Tuesday’s agreement by the 27 European Union member countries and MEPs was to establish in the Union a universal charger that will charge smartphones, tablets and consoles. The second phase will be for laptops. This was announced by the European Parliament.
This regulation will place a USB-C port onto all small- and medium-sized electronic devices. It aims to reduce waste and protect the rights of consumers who have accumulated incompatible chargers for different devices.
Apple, the American giant, has fiercely fought its Lightning charging technology.
The European Parliament released a press release explaining that consumers won’t need to purchase different cables and charging devices for every device they buy. They can use one charger to charge all of their small and medium-sized electronic devices. The same requirement for a single charger will apply to laptops “within 40 month of the entry in force of the text,” i.e. By 2026
According to the European Commission, this text will allow consumers to save up to 250 million euros each year by allowing them to separate the sales of electronic devices from chargers.
The same source could also reduce the waste from unused magazines by nearly 1,000 tonnes, which is approximately 11,000 tonnes annually.
The Commission had launched this project in 2009, however it had met with resistance from the industry. However, the number of chargers available has been drastically reduced over the years. They have now reduced their number to just three, from thirty in 2009. The Micro USB connector has been used for many years to connect to most phones, the USB-C connection is a newer one, and the Lightning that Apple uses.
California’s group claims its Lightning charging technology powers more than one billion devices around the world. It has reacted strongly to European texts, fearing that it will “stifle innovation”.
While consumer associations welcomed the EU project, they regretted for their part that it doesn’t concern wireless charging systems which are currently in full swing.