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> There were no mandates to adopt micro-usb in the EU.

... huh ? https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_11_...

> Following a mandate from the European Commission, the European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI issued the harmonised standards to be adhered to by data-enabled mobile phones compatible with the new common charger as of 2011. The common charger solution is based in the Micro-USB connector technology



They mandated the standards bodies to issue standards to adopt for those who wanted to, but didn't mandate manufacturers to adopt the standards.

Or they would have spent the past 10 years fining Apple for violating them.


There is no mandate that states that if a party fails to abide by a mandate that you are mandated to fine them.


And yet a plausible threat of negative consequences is the only thing that could possibly distinguish a mandate from a suggestion.


The regulation is the negative consequence.

This is how self regulation can work. And in this case it nearly worked, Apple pretty much being the lone holdout.


When an order has no consequences for non-compliance it is, by definition, not an order.




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