A lot of corporations will gladly destroy the environment, the fabric of society and human happiness just to turn a profit. The government will try to regulate business but often ignorantly and inefficiently.

As usually, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

I think what the EU is trying to do is to force both companies and consumers to think about the consequences of mindless mass consumption and obsolescence. Beyond petty laws and regulations, the EU sometimes does have a noble fundamental concept behind their policies; it remains to be seen if the resulting policies are effective in practice.