The 27 EU countries and MEPs agreed on Tuesday to impose in the Union a universal charger for smartphones, tablets, consoles and digital cameras by autumn 2024, then in a second phase for laptops, announced the European Parliament. To the chagrin of Apple who opposed it.
This regulation, which will impose a USB-C port on all small and medium-sized electronic devices, aims to limit waste harmful to the environment and to defend the rights of consumers, forced to accumulate incompatible chargers for their different devices. The American giant Apple, which defends its Lightning charging technology, fiercely opposed it.
“Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charging device and cable each time they purchase a new device, and will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronic devices from small and medium-sized,” the European Parliament explained in a statement.
Laptops will be subject to the same requirement of a single charger “within 40 months of the entry into force of the text”, i.e. by 2026 (the text to be published in the Official Journal of the EU after the summer, after formal approval by the Council and the European Parliament).
The regulations also provide for the charging speed to be harmonized for devices authorizing fast charging, to prevent it from being restricted when used with a device of a different brand.
11,000 tonnes of waste from unused chargers
By making it possible to decouple the sale of electronic devices and chargers, the text could allow European consumers – who spend around 2.4 billion euros a year on purchases of chargers alone – to save at least 250 million euros annually, according to the European Commission.
From the same source, waste from unused magazines, estimated at 11,000 tonnes per year, could be reduced by almost 1,000 tonnes.
This project had been launched as early as 2009 by the Commission, but had so far come up against strong reluctance from the industry, although the number of types of existing chargers had 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 the Lightning used by Apple.
The Californian group, which claims that its Lightning charging technology equips more than a billion devices worldwide, had expressed its fierce opposition to the European text, believing that it would “stifle innovation”.
Consumer associations, while welcoming the EU project, had for their part regretted that it does not concern wireless charging systems, which are in full swing.