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.
Yeah besides aesthetic preferences change over time and people just grow to prefer what’s ever modern. Or to tolerate it and then that becomes the standard. I don’t remember people removed that phones were too thick back in the day. Obviously their primary motivation is planned obsolescence and increased phone sales.
It’s incredibly naive to assume there’s any other reason. I’m just absolutely no reason for them to stick glue on the battery or the serialize parts, other than to sell more phones and warranty plans.