EU wants 5 years of mandatory updates for smartphones and tablets

Five years of security updates should become the standard for phones and tablets. That is what the EU wants. The same applies to the provision of parts to repair the devices: they must also be offered for at least five years.

European Commission

The European Commission is putting forward a new proposal to make the world of mobile devices more environmentally aware. There are several ways to leave the earth a little better. One of them is making sure that a product can be repaired properly, so that we don’t always throw away something that largely still works fine. Another method is to ensure that products can be used for a long time.

With telephones and tablets, this often has not so much to do with whether screens and batteries will last, but more whether there are enough updates. If at some point your phone stops receiving updates, it is dangerous for your cybersecurity. It can also be unpleasant for using your phone, because some apps stop working at some point.

Five years of mandatory updates

The European Commission will soon have to provide support in the form of security updates for five years. In addition, up to five years after the appearance of a device, at least 15 parts must be available in order to be able to repair it. Those parts must also be available quickly and there will be maximum prices to ensure that consumers do not have to bend over and still opt for a new telephone. It is now possible to replace a battery free of charge in some cases, but there are all kinds of rules attached to this: the EU also wants manufacturers to be fairer and apply fewer conditions.

The same energy labels as we know for televisions and white goods, for example, should also be introduced for smartphones and tablets. Not so much to indicate how much power the device uses, but to show the battery life and to indicate to what extent a device can withstand a fall, water or dust.

Manufacturers not happy

So it’s good that the EU would like to see a smartphone not only last two to three years, but a good five years. It would make as much money for Mother Earth as taking five million cars off the road. However, there are many requirements from the EU, which certainly not all manufacturers are eager for. In fact, Samsung, Google, Huawei, Apple, Oppo and Xiaomi would all be against the plans.

It would create more waste, because those parts have to remain available for longer and therefore far too much will be produced. They also warn that price increases are lurking due to all kinds of costs that are added by the wishes of the EU, according to the Financial Times. Also for consumers, by the way: cheaper phones become less interesting to make, according to the manufacturers.

End of 2023

Brussels is still waiting until the end of September for reactions to the plan, but will make this final before the end of the year. The regulations themselves will not come into effect until a year later, which should give manufacturers enough time to make the necessary adjustments to their processes. They will certainly be necessary with such far-reaching rules.

What do you think, is Europe too strict on manufacturers, or should it have come up with these plans much earlier? Leave your opinion in the comments to this article.