The European Commission will present in September legislation to establish a common charger for mobile phones and other electronic devices within the EU, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The move is expected to face the most resistance from Apple, which uses its own proprietary Lightning cable. Most Android devices are powered by USB-C connectors.
The last time the EU looked at the issue was in 2018, when it failed to reach an agreement with the industry on a new standard. Around half of chargers sold with mobile phones in the EU in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector while 29 percent had a USB-C port and 21 percent Lightning, a Commission impact assessment study in 2019 found.
Lawmakers at the European Parliament last year approved a new resolution calling for a common charger, citing environmental benefits and convenience to users. It is up to the Commission to implement the plans.
Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Nokia signed a voluntary memorandum of understanding to harmonize chargers for new models of smartphones coming into the market in 2011 which resulted in a significant reduction in the number of different chargers and a convergence of the market to USB connections.
The agreement has since expired without any formal regulation being put in place. More recently handset makers such as Apple and Xiaomi have stopped supplying chargers with all their phones, in an effort to reduce waste, they say. Most customers already have one from a previous phone and can acquire a new one at little or zero cost if they wish, the companies said.
