Note to nr. 2, this does not mandate builds where you can just pull off the back, take the battery out and put a new one in. They can still require basic tools to open, but requiring specialized tools or glueing it shut isn't allowed.

That’s fair, but some don’t want to be able to swap out the batteries on demand, we just want to be able to replace a worn one every few years for less than $100. USB power is so ubiquitous these days that having access to quick charging isn’t an issue for most people, and Qi is pretty convenient.

and I prefer it to be water and dust proof.

Adding replaceable batteries does nothing to affect this. An o-ring with a clamping mechanism will make it just as water and dust resistant as before. Your phone's charging port is more susceptible to water and dust than a replaceable battery will ever be

Also batteries have come so far this past decade it almost seems like a non issue.

I've actually have the opposite experience. I didn't mind integrated batteries a decade ago, because the hardware improved at such a fast pace that it became obsolete before the battery gave up.

But now the hardware improvements are not so fast and a decent phone will be usable for many years, at which point the battery (at least for me) is the first point of failure.

I would much rather take battery replacement over some water and dust protection as ip54 should be enough for daily use (fairphone 4 for instance does have ip54). The only time I've needed more protection is when I needed to take family photos in a pool

To quote the actually adopted text:

(38) […] A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it […]

(39) To ensure the safety of end-users, this Regulation should provide for a limited derogation for portable batteries from the removability and replaceability requirements set for portable batteries concerning appliances that incorporate portable batteries and that are specifically designed to be used, for the majority of the active service of the appliance, in an environment that is regularly subject to splashing water, water streams or water immersion and that are intended to be washable or rinseable. This derogation should only apply when it is not possible, by way of redesign of the appliance, to ensure the safety of the end-user and the safe continued use of the appliance after the end-user has correctly followed the instructions to remove and replace the battery. Where the derogation applies, the product should be designed in such a way as to make the battery removable and replaceable only by independent professionals, and not by end-users.

This is absolutely not the same as having an IP rating. A portable toaster could have an IP rating, but that doesn't mean it's intended to be submersed a lot in its life time.

Those screw in backs add a few millimetres of thickness to the watch. They also need to be made from thick heavy materials like stainless steel. When you make them out of lighter materials, like plastic, they are far thicker.

It's not rocket science, but it is a challenging problem and one that can only be solved with compromises. Personally I'm fine with those compromises, but you're kidding yourself if you think anyone is going to buy a smartphone with a 4mm thick steel battery cover.

What's probably going to happen is phones will have a screw on cover with a weak adheisve that will be destroyed when you replace the battery. You'll need to remove the adhesive and apply new adhesive if you want to maintain water resistance.

Also - watches aren't compliant are they? You can't take the back off a watch with a screwdriver. Dive watches would fall under the "designed to be submerged" exemption, but regular watches willl probably ahve to switch to being held in with screws instead of a screw in back - and a lot of currently waterproof watches will become water resistant.