In 2014 Patently Apple posted a report titled "European Parliament Rules Apple must use the Micro-USB Standard Port for European iDevices by 2017." At the time, Barbara Weiler, a German socialist Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and rapporteur on the dossier, said in a statement: "I am especially pleased that we agreed on the introduction of a common charger. It will put an end to charger clutter and 51,000 tonnes of electronic waste annually." Bureaucracy is slow and 2017 has come and gone with Apple never complying and still to this day is using their proprietary Lightning connector.

Today the issue is back on the front burner in Europe. In a new briefing, the EU Commission acknowledged that the approach of "encouraging" industry to develop common chargers fell short of the co-legislators’ objectives. The voluntary agreements between different industry players have not yielded the desired results.

A common charger should fit all mobile phones, tablets, e-book readers and other portable devices, MEPs will insist.

The debate on Monday will be wound up by a resolution in a forthcoming plenary session. Considering that Apple decided to not voluntarily make the change away from their Lightning connector by 2017 as requested, the EU Commission will have to put it into law in order to force Apple to comply.

On the other hand, rumors have been bandying around for some time now that Apple would be introducing at least one iPhone in 2021 that would drop the Lightning charger while other rumors have pointed to Apple Adopting USB-C.

Should the EU decide to create a new law forcing mobile phone and other device makers to comply with a common standard, it could expedite any plans Apple may have on this front.