German media: Banning Huawei and ZTE, the EU will turn "recommendations" into "enforceable orders"

The European Commission plans to use legislative measures to force member states to completely remove "high-risk" suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE from their critical infrastructure. This means that Brussels will have the authority to issue red flags for telecommunications network construction that does not comply.

The European Commission recently announced that it plans to establish a legal framework that would enforce, in necessary cases, the complete prohibition of the network technology of Chinese manufacturers considered "high-risk," such as Huawei (Huawei) and ZTE (ZTE).

Previously, Brussels had only issued security recommendations to member states, urging them to avoid using the technologies of these two companies in mobile networks. However, due to dissatisfaction with the current cooperation progress of the countries, the European Commission believes that too few countries have responded to the instructions to exclude Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks. In the future, these recommendations may be transformed into binding obligations.

"Chinese components" in German mobile networks

In Germany and other European countries, components from Huawei and ZTE have long been the core part of mobile networks. However, due to concerns about possible influence from China and resulting security risks, these foreign technologies have been criticized in recent years.

According to the new mechanism proposed by the European Commission, the "network auditor" in Brussels will have the authority to jointly assess specific manufacturers with member states for risk assessment. Once a supplier is deemed high-risk, the European Commission can add it to the ban list. At that time, the technologies on the list will not be used in the critical infrastructure of EU countries, and existing components must also be replaced according to the proposal. In previous reviews, the European Commission has already classified Huawei and ZTE as high-risk suppliers due to concerns about the influence of the Chinese government.

Source: DW

Original: toutiao.com/article/1854883428223496/

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