The European Union is reportedly looking into measures that would ban Huawei from participating in the trading bloc’s next-generation mobile networks, several senior EU officials told Reuters.
The talks are still at the early stages, the sources added, and it’s not clear how feasible such a policy would be across the EU’s member states. However, that such a proposal is being discussed reflects the intensifying scepticism of the region towards Chinese technology.
One option under consideration is to change a 2016 cybersecurity law requiring businesses working on critical infrastructure to take tighter security measures. If the definition of “critical” infrastructure is widened to include 5G networks, then any non-European company, not just Huawei, would be excluded from operating in the space.
Whilst opposition to Huawei has flared up across the world in recent months, the recent indictment of a Huawei executive in Poland on spying charges was a wake-up call to EU authorities, the officials said.