The EU is looking to introduce a common charger for smartphones, tablets, cameras and other devices - a change likely to impact Apple in particular.
The European Commission says the aim is to improve consumer convenience and improve the environment.
A voluntary agreement between industries reduced the number of charging solutions on the market from 30 to three.
However, today the European Commission outlined plans to legislate for a common charger - saying the tech industry could "not deliver a complete solution" to the problem.
Apple has previously spoken out against plans for a common charger, claiming it would "stifle innovation".
The European Commission’s Margrethe Vestager explained: “European consumers were frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers.
“We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger.”
Under the proposals, USB-C would become the ‘common’ charging port for devices, regardless of device.
There would also be a move to prevent device manufacturers from “unjustifiably limiting the charging speed”.
Consumers would also be able to buy a new device without a new charge, in order to “limit the number of unwanted chargers purchased or left unused”.
The proposals will now go to the European Parliament, and - if passed - device manufacturers would then have two years to adapt to the new standards.
Newstalk’s technology correspondent Jess Kelly says the charger issue is one that comes up regularly, and it particularly impacts Apple at the moment.
She said: “We’ve seen a lot of Android devices using the USB-C connector - that means one cable will be able to charge multiple Android phones from multiple brands.
“Apple, however, is still the outlier on this front - they continue to use their own Lightning Port charger cable. It’s a bit of a pain, because that cable will only work with Apple devices.
“We have seen a bit of a shift with Apple… particularly when it comes to their iPads. The iPad Pro and iPad Air, for example, now charge with that USB-C cable.”
Jess said only time will tell whether Apple will also make the change for their phones as well.
The EU announcement today comes after years of European efforts to get tech giants to adopt a common charger for phones and tablets.
