The EU Is Ready To Push Its USB-C Mandate To All Smartphones

The European Union is reportedly ready to implement a charging port homogenization bill for smartphones sold in the union, Reuters reports.

The European Union has been trying for many years to make the USB-C a common charging port for the smartphones sold in the union. Of course, forcing companies to do so is not an easy job, and the EU officials have been in talks with the manufacturers for years. But the talks are seemingly over, and soon all smartphones sold in the EU must have a USB-C port. The EU also recently pushed the Digital Markets Act.

According to the source, the EU member countries and EU lawmakers will gather on June 7 to discuss the proposal and finalize it.

Of course, this is not a new bill and was introduced by the European Commission more than a decade ago. At the time, as smartphone sales expanded, customers complained that they had to use different charging ports for Android phones and iPhones.

Soon all phones sold in the EU will have to use USB-C, even iPhones

Most Android phones sold in the EU use USB-C ports for charging, and the Android smartphone manufacturers would find it much easier to comply with the bill. However, Apple iPhones are using the Lightning port, and the company should migrate to using USB-C if it wants to continue selling in the EU.

That’s why Apple is one of the biggest critics of the bill. Apple claims the bill could lead to more electronic waste as users should buy new USB-C accessories and abandon their Lightning stuff. This results in millions of wasted Lightning accessories. Of course, Some reports suggest that Apple plans to replace Lightning with USB-C in its future products.

On Tuesday, EU officials are holding a meeting to turn the bill into law. Forcing smartphones to have a USB-C port is definite. But EU officials want to see if laptops need to be included in the bill. The bill may also affect some Samsung devices.

The EU is also trying to harmonize wireless charging systems by 2025. Of course, this might take much longer due to technical reasons.