It’s already final. The European Parliament has reached the final agreement by which the legislation will be approved that will require that in the autumn of 2024 all electronic devices sold in the European Union use the USB-C port.
The USB-C charging port will be mandatory in all kinds of electronic devices, from mobile phones to headphones and cameras
Although in practice this port is already used by the vast majority of manufacturers in all types of devices, one of the brands that will be most affected by this regulatory change is Apple, whose iPhone mobile phone, one of the best sellers (during 2021 they sold 241 million worldwide, 56 million of them in Europe), still uses the proprietary Lightning port. This could change next year, since rumors have been going around for some time that the predictable iPhone 14 S that would be presented then would include the USB-C port.
The decision was announced via Twitter by the Committee for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, highlighting the harmonization of charging technology (especially fast charging), vanishing the link between the purchase of a device and that of the charger.
We have reached a deal on the common charger! 🔌👏
✔️mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, digital cameras & more #USBtypeC
✔️harmonized fast-charging technology
✔️unbundling of sale of chargers from the sale of device🔴 Press conference at 12.30 CEST ➡️ https://t.co/TCBXxzIEdr pic.twitter.com/29JmeL0nxe
— IMCO Committee Press (@EP_SingleMarket) June 7, 2022
The regulation that the European Parliament will approve in time for it to come into force in the fall of 2024 will apply to all kinds of portable electronic devices: mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, portable consoles, electronic book readers… The only alternative will be wireless charging.
This is a legislative project that has been under negotiation for years within the European Union and that now must be approved by Parliament and by the Council, although everything indicates that it will be a mere formality. At the end of this same year, 2022, the regulations would have been approved and a period of legal vacancy until autumn 2024, during which the law would already be in force but its effects would not yet apply, as a transition and adaptation period.
That will be the term available to manufacturers (such as Apple with its iPhone) that still use charging ports of another type to be able to adapt their devices. The purpose pursued by the European Parliament with this single charger is to put an end to the multiplicity of chargers, to make it easier for a single model to be used with different devices and, thus, contribute to saving and environmental sustainability by eliminating the need for each device to come with its own charger.
From the EU it is estimated that the savings derived from the single connector will allow consumers to stop spending 250 million euros per year, in addition to avoiding 11,000 tons per year of waste related to chargers and cables.
