European Commission to exclude Huawei, ZTE from 5G networks

EU executive body urges member states to follow example, reduce security risks posed by Chinese companies

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Commission announced on Thursday that it will not use 5G telecom services provided by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE due to security risks.

“The security of networks is essential for all of us in Europe,” EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said at a news conference presenting the latest progress report on the EU's 5G toolbox on cybersecurity.

Breton said that “only 10 EU member states” had implemented the 5G toolbox recommendations on restricting or excluding suppliers because of posing a security risk for EU governments.

According to the European Commission’s assessment, the EU countries took a “justified" decision on excluding or restricting Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks because the companies are “subject to highly intrusive own country laws on national intelligence and data security,” he added.

The European Commission will “implement the 5G toolbox principle to its own procurement of telecom services to avoid exposure to Huawei and ZTE,” Breton said.

He also stressed that the EU executive body urges member states to speed up decisions “to replace high-risk suppliers from their 5G networks.”

The US, UK, Australia, Japan, India and Canada have recently taken similar steps.

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