Written by By Alanna Petroff, CNN

The European Commission has given smartphone makers until June 2022 to provide consumers with Lightning connector cables capable of charging other types of devices.

At present, a USB-C cable connects mobile devices such as Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S phones to charging docks — one major consumer trend among cell phones and tablets — but not other types of devices like laptops or tablets.

A report from EU regulatory group the European Commission says that smartphone makers should use the newer and simpler cable, which is reversible and has a dedicated port for external devices, to charge their own products and make users more efficient.

USB-C cables with the specification called USB Power Delivery: An Overview. Credit: USB Implementers Forum

According to a company statement announcing the implementation of USB-C Power Delivery, the protocol reduces the charging time for a mobile device by 30%.

A study of the cables found a 50% reduction in the amount of power consumed to charge devices.

The report calls on smartphone makers to use the cables in all new devices already on the market and revises current EU regulations to make the switch mandatory.

The move follows an investigation in which the EC’s inspector general’s office evaluated possible commitments by the device manufacturers to better integrate power delivery features into their products