EU common-charger rules: separate the USB-C device, charger and 2028 requirements

What is already required in the EU in 2026?

The European Commission lists twelve portable-device categories under the common-charging solution from 28 December 2024: handheld mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, portable speakers, handheld videogame consoles, e-readers, earbuds, keyboards, mice and portable navigation systems. Laptops entered the same framework on 28 April 2026. Directive (EU) 2022/2380 applies these requirements to covered radio equipment in so far as it can be recharged by wired charging; it is not a rule that every electrical product must have USB-C.

For a covered device, Annex Ia requires an accessible and operational USB Type-C receptacle and compatible USB-C cables. If the device can charge above 5 V, 3 A or 15 W, it must incorporate USB Power Delivery. Producers and sellers must also provide the opportunity to buy the equipment without a charging device, show whether one is included and display the minimum and maximum charging power and compatible fast-charging protocol. The Commission’s 2026 report describes these as five connected requirements, not as a single port-shape test.

Which evidence should match the device and the charger?

Start with the exact radio-equipment model and its charging architecture. The packaging, online offer and instructions should consistently show whether a charging device is included, the minimum power needed to start charging, the maximum power needed for full charging speed and “USB PD” where applicable. Compare those values with the supplied or recommended external power supply, its single-port and shared-port behaviour, the cable rating and the product actually quoted.

The Common Charger Directive sits inside the Radio Equipment Directive conformity route. Buyers should therefore connect the charging claims to the manufacturer’s EU Declaration of Conformity and technical file for the exact device, while keeping the external power supply’s own safety, EMC, substance, energy-efficiency and market-access records as a separate set. ZIMONAI’s practical reading is to reject one-page statements that name neither the device model nor the charger model: interoperability is a relationship between two defined products, not a property established by the words “USB-C”.

• Covered device category and the date the requirement became applicable
• Exact device and external-power-supply model numbers
• Minimum and maximum charging power shown on the consumer label
• USB PD support and any additional proprietary protocol
• Included/not-included pictogram across packaging and online sales
• EU Declaration of Conformity and supporting technical evidence for the device
• Separate safety, EMC, ecodesign and other evidence for the charger

What changes for external power supplies in 2028?

The European Commission explains that Regulation (EU) 2025/2052 will apply from 14 December 2028 to external power supplies, chargers for portable batteries of general use, wireless chargers or pads and USB Type-C cables, subject to its scope and exemptions. Covered external power supplies will by default need to meet the common-charger design, interoperability, information and energy-performance requirements, including at least one USB Type-C or USB PD port, detachable USB-C cables, port power marking and the new common-charger logo.

This future date changes product planning, not the legal status of a September 2026 shipment. A long-running OEM programme should already map its enclosure, ports, cable, firmware, label and test plan to the 2028 regulation, especially if the model will remain on sale after the application date. The present purchase decision must still be judged under the rules in force when the product is placed on the EU market, with later requirements recorded as a controlled redesign milestone rather than backdated as current certification.