The EU has proposed bringing the same charger to every phone — a move likely to affect iPhone maker Apple more than its rivals. In a proposal that could substantially change the smartphone industry, the European Commission has said that USB-C would become the standard across devices.
That includes not only phones but also tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers, and handheld videogame consoles. It also suggests that the sale of phones and their charger should be separated, so that people do not end up with a host of chargers that they do not need and which become waste.
The push by the EU will certainly be cheered by the millions of people who have searched through a drawer full of cables for the right charger. But the EU also wants to cut down on the 11,000 metric tons of electronic waste thrown out every year by Europeans.
The commission said the typical person living in the EU owns at least three chargers, and use two regularly, but 38% of people report not being able to charge their phones at least once because they couldn’t find a compatible charger. Some 420 million mobile phones or portable electronic devices were sold in the EU last year.
“Chargers power all our most essential electronic devices. With more and more devices, more and more chargers are sold that are not interchangeable or not necessary. We are putting an end to that,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said. “With our proposal, European consumers will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics – an important step to increase convenience and reduce waste.”
Under the proposed law, which must still be scrutinized by the European Parliament, phones, tablets, digital cameras, handheld video game consoles, headsets, and headphones sold in the European Union would all have to come with USB-C charging ports.
After attempting for more than a decade to cajole the industry into adopting a common standard, the EU’s executive Commission is pushing the issue.
