Many people are dependent on a wide variety of electrical devices in everyday life, in their free time and at work – and so far on almost as many chargers. According to the will of the EU, the confusion should be over. The obligation to have a USB-C connection has cleared a crucial hurdle.
EU Council for USB-C obligation: Chargers should be standardized
The EU Commission wants to keep a close eye on electronics manufacturers in the future, the proliferation of different, incompatible connections should come to an end. That is the essence of the draft law, which was launched last year. Now they have Plans to make USB-C mandatory cleared another hurdle.
The Council of the European Union has approved the Commission’s proposal. The EU country representatives are also in favor of the USB-C obligation. The solution should be consumer-friendly through standardized chargers and serve to protect the environment, because you can use a charger from any manufacturer. They want to work on a joint solution with the EU Parliament as soon as its position is in place (source: Council of the European Union).
producer of Smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones as well as portable speakers and game consoles According to the current plan, they should use the same standard for their chargers and connections. In addition, there is an extension of the proposal of the EU Commission. They want to introduce a pictogram that customers can use to see directly whether a device is sold with or without a charger. That could probably also be combined well with the new environmental labels.
The GIGA Headlines show how the EU imagined the USB-C obligation in September:
Even Apple fans can benefit from USB-C
The decision will also bring advantages for customers who are loyal to the brand, for example if the same cable can be used for smartphone, camera and headphones. The EU is also targeting Apple’s Lightning connectors, which the manufacturer insists on with the iPhone, for example, while USB-C is also sometimes offered.
In some respects the EU is late. That’s how it was USB-C has long been established in the world of Android smartphones. A standardization, even across device classes, would still be an important step to break up the ecosystems of different manufacturers at this point – advantages like those of Apple should still be retained.