The end of incompatible chargers cluttering drawers? According to the agreement reached on Tuesday between Member States and MEPs, the European Union (EU) will impose from 2024 a universal wired charger for smartphones, tablets, consoles and digital cameras, to the great displeasure of Apple which opposed it.
By fall 2024, a series of cable-rechargeable devices — mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, headphones, digital cameras, portable video game consoles, portable speakers, etc. — will have to be equipped with a USB- C to be sold in the EU, regardless of manufacturer.
Laptops will be subject to the same single charger requirement by spring 2026. The political agreement reached on Tuesday, after lengthy negotiations, will be formally approved after the summer by the European Parliament and the Council, the body representing the states.
The text also paves the way for future standardization of wireless charging technologies, which are currently in full swing.
“Consumers will no longer need a different charging device and cable each time they buy a new device, they will be able to use one charger for all their small and medium-sized electronic devices,” eliminating unnecessary accessories, says Parliament.
The text provides that the charging speed be harmonized for devices authorizing fast charging, in order to prevent it from being restricted when using a charger of a different brand. Labeling will be improved to better inform consumers, who will be able to buy a device with or without a charger.
This regulation could save European consumers – who spend 2.4 billion euros a year on purchases of chargers alone – at least 250 million euros annually, according to the European Commission. Waste from unused magazines, estimated at 11,000 tons per year, could be reduced by almost 1,000 tons.
“Stifled” innovation?
This project was launched in 2009 by the Commission, but it had long come up against resistance from the industry.
However, the number of types of existing chargers has been greatly reduced over the years. From around thirty in 2009, they have gone to three: the Micro USB connector which has long been fitted to the majority of telephones, USB-C, a more recent connection, and Apple’s Lightning charging technology.
The Californian group, which claims that Lightning powers more than a billion devices worldwide, has consistently shown its opposition, believing that the European text will “stifle innovation”, and cut off the EU – subject to a choice of “obsolete” standards – from the rest of the world.
By disqualifying some of the chargers and smartphones in circulation, Brussels “will impose significant losses on manufacturers, reduce consumer choice and generate additional electronic waste”, Apple insisted on Tuesday.
“Let’s be clear: if Apple wants to market its products [en Europe]we will have to respect our rules […] You have to think about the environment,” replied Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
“Preparing for the future”
“While charging systems locked consumers into a brand and forced us to accumulate cables at the cost of our wallets and natural resources, this is a stopping point for the most recalcitrant”, abounds MEP David Cormand (Greens).
His counterpart Geoffroy Didier (EPP, right) salutes the “voluntarism” of the EU in the face of “indecent waste dictated by the commercial interests of a few industrial groups”.
The association ANEC, which defends the rights of consumers on issues related to technological standards, welcomed “an agreement” which “simplifies the jungle of options hitherto inflicted on consumers”.
ANEC had deplored that the initial project did not concern wireless charging systems, but the final agreement includes provisions for determining a common standard in this niche, which is about to become the majority in the next few years.
The adopted text “prepares the future […] so as not to adopt legislation on a technology that is already disappearing,” assured MEP Alex Agius Saliba (S & D, Social Democrats), rapporteur for the text.
Thus, as wireless technology spreads, the Commission will thus be empowered to draw up “delegated acts on the interoperability of charging solutions”, i.e. regulations which can be applied directly without being subject to to a vote in the Council or the European Parliament.