New EU rules for chargers
The common charger rule moves from the device to the charger. Regulation (EU) 2025/2052 applies from 14 December 2028.
Since 28 December 2024, phones, tablets, cameras, headphones and other small devices sold in the EU must charge over USB-C. Laptops followed on 28 April 2026. That rule, Directive (EU) 2022/2380, is about the device. What is USB-C? explains it.
The next rule is about the charger. On 13 October 2025 the European Commission adopted Regulation (EU) 2025/2052, ecodesign requirements for external power supplies. It applies from 14 December 2028 and replaces Regulation (EU) 2019/1782.
What it covers
External power supplies, wireless chargers and charging pads, chargers for portable general-use batteries, and USB-C cables.
It leaves out power supplies for medical devices, uninterruptible power supplies, chargers for e-bikes and other transport, and products that use the power mainly inside themselves, such as a TV or a laptop with USB ports.
What changes
- USB-C by default. A power supply must be a common charger, with at least one USB-C port. Some products are exempt, such as power supplies for electric toothbrushes and vacuum cleaners.
- Detachable cables. A common charger works with a separate cable, not one fixed to it.
- A new logo. Common chargers carry the EU common charger logo on the charger, the packaging and the manual. The number in it is the most power a single USB-C port can deliver.
- Marked cables. Every USB-C cable is marked at its plugs: 60 W or 240 W.
- Less waste in use. Minimum efficiency and a ceiling on power drawn with nothing connected. Wireless chargers and pads get standby limits.
- Surge. A common charger must keep working after a surge test.
Why
More than 400 million external power supplies are sold in the EU every year. The Commission expects the rule to make a further 35–40% of the market interoperable, on top of the roughly half it assumes already is because of the device rule. By 2035 it expects consumers to spend about €100 million a year less.
At the desk
One charger for every device, and a cable that says what it carries. Cylindric UX1 and Cubical C1 already charge over USB-C with USB Power Delivery.
Sources: European Commission, Regulation (EU) 2025/2052 and one common charging solution for all.
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