Members of the European Parliament, Apple Inc. voted to require that products that do not have a USB-C charger be manufactured in Europe for a version adapted to this charger. This includes iPhones in the case of Apple.
In Tuesday’s vote, 602 deputies voted, 13 deputies voted against and 8 deputies abstained.
The agreement, which was provisionally agreed in June between the Commission and the 27 member states of the European Union, still needs final approval by the EU member states to be valid. The rules are expected to be transcribed into law in early 2023.
“We are replacing this battery charger with this one,” AP chief negotiator Alex Agius Saliba said as he discussed the final proposal in Strasbourg on Tuesday, lifting multiple chargers and then a single USB-C charger.
Although the proposal was met with anger by Apple, it was claimed that it would curtail innovation. However, Bloomberg reported in May that the company is currently testing iPhone models whose proprietary charging ports have been replaced with a USB-C charger. Current Apple laptops and iPad Pro models and many popular Android smartphones already use USB-C charging ports.
Under the proposed rules, all phones and tablets sold in Europe by autumn 2024 will have to comply with this charging input standard. While it has been stated that laptops will have more time to make the change, it has been noted that the commission will also set standards for wireless charging.
This proposal first came on the European Commission’s agenda last year. Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager told parliament on Tuesday that this practice will reduce environmental waste and aim to save consumers around 250 million euros ($ 247 million) annually since they don’t have to buy a different charger for each device.
“The common charger will make life easier for Europeans,” Vestager said, adding: “There will be no more old chargers piled up in drawers, which will reduce costs for European citizens.”
