Ten companies including Apple, LG, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson have signed up to offer the charger, which will be based on a Micro-USB connector. Currently, when consumers buy a mobile phone, they are provided with a new charger even if the old one still works.

The European Commission had asked companies to work on harmonising chargers in the EU in a bid to cut down on waste. It said unused chargers amounted to thousands of tonnes of electronic waste a year and was threatening legislation unless a voluntary deal was reached. The EU industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen said he was pleased with the agreement, which would make life much simpler for consumers.

“They will be able to charge mobile phones anywhere from the new common charger. This also means considerably less electronic waste because people will no longer have to throw away chargers when buying new phones,” he said.

Talks between the phone firms and commission officials produced an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) indicating that the first generation of “inter-chargeable” mobile phones will reach the EU market from next year.

The agreement says that in future, harmonised chargers will improve energy efficiency

and reduce energy consumption. They should also give mobile-phone users an “easier life”, cutting costs by removing the likelihood of needing a new charger to go with a new mobile phone, and by foregoing the need to hunt all over the house for the correct charger.