On March 2, 2025, the European Commission published a revised draft of the regulation on the ecodesign requirements for external power supplies. The scope of application has been extended and will in future also include battery chargers for device batteries, wireless chargers and charging pads as well as USB Type-C cables.
Upper limits for standby consumption should also apply to wireless chargers and wireless charging pads. In addition, USB Type-C cables should be subject to ecodesign requirements to ensure that their energy losses remain within the limits set out in the relevant USB standards and that they are labeled on their connectors to inform consumers of the maximum supported power. Accordingly, the requirement should also be extended to external power supplies that power a wider range of products beyond those covered by Directive 2014/53/EU in order to maximize interoperability.
Information on the relevant interoperability specifications should be provided through a 'Common Charger' logo to inform consumers that they are interoperable and that the same power supply can be used for a range of different devices or different generations of the same device, thereby reducing the number of power supplies required and facilitating their replacement, thereby improving the environmental aspects of the product. The draft Common Charger Logo can be found in Annex III.
Furthermore, the following additional aspects are included in the new draft:
- Increase of some limit values for no-load power consumption (energy efficiency requirements).
- New Annex I, in which terms such as "efficiency at low load" and "EPS (external power supply) for base voltages" are defined.
- Introduction of new information requirements that must be included in the type plate for EPS.
The draft is intended to update the previous Regulation (EU) 2019/1782 based on the (old) Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC. This is possible under Art. 79 (1) a) i) of the (new) Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2024/1781.
It is planned to adopt the draft in the third quarter of 2025.
Do you have questions about the current draft of the ecodesign requirements? We will be happy to provide you with further support. Simply send us an email with your question or use our contact form.
Would you like to read more information about ecodesign? You can find more articles here:
→ The Ecodesign Directive is here! from April 30, 2024
→ New stand-by Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2023/826 from April 26, 2023
Author's note
This article has been machine translated into English.
DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC: This European directive sets out the requirements for the environmentally sound design of "energy-related products" in the single market of the European Union.
Directive 2014/53/EU: regulates the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of radio equipment and is, alongside the EMC Directive and the Low Voltage Directive, the most important regulatory instrument for placing electronic products on the market.
