Top EU Official Urges More Countries To Ban China's Huawei, ZTE From 5G Networks
- European Single Market Commissioner Thierry Breton called on more member states to remove "high-risk" providers such as Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks, citing national security risks.
- To date, only 10 EU countries have restricted or banned Huawei from using their 5G networks, Breton said.
- China later said it strongly opposed a ban on Huawei by some EU countries and that the European Commission had no legal basis to ban the company, Reuters reported.
© Courtesy of CNBC Huawei is back in the spotlight in Europe after reports that Germany may ban some of the Chinese telecom giant's equipment from its 5G network.A senior European Union official has called on other EU countries to ban Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks, raising tensions with Beijing.
European Single Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has said he wants more member states to exclude "high-risk" providers such as Huawei and ZTE from their mobile internet infrastructure, citing national security risks.
In January 2020, the EU adopted the "5G Cybersecurity Toolkit" which aims to identify the risks associated with the acceptance of some 5G infrastructure providers in their implementation. This comes after several countries, including the UK, decided to ban Huawei due to security concerns.
"We will continue to work actively with the remaining member countries and carriers," Breton said in a speech on Thursday.
"I can only emphasize how important it is to speed up decisions to replace high-risk providers of their 5G networks. I have also reminded the affected operators that it is time to address this issue."
To date, only 10 EU countries have restricted or banned Huawei from using their 5G networks, Breton said.
"For its part, the Commission will apply the principles of the 5G toolkit for the outsourcing of telecommunications services to avoid the influence of Huawei and ZTE," Breton said.
China has since said it strongly opposes Huawei bans by some EU countries and that the Commission has no legal basis for banning the company, Reuters reported, citing a Chinese foreign ministry official.
Breton's comments follow news that Germany is considering banning Huawei and ZTE from its 5G network due to perceived national security threats. In response, the Chinese embassy in Germany said it was "shocked and extremely unhappy" by the news.
"Huawei strongly opposes and disagrees with the comments made by representatives of the European Commission," a Huawei spokesperson told CNBC. "This is clearly not based on a proven, transparent, objective and technical assessment of 5G networks."
"Huawei understands the concern of the European Commission for the protection of cyber security in the EU. However, restrictions or exclusions based on discriminatory judgments would pose serious economic and social risks. They will stifle innovation and distort the EU market.”
A ZTE spokesman called the Commission's proposed actions "unfortunate" and said they "do not appear to be based on specific and well-articulated concerns".
"ZTE fully agrees that the security of 5G networks in EU member states is of the utmost importance," said a ZTE spokesperson.
"ZTE products are safe and comply with all technical and regulatory standards of EU member states. To date no evidence to the contrary has been presented. seller."
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The United States and its allies, including the United Kingdom and Australia, have banned Huawei from their 5G networks.
Washington officials say Huawei and ZTE technologies could be used by Beijing for espionage. Both the companies and Beijing denied the allegations.
The EU has previously referred to China as a "partner", "economic competitor" and "systemic competitor".
Recently, however, it has leaned toward a "systemic competitor" in an effort to keep China as a partner, but fearful of its growing influence on the development of critical technologies.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech earlier this year that she thought the bloc should reconsider its ties with Beijing, although she said the EU was not interested in "disengaging" from China. Instead, he said, it should try to "de-risk" its relationship with China.
Operators have been fighting to replace Huawei as the infrastructure provider in their mobile networks. Industry executives say Huawei's technology is often cheaper and more advanced than rivals such as Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
