The European Commission has announced exemptions to its current battery regulations that will save six new categories of electronic devices from having to have user-replaceable batteries, including wearable devices like smartwatches. The European Union began enforcing its new battery regulation in 2023 as part of the European Green Deal, but the requirement for replaceable batteries won’t come into effect until 2027. The regulation has already forced Nintendo to announce a new version of the Switch 2 with a user-replaceable battery.
Portable devices, certain medical devices, electronic toys, portable thermometers, roof-mounted telematics devices and devices designed for use in “explosive atmospheres” are now exempt from the requirement to have user-replaceable batteries, according to the Commission’s draft exemptions. When it comes to what actually qualifies as a wearable, the commission lists “smart watches, fitness trackers, smart glasses, or other electronic devices embedded in clothing and other accessories” as exempt. Although these new devices do not need to have user-replaceable batteries, many will still need to be serviceable by a qualified professional. Additionally, while the draft does not list wireless earbuds by name, devices such as Apple’s AirPods may qualify for the exemption as “wearable devices whose security, durability, or water resistance may be compromised by the user’s access to the battery.” »
Smartphones are not exempt from the battery rule, but current regulations allow for battery repairs that aren’t as simple as removing the back and inserting a new battery. Under current law, provided the replacements do not require specialist tools (or such specialist tools are provided by the phone manufacturer) and the replacements do not affect the security of the smartphone, then they are authorized by the EU. Apple’s self-service repair program, for example, appears to qualify.
Once the draft exemptions have been adopted by the Commission, they will now be submitted to the European Parliament and the EU Council for further consideration. If there are no objections, the exemptions will enter into force 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
When the EU adopted its new battery regulations, it positioned itself as participating in the construction of a greener circular economy. Requiring companies to provide devices with replaceable batteries “will extend the life of these products before their final disposal, encourage their reuse and contribute to the reduction of post-consumer waste,” the Commission wrote at the time. Attempts to introduce similar protections in the United States have been rather mixed. States like California, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon have their own right-to-repair laws, but attempts to offer some sort of federal right-to-repair rule have largely been abandoned.
