TELECOMMUNICATIONS : DEAL REACHED ON MANDATORY UNIVERSAL PHONE CHARGER.

To cut costs and reduce waste, mobile phone manufacturers will in the future be obliged to make their products compatible with a universal battery charger. Negotiators from the European Parliament, Commission and Council reached a provisional deal to this effect, on 19 December.

Barbara Weiler (S&D, Germany), rapporteur on the dossier and lead negotiator for Parliament, said she was pleased with the agreement, "although the Council and the Commission were hesitant at first". She reckons the new rule will benefit consumers.

The provision making a universal charger mandatory was inserted by members of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) in the draft report they adopted on 26 September. In an amendment, they stated that "in particular, mobile phones should be compatible with a universal charger, which allows interoperability". The provision thus enhances the Commission's proposal for a directive on the harmonisation of the laws of...