ETNO views on RED revision on Universal Charger
We welcome the initiative by the European Commission to achieve important objectives on consumer choice, reducing cost for the consumer, and reducing waste and environmental impact.
We welcome the initiative by the European Commission to achieve important objectives on consumer choice, reducing cost for the consumer, and reducing waste and environmental impact.
To achieve these important goals, the co-legislators should be guided by the principle of future-proof regulation: the universal charger needs to follow technological development, and the Directive must allow for this, to avoid consumers, businesses and the market at large being ‘locked-in’ to a technological specification which could be outdated and not reflect the state of the art, nor meet future standards of efficiency. This can be supported by open standards and specifications, also ensuring competition on the supply side of the charger market.
Furthermore, while the Commission’s proposal makes an important step in the direction of unbundling, we believe that the legislation should aim for full unbundling in order to realise the full environmental benefits, and ensure competition at the level of pricing of the unbundled chargers.