Brussels is putting its foot down and accusing Chinese equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE, and calling on member states to apply its safety recommendations. It is asking operators to stop buying from them and to replace their components.
The message from Brussels is clear: totally excluding Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks in Europe, as ten EU member states have done, is well and truly justified, according to the European Commission, which spelled this out in black and white in a communication published on June 15.
Following the criteria defined in the EU’s security recommendations for 5G in 2020, the European executive considers that the two Chinese equipment manufacturers “represent higher risks than other 5G providers”.
To back up its claim, Brussels is announcing measures to avoid its own exposure to mobile networks using Huawei and ZTE, and is encouraging other European institutions to do the same.
To remove any doubts, the Commission is calling on member states to stop installing new equipment from these suppliers, to start withdrawing existing equipment, and also to put in place restrictions on managed services. For Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, things are moving “too slowly”, creating “serious vulnerabilities”.
In some countries, such as Cyprus and Romania, which are major consumers of Chinese technology, these new administrative directions will mean starting from scratch, and lengthy work in Germany and the Netherlands. Even in France, this will pose problems for some telecom operators.
Brussels adds that it reserves the right to take additional measures to ensure that member states apply these recommendations. It also explains that it intends to translate these decisions into all relevant European funding programs.
In Beijing, Huawei, which has always maintained that its products are not subject to accusations of espionage by the Chinese government, considers that “publicly designating a company as a ‘high-risk supplier’ without any legal basis runs counter to the principles of free trade”, and deems this “discriminatory qualification (…) without due process and without a proper hearing”.
Huawei defends itself, citing a report by Oxford Economics, which states that “the exclusion of Huawei could increase the costs of investment in 5G by tens of billions of euros”.
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