Greens welcome EU move to cut clutter with single charger for mobilephones - Meanwhile UKIP charge in wrong direction!

Andrew Cooper with a multitude of different phone chargers

The regional Green Party has welcomed a decision passed overwhelmingly by the European Parliament to require all new mobile phones sold in Europe to have a single, compatible charger by 2017 (1). The regulations are designed to cut clutter and protect consumers from the cost of having to buy product-specific chargers if they lose their existing one.

Yorkshire and the Humber Green Party’s Andrew Cooper said,

"What a great idea! I hate having to look for the right charger and fish through different sets of wires for that special socket. Mobile phone companies have had people over a barrel on chargers for years, demanding often exorbitant prices for replacements. They add to the ever growing clutter of redundant plastic and metal waste which ends up in landfill or worse, dumped in the environment harming wildlife."

UKIP have opposed the move claiming that it will harm creativity, but Cllr Cooper, the Greens’ lead Euro candidate in May’s elections, disagreed.

"How will having a single socket harm creativity?" he asked. "We don’t need separate adaptors for TV sets or washing machines, so what's different about mobile phones?

“UKIP are charging completely in the wrong direction! If anything, I hope the EU will extend the ruling to cover MP3 players, cameras and all the electronic gadgets that are increasingly basic parts of day to day life."

The European Parliament decision follows a previous ruling to reduce data roaming charges imposed by mobile phone companies on consumers travelling across Europe.

"This is simple regulation which works. It shows the power of the Parliament to act for the benefit of ordinary people," Cllr Cooper added. "But we need to elect more MEPs who are committed to consumer protection. Greens consistently put people before profit."

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