The European Union Commission is proposing legislation to establish a common charging solution for all relevant devices. The Commission said the legislation is key in curbing “e-waste and consumer inconvenience, caused by the prevalence of different, incompatible chargers for electronic devices.”
The proposed legislation will allow a harmonized charging port for electronic devices, making USB-C the common port. This will allow consumers to charge their devices with the same USB-C charger, regardless of the device brand, the Commission said.
The move is expected not only to curb e-waste, but ease consumers the burden of having separate chargers for their devices.
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“European consumers were frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers,” Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, said. “We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger. This is an important win for our consumers and environment and in line with our green and digital ambitions.”
Disposed of and unused chargers are estimated to pile up to 11,000 tonnes of e-waste every year.
As part of the legislation, producers will need to provide relevant information about charging performance, including information on the power required by the device and if it supports fast charging.
Following its facilitation of the voluntary agreement by the industry in 2009 that resulted in the adoption of the first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which has seen chargers reduced from 30 to 3, the Commission said it’s necessary to build on the progress through legislation as a new proposal by industry presented in March 2018 was not considered satisfactory.
USB-C will become the standard port for all devices including smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogame consoles. The Commission also proposes to unbundle the sale of chargers from the sale of electronic devices.
Last year, around 420 million mobile phones and other portable electronic devices were sold in the EU. The Commission said 38% of consumers complained about their inability to charge their devices due to incompatibility. In addition, they spend €2.4 billion annually on standalone chargers that do not come with electronic devices.
The Commission will allow a transition period of 24 months from the date of adoption, to give industry ample time to adapt before the entry into application.
The proposed legislation means Apple will have a fresh challenge of altering its exclusivity once again to deal with. The American smart device maker has received a lot of criticism over its model of production, which does not accommodate products and services made outside Apple.
The recent ruling on Epic v. Apple legal tussle, which put new restrictions on Apple’s App Store rules that had prohibited developers from using third party links for payment, was a turning point. Apple’s exclusivity business model is seen as aiding its monopoly, intensifying calls to dismantle it.
The legislation will be another bold aim at Apple’s exclusive operations. However, as the rule will apply to Europe only, we have to wait and see if it will force Apple to change its chargers in all its markets.