It had been in the works for a while, but now it has formally been adopted. From the article:
The regulation provides that by 2027 portable batteries incorporated into appliances should be removable and replaceable by the end-user, leaving sufficient time for operators to adapt the design of their products to this requirement.
Technology is just a tool though. It could equally be used to stop tax evasion entirely, and all sorts of crime by tracking transactions and abolishing cash. Location monitoring for evidence, etc.
Like surveillance isn’t a bad thing when your house is burgled or you get mugged.
The real issue is that the politicians are often the ones doing the tax evasion, fraud, etc. in the first place, and they don’t care about violent crime that only affects working class areas.
Did you really just try to spin transactional and location tracking as a good thing?
How is it that some of the safest countries are also the most privacy respecting?