Today in international tech news: A European Parliament committee wants to mandate uniform electronic chargers — or, put differently, it wants Apple to cooperate.
How many times have you been traveling around the globe with your mobile devices like a laptop and realized you had to sacrifice your USENET access due to an incompatible charger?
Members of the European Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee voted unanimously Thursday in favor of a new law mandating universal chargers for mobile devices.
In addition to convenience — German parliamentarian Barbara Weiler called the current situation “cable chaos” — the measure is motivated by a desire to curb electronic waste.
While the measure is not necessarily targeted at Apple, the company is an obvious outlier. Apple chargers are notoriously incompatible with other devices (and vice versa).
In 2009, the European Commission partnered with the International Telecommunications Union and mobile phone manufacturers to create a voluntary agreement around the micro USB connector. Apple signed up for the agreement but has yet to adopt such a charger.
Despite the committee’s vote, the single-charger measure must still make it through the European Council and European Parliament.
