Amending the EU Radio Equipment Directive

19 jan. 2023

On Nov 23, 2022, the European Parliament published the directive 2022/2380, which will amend the Radio Equipment Directive (RED - 2014/53/EU) in two steps.

The reason for these amendments is twofold, promoting a more circular economy and making the consumers’ lives easier by limiting the number of charging/communication interfaces between radio equipment and accessories.

The first step (in effect from 28 December, 2024) will make it mandatory for the products mentioned below to use a USB type C port for wired charging and data communication. The USB-C shall fulfill the CENELEC harmonized standard EN IEC 62680-1-3:2021. If the product can be recharged by means of wired charging at voltage higher than 5V, currents higher than 3A or power higher than 15W it shall use USB Power Delivery as per EN IEC 62680-1-2:2021.

The following products will be covered (this list will be added to the RED 2014/35/EU as a Part I of Annex Ia):

1.1 handheld mobile phones
1.2 tablets
1.3 digital cameras
1.4 headphones
1.5 headsets
1.6 handheld videogame consoles
1.7 portable speakers
1.8 e-readers
1.9 keyboards
1.10 mice
1.11 portable navigation systems
1.12 earbuds
1.13 laptops

In addition, these products will be subject to marking requirements, including the requirement for a pictogram showing consumers whether or not a charger is included (pictograms 1 and 2 below). Also required will be a label specifying the minimum power required to charge the equipment and the maximum power required to achieve maximum charging speed when using USB PD (pictogram 3).

The next step (mandatory from April 28, 2026) in the RED 2014/53/EU update will be common requirements for charging by means other than wired charging. However, the amendment text defines no technical solution. Instead, this will be defined by future harmonized standards.

Reference document: Directive (EU) 2022/2380.