As early as September 2021, it was announced by the European Commission that the universal charger would arrive in 2024, and as that date approaches, more specifics are becoming known, such as the timing of implementation of USB-C as a universal connector in the EU.
The process towards the single connector in the EU started in 2014, going from 30 to only 3
All part of the initiative approved by the EU institutions to reduce electronic waste, which led to a reduction from 2014 onwards of more than 30 different types of chargers existing in the EU to only three. This was intended so that consumers would not have to buy new chargers each time they purchased a new electronic device, but could instead continue to use the ones they already had.
The aim was that in the near future the legislation obliged that there would be only one type of charger, which happened in 2020 after a vote in the European parliament and the impulse of the commission that already announced the year 2024, target for this provision to enter into force.
The proposed common port is USB-C, which will be mandatory mobiles, tablets, digital cameras, headsets, portable game consoles and portable speakers, with the sole exception of those electronic devices that are too small in size to be able to include this connector: smart watches, activity monitors and small-sized headphones.
The European Parliament is currently in the negotiation phase of the text, a phase that may last from eight to 12 months until the final articles are enlightened.
The legislative text that will force the inclusion of this single connector will be approved at the beginning of 2023 and will entry into force is planned for 2025with a transitional period between 2023 and 2025 of two years between publication and application, analogous to that set in other cases, as was the case with the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
