The European Commission wants to make a very big change for the batteries of the new mobile phones, as it also wants to impose the use of a single standard for the charging ports of the devices. After the European Parliament voted to standardize the charging ports for mobile phones, the European Commission wants to oblige manufacturers to also allow the much easier replacement of batteries, without visiting a special service, as requested by Apple.
The European Commission wants to force phone manufacturers to go back to the old ways of making phones whose batteries can be replaced by simply removing the case, which none of the majors now offer. Apple was the first company to launch phones whose batteries cannot be replaced manually by customers, and everyone else followed suit, but now the European Commission wants to force them to change this practice, and to offer more freedom to customers.
European Commission: MAJOR Change for Phone Batteries
The European Commission has this initiative led by Frans Timmermans, its executive vice-president, he will present a directive proposal in mid-March. The European Commission does not want only phones to be covered by this directive, but a varied range of other electronic devices, and this with the idea of allowing people to keep the products in use for longer periods of time, thus generating less waste electronics.
"The EU wants to force electronics manufacturers to facilitate easier battery replacement. Durability seems to be the main idea behind this proposal, as easier battery replacements will allow people to use their smartphones for longer, thus generating less e-waste. Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the Green Deal at the European Commission, will present it in mid-March."
The European Commission it will certainly have to contend with a lot of opposition from Apple, the only manufacturer that generally opposes measures that are beneficial to consumers. Despite this, the European Commission has the great advantage of deciding on its own what it wants to do, and I don't think any consumer will complain that they won't have to pay an excessively high price to Apple to change their phone's battery without be blocked from using it.
The European Commission will not soon adopt such a directive, but if the obligation to standardize charging ports is imposed, it would be good to impose the obligation regarding phone batteries as well.
