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 chagrin of Apple , who opposed it.
By fall 2024, a series of cable-chargeable devices — mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, headsets, digital cameras, portable video game consoles, portable speakers, etc. — must be equipped with a USB-C port to be sold in the EU, regardless of the manufacturer.
Laptops will be subject to the same requirement of a single charger by spring 2026. The political agreement reached on Tuesday after lengthy negotiations will be officially approved after the summer by the European Parliament and the Council, the body representing the Member 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,” which eliminates unnecessary accessories, explains the Parliament.
The text provides that the charging speed be harmonized for devices allowing fast charging, so that it is not 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 ($3.2 billion) a year on charger purchases alone — at least 250 million euros ($335 million) 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 for a long time it came up against resistance from the industry.
However, the number of types of 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 newer connection; and Apple’s Lightning charging technology.
The Californian group, which claims that Lightning equips more than a billion devices worldwide, has constantly expressed 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 scrapping some of the chargers and smartphones in circulation, Brussels “will impose significant losses on manufacturers, reduce consumer choice and generate additional electronic waste,” Apple said 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,” says 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.