EU Battery Regulation: Exemptions for Smartwatches & Co.

A relaxed provision applies to the newly exempted products: for these products, batteries need only be removable and replaceable by professionals. Some products, such as medical devices and so-called "wet devices" – such as electric toothbrushes or oral irrigators –, are already exempted from the EU requirement for safety reasons.

The Commission justified the expansion with the longevity of certain devices. This applies "insbesondere aufgrund der Langlebigkeitsanforderungen". For the selection of exemptions, the Commission had called for the submission of applications in 2025 and consulted consumer associations, industry, and member states.

Pressure from the USA and the Meta Case

In addition to wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, products falling under the scope of the ATEX Directive are also covered by the new exemptions. These are devices used in potentially explosive atmospheres, such as explosion-protected motors, sensors, pumps, or forklifts, according to the EU directive.

At the same time, the Commission adopted an update of the existing guidelines on the removability and replaceability of portable batteries. These are intended to provide product manufacturers with instructions on how to apply the new exemption rules, according to the Commission.

After adoption by the Commission, the new delegated act will then be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU for examination. It will subsequently enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, provided neither the European Parliament nor the Council raises an objection.

The decision follows pressure from the United States. The EU Battery Regulation had recently blocked the rollout of Meta's latest generation of smart glasses in the EU for months. Meta's Smart Glasses are a jointly developed U.S.-European product and contain permanently installed batteries that cannot be easily removed and replaced.

The U.S. Ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, had criticized the EU rules in March at an event and described the Smart Glasses as "very stylish" and "very wonderful". He characterized the EU regulations as "so broad and so restrictive that it prevents the sale of this wonderful, jointly developed, U.S.-European product from being sold in the European Union". With the exemption, a major obstacle to the market entry of the Smart Glasses in the EU has now been removed.

Smartphones, Tablets, and Data Protection

Regardless of this, smartphones and tablets continue not to fall under the battery regulation. The Battery Regulation does not apply to smartphones and tablets. The provisions laid down for them are located in the Ecodesign Regulation. This takes precedence over the Battery Regulation. At the time, the Commission stated that the specific ecodesign rules for smartphones and tablets represented a higher level of environmental and health protection than the Battery Regulation. The EU Commission communicated this in response to a query from c't back in 2023.

At the same time, Smart Glasses remain under observation by European regulatory authorities and legislators due to data protection and surveillance concerns. The battery exemption does not change anything about this separate debate.