| NOTAS: | Report prepared for DG Enterprise and Industry by Risk & Policy Analysts Limited
"In the past, mobile telephones were only compatible with specific mobile telephone chargers. Apart from causing inconvenience to the consumer, this created unnecessary electronic waste. In response to this, the European Commission facilitated an agreement among major handset manufacturers to adopt a common charger for data-enabled mobile phones sold in the EU. In June 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in which mobile phone manufacturers agreed to harmonise chargers for new models of data-enabled handsets coming onto the market as of 2011. The MoU expired at the end of 2012 but it has been effectively extended by a number of its signatories through two subsequent ‘Letters of Intent’ (LoI), signed in 2013 and 2014. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impacts these initiatives have had on the harmonisation of chargers for mobile telephones and indirectly on the markets for other portable electronic devices, and to assess the potential for further harmonisation. The study comprises three parts: Part I: assessment of the impact of the MoU on the market for mobile phones and their chargers; Part II: evaluation of the possible indirect impacts that the MoU has had on the EU market for other small portable electronic devices; and Part III: ex-ante assessment of the potential impacts of different policy options for further harmonisation of charging of mobile phones and other portable rechargeable devices." |
