On Monday 13 October, the European Commission revised the ecodesign requirements applicable to external chargers (external power supplies), more than 400 million of which are sold in the EU every year. These will have to comply with “more stringent efficiency and the introduction of interoperability and durability requirements”.
In order to reduce the energy and environmental footprint associated with manufacture and use, all USB chargers on the EU market will, for example, have to be equipped with at least one USB Type-C port and operate with detachable cables.
According to the Commission, the new rules should result in annual savings of around 3% of the life-cycle energy consumption of these external power supplies. They should also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9% and pollutant emissions by around 13%.
“These benefits will come at a reduction in consumer expenditure of around €100m per year by 2035”, adds the Commission in a press release.
All devices covered by the new interoperability rules will carry the “EU common charger” logo, to inform consumers.
The new regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in the coming weeks and will come into force 20 days later. The rules will apply from the end of 2028.
Link to the revised regulations: https://aeur.eu/f/ixi (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)