Funny, because all of North America uses the NEMA standard and the EU uses a bunch of different plugs.
Of course, that's not quite the same as the laptop charger question where the fragmentation is between companies and less entrenched. But still.
I can say that, because Brexit happened, I have no clue what those were thinking when designing their own gigantic plug.
As I understand it, EU moves to standardise plugs failed in the 90s.
But Italy has the "normal" (schuko or French) plug. The old one (three holes in line) are in older houses mostly.
My previous data was based on my travel in EU. Now I'm corrected.
But there is a standardized plug that fits both schuko and French style sockets. That was probably why I didn't notice it earlier.
That's a bit of an oversimplification. I was in Italy on Thursday and also early in May. My very modern hotel rooms mostly had Italian three-hole sockets, with a single token 'standard' euro socket provided at the table, that nevertheless didn't always accept my (French-style) laptop cable because the prongs were too thick.
Also, flashy modern hotels aside, I'd say most houses in Italy are "older houses". The three-hole socket is definitely extremely common in Italy in my experience. In fact, there's two incompatible three-hole Italian sockets - a larger one for most appliances, and a smaller one for lights.
Regardless, I meant, physically within the borders of the EU, not during the time of the EU.