BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on Thursday called on European Union member countries that have not yet done so to restrict or ban Chinese equipment makers Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks, over of risks to the collective security of the community bloc.
The former French Minister of the Economy and boss of Atos, who is responsible among other things within the European executive for industrial and digital policy, has at the same time announced that the European Commission considers the decisions taken by certain countries to completely exclude Huawei and ZTE from their fifth-generation mobile phone networks.
The EU adopted security recommendations on 5G two years ago, which ask the Twenty-Seven to assess the potential risk of suppliers at a national or European level and to restrict or ban suppliers deemed to be high risk.
“But, to date, only a third of them have used these prerogatives and have therefore taken decisions on restrictions or exclusion. I say it clearly, I told them, it is too little, because it now poses a major security risk for the Union, all our networks being interconnected”, underlined Thierry Breton to Les Echos.
“The Commission, for its part, has decided to require its telecommunications service providers to completely exclude Huawei and ZTE,” he added.
The Commission defines risky suppliers as equipment manufacturers who are likely to be subject to interference from a third country on information and data security.
Huawei, ZTE and Beijing reject Western accusations that equipment provided by the two companies could be used for espionage purposes.
(Foo Yun Chee, French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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