On Thu, 09 Jan 2014 10:01:52 +0000, lid wrote:

I guess it depends on the application; if it is something that is
plugged in and switched on all the time whether it is in use or not,
may be this is beneficial, but for something you plug in when you need
and unplug when you do not, does standby current really matter?

EU directives and reality rarely have anything to do with each other.
Directives mean apparatchiks are doing "something". Doing something
is very important so they try to do a lot of it.

Achieving something is much more difficult so it isn't important and
doesn't attract much attention.