EXPLAINED
The story so far: Last September, the European Commission took an important step to push smartphone makers into harmonising their mobile devices’ charging ports. The move was aimed at standardising chargers in the EU area, which in turn would reduce cost for consumers and carbon footprint left by unused cables.
“Chargers power all our most essential electronic devices. With more and more devices, more and more chargers are sold that are not interchangeable or not necessary,” Thierry Breton, EU commissioner responsible for Internal Market, said about the proposal. “We are putting an end to that.” Now, EU lawmakers and member states say they may clinch a deal by the end of the year that will make way for common charging ports, according to a report by Reuters.
