No exceptions to the rules
The European Commission has urged all EU member countries to participate in the collective risk reduction involved in removing Chinese telecoms equipment from their 5G networks, according to a report in Competition Policy International. Germany in particular must adhere to the European Community’s joint decision over 5G security guidelines, it said. “We are urging member states who have not yet imposed restrictions on high-risk suppliers to do that without delay, as a matter of urgency,” said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the Commission in charge of digital issues.
“A number of countries have passed legislation but they have not put it into effect. Making it work is even better,” said Vestager. Asked whether Germany, where operators like Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone have relied heavily on equipment from Chinese giant Huawei in the past decade, is of particular concern, the EVP answered diplomatically. “It is not only Germany, but it is also Germany,” said Vestager.
In 2020 European countries agreed on The 5G Security Toolbox a set of measures to reduce their reliance on “high-risk vendors” for future telecoms networks. It was widely seen as a policy to dial down procurement of equipment from Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE.
Last year the German government in Berlin passed a law allowing its ministries to intervene on telco contracts with Huawei. However, the law leaves a lot of discretion to the government over how it imposes restrictions. The new government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz was expected to take a tougher stance on China but so far hasn’t intervened much in telcos’ reliance on Huawei.