Soon the end of the galley to charge your phone, headphones or tablet? “Parliament is now ready to enter into negotiations with EU governments on the final form of legislation”, indicated the institution during its plenary session in Strasbourg.
In the name of the rights of the environment and consumers, forced to accumulate incompatible chargers for their various portable devices, the European Commission had proposed in September a regulation for a universal charger.
Such legislation, which must have the approval of both Parliament – in favor of this subject for years – and of the Member States, has so far always come up once morest the reluctance of the industry, Apple in the lead.
Objective 2026
From around thirty types of chargers in 2009, they have now fallen 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 . Brussels wants to impose the USB-C port on all small and medium-sized electronic devices and decouple the sale of devices from that of chargers – which would make it possible to use any charger indiscriminately, while the harmonization of fast charging technologies would guarantee the same charging speed, avoiding it being restricted when used with a device of a different brand.
Unlike the Commission, the European Parliament wants to extend the obligation of a universal charger to laptop computers, and harmonize wireless charging techniques by the end of 2026. It also calls for clear labels to better inform consumers regarding loading options.
