel within the Schengen area.

In practice, it’s common to cross a border with no checks at all – although things tend to be stricter if you are travelling by plane.

Cars and trains often pass through with no checks, or with checks when guards will happily accept a carte de séjour.

However checks do happen – sometimes this is in response to a security alert, for example after a terror attack, but sometimes it’s random or when the border police are training their new recruits. We regret to say that there is often an element of racial profiling, so travellers of colour are more likely to be asked to produce their travel documents.

Cars can be pulled over at border checkpoints while if you’re travelling by train, police will often board the train close to the border and check passengers.

If you are asked, you will need to show your passport – so don’t forget to take it within you when travelling within the EU and Schengen zone. 

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