EU countries have reached an agreement on selecting equipment for building 5G networks for data and telecommunications. This means that companies offering 5G equipment must be strictly vetted, which could result in the Chinese Huawei being excluded.
Although the new European procedure does not formally exclude any companies, the new policy seems driven by fears that Huawei spies in potential EU networks on behalf of the Chinese government.
In the near future, once the network frequencies for 5G bands have been sold, providers will not be able to simply purchase network equipment. Instead, a ‘selection procedure’ must be followed, which takes into account the country of origin of the equipment’s manufacturer. In this way, the EU member states indirectly point to Chinese government interference in Chinese companies.
Within the European Union there have long been concerns about the rollout of new, fast 5G networks. For many telecom companies, Huawei equipment is a good choice, but many EU governments remain cautious. There are rumors, however, that the United Kingdom wants to allow the use of Chinese equipment. The Dutch government believes telecom providers should take precautionary measures to secure their networks.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Huawei, resulting in several American companies being allowed to trade only under restricted conditions with the Chinese firm. The EU is not adopting such extreme measures yet.
Huawei was not named during the EU ministers’ meeting, but the EU countries will look at the ‘legal frameworks’ of the country where the equipment originates. This is an indirect reference to state involvement in major tech companies. This could apply to Russian or Chinese suppliers. Additionally, EU member states should not depend on a single supplier but procure from multiple parties.
Earlier, the EU already warned about an increasing number of state-sponsored cyberattacks. The risk of 5G equipment from foreign powers being used in mobile networks was also identified.
Huawei denies spying for the Chinese government. To date, there is no concrete evidence that Huawei is indeed spying.