The USB-C system would become the standard across all 27 membership countries.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, announced a new plan on Thursday that would establish the USB-C charger as the standard throughout its two dozen-plus member states for smartphones, tablets and other devices—a move Apple, which uses a separate “Lightning” charging system for its iPhones, has long opposed. The movement to adopt a common charger in Europe has been a long time coming. The number of different mobile phone chargers on the market has been whittled down from 30 to three (including the USB micro-B) since 2009, when the Commission “facilitated a voluntary agreement by the industry.” Thursday’s news is the final step toward adopting a single, universal charger.
