Changes in EU legislation will force Apple to abandon Lightning and switch to USB-C, which will affect the iPhone in all markets. Additionally, it looks like Apple will have to allow the European market to download apps from third-party sources, not just the App Store. The company is reportedly still working with EU lawmakers to meet all the requirements of the latter.

We want to make sure that everything we do is right for our customers. We’re working on EU security compliance and what it will look like. Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software

Apple has yet to say a word about similar deals for iOS users outside the European Union.

In the case of USB-C, if keeping Lightning for certain markets means making production more difficult, the case discussed is software-only, so Apple could at least theoretically allow third-party apps to be downloaded for EU-only. Other countries will not make such requests, at least for the time being.