EU lawmakers approve proposal demanding same charger for all portable devices

BRUSSELS

The European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee approved on Wednesday a proposal requiring the same type of chargers for all portable electronic devices marketed in the EU.

The draft would make sure that consumers do not have to buy “a new charger and cable every time they purchase a new device and can use one charger for all of their small and medium-sized electronic gadgets,” the European Parliament wrote in a press statement.

Under the new rules, the USB-C charger would become the standard equipment for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers, and handheld videogame consoles.

The law would imply a major change for the tech giant Apple which has insisted on its own charging port for iPhones despite the EU’s pressure.

“With half a billion chargers for portable devices shipped in Europe each year, generating 11,000 to 13,000 tons of e-waste, a single charger for mobile phones and other small and medium electronic devices would benefit everyone,” Maltese EU lawmaker Alex Agius Saliba, the rapporteur of the file, said.

The decision follows up on the legislative proposal presented by the European Commission last September and sets the European Parliament’s position that EU lawmakers will represent during the negotiations with EU member states.

The talks will start after the European Parliament’s plenary session officially adopts the position in May.

If the law is adopted, the new rules are expected to enter into force by 2026.

According to the European Commission’s calculations, the change would save €250 million ($271 million) for European consumers every year as they will not be obliged to buy unnecessary equipment, and the changes would also contribute to reducing e-waste.

In 2020, over 420 million mobile phones and other electronic portable devices were sold in the bloc.