Type E
Direct Answer
Type E is the French/Belgian standard -- unusually, its round grounding pin is fixed in the socket, not the plug. It's used across France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia, and a hybrid CEE 7/7 plug design bridges it with the incompatible German Type F.
Source: CEE 7/5 (socket) / CEE 7/6 (plug)
Specs
| Pins | 2 round power pins; earth pin projects from the socket, not the plug |
| Rated Current | 16 A |
| Rated Voltage | 250 V |
| Grounded | Yes (mandatory) |
| Common Regions | France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia |
The Ground Pin Is on the Wrong Side
Almost every grounded plug type puts its earth pin on the plug itself. Type E inverts that: the round male earth pin is fixed inside the wall socket, and the plug has a matching recessed hole for it. The safety-sequencing goal is identical to plug-mounted ground pins elsewhere -- the earth connection engages before the live pins touch -- just achieved by swapping which half of the connection carries the pin.
That inversion makes Type E mechanically incompatible with Germany's socket-side-clip Type F, despite both being common across neighboring parts of Europe. The CEE 7/7 hybrid plug was designed specifically to solve this: it has both a recessed hole for Type E's socket-mounted pin and side grounding clips for Type F sockets, letting a single plug work safely in either. One genuine hazard worth knowing: a Type E or F plug inserted into a Danish Type K socket makes no ground connection at all, since Type K's earth pin sits in yet another position -- a documented shock risk, not just an inconvenience.