They did, but why talk about that when we can just fearmonger about things that aren't happening?

I wouldn't give them any credit for that. I would sure bet you that they just decided that building USB-C iPhones for Europe and Lightning for everywhere else would be more expensive than what they ended up doing.

European iOS still requires """notorization""" (app signing by Apple-verified developers), so I wouldn't hold my breath.

Exactly what Google was trying to enforce with their mandatory developer verification/app signing until they backed down. Hopefully that lasts for a while, but the future of open computing isn't bright...