Parliament voted in favor of introducing a universal charger.
In the future, all phones must be charged with a USB-C charger in Europe. Adobe Stock / AOP
The European Parliament has voted on a new law that makes the USB-C charger the standard for portable electrical devices in the EU. The law was approved with 602 votes in favor, 13 against and 8 abstentions.
According to the new rules, most small and medium-sized electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras and headphones must have a USB-C charging port by the end of 2024.
The purpose of the law is to help reduce the amount of electronic waste, improve the environmental friendliness of electrical equipment and make life easier for consumers.
– All new cell phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones or headsets, handheld video game consoles, portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigators, earbuds, and laptops that use wired charging and operate at 100 watts or less, regardless of manufacturer, have must have a USB-C type charging port, the European Parliament’s press release states.
The new directive is also intended to help consumers as fast charging technology becomes more common.
– All devices that support fast charging will have the same charging speed, so users can charge their devices at the same speed with any compatible charger, the release states.
Consumers should be given more information about charging solutions for devices. In addition, the consumer can decide whether to buy a new device with or without a charger. The compatibility of wireless chargers and devices must also be ensured.
According to the European Parliament, the new law encourages the reuse of chargers and saves consumers up to 250 million euros annually, which would be spent on buying unnecessary chargers. These useless chargers and their disposal generate 11,000 tons of electronic waste every year.
– The universal charger will finally become a reality in Europe. These rules have been awaited for more than ten years, but finally the use of many different chargers will be a thing of the past. This law also takes into account future development and charging innovations and benefits both consumers and the environment. So the EU still has ideas to improve the daily lives of millions of Europeans and encourage the rest of the world to follow its example, the rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba said in his speech.
The text still needs to be approved by the Council before it is published in the EU’s Official Journal. The directive enters into force 20 days after its publication, and the member states have one year after this to incorporate the rules into their national legislation, and one year after the deadline to start applying them.
Phone manufacturers have already started to leave chargers out of their sales packages. For example, this is how Samsung and Apple work. However, the impact is big for Apple, because it still uses its own Lightning connection for the time being. According to sources contacted by Bloomberg in the spring, USB-C connections will be seen in the 2023 iPhone, but in 2024 at the latest.