The European Commission yesterday adopted new exemptions to its Batteries Regulation that free the Apple Watch and AirPods from having to offer user-removable and replaceable batteries. The EU's Batteries Regulation generally requires consumer products sold in the region to let users swap out their own batteries, a push meant to keep devices in use longer and make it easier to recover materials for recycling.
For those that don’t want to click the article. It’s not the Apple Watch specifically getting exempt, all smart watches and fitness trackers are. Presumably the same thing for all wireless ear buds but neither this nor the link to the EU article explicitly says that.