The European Union wants to ban “high-risk” suppliers under the cybersecurity proposals set out in the Digital Networks Act in January. These proposals, currently being negotiated by the European Parliament and member state governments, are the latest in a series of measures targeting China, with which Europe’s trade relations have deteriorated in recent years.
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The act does not name specific Chinese companies, but once identified, telecommunications operators would have to gradually remove equipment made by them from their networks over three years.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged the EU to “avoid discriminatory, restrictive measures” and warned that this would harm the European economy.
“Such an EU approach harms others and does not benefit the EU itself,” said ministry spokesman Guo Jiakunas (Guo Dziakunas) at a press conference. “As a result, Europe will lose opportunities for digital transformation and development… and it will undermine the confidence of companies from various countries to invest in Europe.”
CEOs of European telecommunications companies, including France’s Orange, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, and Spain’s Telefonica, also oppose this ban.
In an open letter signed by 17 executives on Tuesday, it was stated that the proposed measures would increase their investment costs. The letter did not specifically mention China but said that a complete ban on certain foreign suppliers could cause the sector to incur “up to 40 billion euros in replacement costs.”
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that China hopes the EU “will carefully listen to the rational voices of representatives from various European sectors.”
These proposals came after the European Commission in 2023 urged countries to remove equipment made by Huawei and ZTE from their mobile networks due to security risks, but these recommendations were insufficient.
The US has long banned the use of Huawei equipment and seeks to persuade allies to do the same. Washington claims that these companies’ products could be used for data collection.
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