The European Commission is on a collision course with Apple after announcing it will introduce a new law forcing all mobile phone companies to share a common charger.

Given, as Sr. Barroso pointed out, that “the point of the EU is to stop Germany invading France. Again.” how does this help?

The legislation is also expected to deter manufacturers from selling chargers with every new smartphone, in a bid to further cut waste.

Consumers may not be treated to a bundle either.

It does cross the mind that this is just that little bit detailed for the ruling system of 500 million people. As Hayek pointed out, the centre is between somewhat lacking and entirely bereft of the data, let alone information, to plan matters on a fine scale. But no doubt there is some massive gain to be had from this?

It is estimated the law could cut e-waste by 980 tons a year.

There is no lack of the materials to make the chargers from. If there were then the price mechanism would already have made them too expensive to give away with every new phone.

Further, saving waste in such quantities doesn’t seem all that important. 1,000 tonnes at double the density of water (about right, -ish) is a block 5 metres by 10 metres by 10 metres. We’re really rather certain that in a polity of 4.5 million square kilometres there’s somewhere viable to park that. The “saving” is also some 0.002 of a kg per year per person within the EU.

This before we think of the extra resources that will be required to organise two distribution mechanisms, one for phones bereft of chargers, one for chargers themselves.

Abject nonsense.