EU regulation comes into force
USB-C connection for small devices is now mandatory
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The number of different charging sectors has dropped considerably in recent years, as the Bitkom digital association reports. From today on, however, no new cell phones, tablets or headphones can be sold in the EU without a USB-C connection. Among other things, significantly less electronic waste should be incurred.
New small electronic devices must have a USB-C charging connection from today. This affects devices such as smartphones, tablets, headphones, keyboards, mice, digital cameras, portable loudspeakers, portable game consoles, e-reader or navigation devices. In notebooks and larger laptops, the EU directive gives manufacturers more time to switch to a USB-C charging socket. This change will not be compulsory until April 28, 2026.
The change was forced by the EU legislator for years. Proponents such as Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said that the uniform charging socket was a relief for consumers and success for environmental protection, because less electronic waste has fallen in the future. On the day of the entry into force, the minister expressed himself satisfied: “The confusion of different connector connections has finally come to an end,” said the Greens politician.
The new requirements should reduce the electrical drop in the EU by almost 1000 tons and save thousands of tons of CO2. The Commission primarily expects consumers to use their cables longer and buy fewer chargers. So far, they spend a total of around 250 million euros per year for chargers who are actually not needed.
Critics such as the Digitalverband Bitkom saw an unnecessary interference in the market in the USB-C obligation. They argued that the market had already largely regulated itself and that the number of charging base types in recent years has dropped from around 30 to only 3 (USB-C, Apple Lightning and Micro USB). However, there should have been one reason that the EU Commission and most manufacturers had already agreed on uniform standards in 2009 in a declaration of intent. This went out in 2014, and industry only presented a new proposal in 2018. However, the Commission and the EU Parliament did not agree, so that legal intervention was required. So it was foreseeable for years for the manufacturers where the journey will go.
Apple was mainly affected by the manufacturers, since the company had consistently placed on its own Lightning connection at the charging sinks. Since the iPhone 15, which was presented in September 2023, the US group has now switched its entire product range to USB-C.
