The EU may ban the use of Huawei technologies for 5G networks

The European Union is considering a ban on the use of technology companies in 5G networks that pose a security risk. The list includes a Chinese company Huawei, writes The Financial Times, citing its own sources.

Only a third of EU countries have banned Huawei from using components for 5G communications, said EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton. “This is too little. And this jeopardizes the collective security of the union,” he concluded.

In 2020, the EU developed guidelines with requirements for companies to certify and diversify their suppliers. As such, the ban was not introduced, but FT sources say that it could be introduced if EU members continue to use equipment from Huawei and other companies that potentially undermine security.

Huawei opposed the politicization of the cybersecurity assessment. The company believes that it is a violation of the principles of fairness to exclude specific suppliers from the chain without proper technological assessment.

A number of European countries are already reconsidering their dependence on Chinese components, including in the telecommunications sector. Portugal plans to stop using Huawei’s 5G equipment. Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the United Kingdom have already abandoned the company’s products.

November 2022 in USA banned import and sale of Huawei and ZTE communication equipment. The decision to ban was made due to the fact that the equipment is “deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security in the United States.”