What (EU) 2025/2052 Means for Chargers: A Manufacturer's Compliance Map
A factory-side walkthrough of Regulation (EU) 2025/2052: what changes for external power supplies and chargers, when each requirement bites, and what buyers should be asking their suppliers now.
Published 15 October 2026 · By the engineering and compliance team at GPOWER (Foshan, China) · Reading time 10 minutes
The short answer: Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/2052, adopted on 13 October 2025 and published in the Official Journal on 24 November 2025, replaces the external power supply ecodesign rules of Regulation (EU) 2019/1782. It entered into force on 14 December 2025, and its main requirements apply from 14 December 2028. Three shifts matter most for charger buyers: USB Type-C interoperability becomes mandatory for most power supplies (with detachable cables only), efficiency limits tighten — including a 0.075 W no-load floor for single-voltage AC-DC EPS — and manufacturers must keep technical documentation available for ten years.
Why a “replace” matters more than an “amend”
(EU) 2019/1782 governed external power supplies since 2020. The new regulation does not just raise its numbers: it widens the product scope, folds in interoperability requirements that connect to the EU’s “common charger” policy under the Radio Equipment Directive, and adds new information duties. If your compliance files still reference 2019/1782 as the governing standard for EPS, that reference has a built-in expiry date — with a few documented derogations explained below.
What is in scope
| Category | Covered by (EU) 2025/2052? |
|---|---|
| External power supplies (EPS) | Yes — the core scope. The EPS definition covers products converting AC mains to DC/AC output, in a separate enclosure, with nameplate output up to 60 V DC or 42.4 V peak AC |
| Battery chargers for portable batteries of general use | Yes — newly in scope, a major expansion beyond 2019/1782 |
| Wireless chargers and wireless charging pads | Yes — newly in scope (inductive power transmission, up to 50 W by the regulation’s definition) |
| USB Type-C cables | Yes — including marking duties on the plug |
| UPS devices, EPS exclusively for medical devices, EPS for means of transport, docking stations for autonomous appliances, separate control gears | No — excluded from scope |
Scope summary. Always check the full exemption list in Article 1 and Article 2 of the official text for your specific product.
The timeline that decides your development calendar
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 13 October 2025 | Commission adopts Regulation (EU) 2025/2052 |
| 24 November 2025 | Published in the Official Journal of the EU |
| 14 December 2025 | Regulation enters into force |
| 14 December 2028 | Main requirements apply. EPS placed on the market from this date must meet the new ecodesign and interoperability requirements |
| 14 December 2030 | End of the derogation letting USB-PD EPS with an extended power range above 100 W comply with the (older) energy efficiency requirements of 2019/1782 instead |
| 14 December 2033 | End of the extension for spare-part EPS under the old annexes |
A useful detail for early movers: EPS that already comply with the new regulation and are placed on the market between entry into force and the application date are automatically considered compliant with 2019/1782.
Requirement 1: USB Type-C interoperability, and no captive cables
Unless exempted, AC-DC external power supplies must be designed as “interoperable EPS”:
- At least one USB Type-C port supporting USB Power Delivery, by default — this is the EPS-side half of the EU common charger framework
- Detachable cables only. Interoperable EPS must operate with removable, standard USB Type-C cables; permanently attached output cables are out, a direct blow to the captive-cable wall chargers still common on the market
- Battery chargers for portable batteries with rated input power up to 100 W, plus non-exempt wireless chargers and pads, must in turn provide a USB Type-C port at the DC input and be powered through an interoperable EPS
- Marking at every port: the maximum supported power must be marked at each USB-C port, and the products must carry the EU “common charger” logo
The interoperability obligation carries its own exemptions — for example EPS used in wet environments, or supplied with products like vacuum cleaners, certain power tools, toys and audio equipment. The full list is in the regulation and matters more than most buyers expect: some product categories stay free to ship captive-cable designs.
Requirement 2: tighter efficiency, measured differently
| Parameter | The direction under (EU) 2025/2052 |
|---|---|
| No-load power consumption | Tight limits per EPS type — e.g. 0.075 W for single-voltage AC-DC EPS, a steep drop from the previous regime |
| Low-load efficiency | A new 10%-load efficiency requirement is introduced — real-world charging happens at partial load, and the EU is now measuring it |
| Average active efficiency | Minimum values across 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% load, replacing the simpler averaging of the old regime |
| Wireless charging standby | Explicit standby limits — e.g. a wireless charging pad without a hard-wired DC cable must stay at or below 0.50 W at its DC input |
Efficiency requirements summary. The exact threshold tables sit in the annexes of the official text — and because the scope now includes battery chargers and wireless products, the number of threshold tables has multiplied compared to 2019/1782.
One structural change deserves attention: the old 250 W ceiling on the EPS scope is gone, so higher-power supplies that previously sat outside ecodesign rules are being pulled in as the USB-PD Extended Power Range ecosystem matures.
Requirement 3: information and documentation duties
- Cable marking: USB Type-C cables within scope must be marked on the plug with the maximum power they support — the “60W” and “240W” printed on a mould becomes a regulatory requirement rather than a marketing choice
- Technical documentation: manufacturers must keep the technical documentation of placed products available for ten years — compliance advisories note this includes public accessibility via the manufacturer’s website; confirm the precise scope against the official text
- Product information: key parameters such as power and voltage must be clearly disclosed, supporting both buyers and market surveillance authorities
What buyers should ask suppliers now
The application date — December 2028 — lands inside the normal development and certification cycle of any charger you brief your factory on in 2026 and 2027. Five questions separate prepared factories from surprised ones:
- Is the platform you are quoting us built as an interoperable EPS, with at least one USB-C PD port and detachable-cable architecture?
- Can you share no-load and partial-load efficiency data against the new thresholds, not just the old 2019/1782 numbers?
- If our product needs a captive cable for its application, which exemption in the regulation covers it?
- What is your plan for the common charger logo and per-port power marking on our industrialisation files?
- How will the ten-year documentation duty be handled for our models if we change suppliers mid-cycle?
What this means for our factory
As an ODM/OEM manufacturer in Foshan building chargers from 20 W up to the 240 W EPR class, we treat 2028 not as a distant deadline but as a design input: platform decisions made today — connector architecture, standby circuitry, cable strategy — determine whether a 2028 launch is a variant or a redesign. Because our model is to build to the customer’s launch calendar, the practical conversation is simple: tell us your target market and launch date, and the applicable requirement set gets built into the specification from the first quotation. If you are planning EU launches in that window, talk to our engineering team early — the earlier interoperability is in the spec, the cheaper it is.
The bottom line
(EU) 2025/2052 is the most consequential power-supply regulation since 2019/1782 — broader scope, stricter efficiency, mandatory USB-C interoperability, and a documentation duty measured in decades. None of it is hard for a competent factory; all of it is expensive to retrofit in 2028. The window to design for it cheaply is open now.
For certification and market-access topics beyond the EU, see the Southeast Asia charger certification guide and the rest of our guides
This article summarises Regulation (EU) 2025/2052 based on the official text and public compliance advisories as of October 2026, for planning purposes only. It is not legal advice; confirm all thresholds and dates against the Official Journal text or your compliance partner before making product decisions.
