Bloomberg is reporting that Germany and Spain are opposing an EU Commission proposal in the EU Cybersecurity Act that would prohibit the purchase of high-security-risk electronic equipment throughout the EU. The provision, which is mainly targeted at Huawei and other Chinese companies, would lead to Huawei’s ban from Europe’s critical communications infrastructure.
The unusual opposition to the specific article and proposal comes from Germany and Spain. Germany has consistently kept close relations with the Chinese government due to its large trade relationship, however, Germany had already banned Huawei from entering its 6G and 5G networks.
On the other hand, the Spanish government has actively sought close links with the Chinese government, also through ideological and political attachment. Spain is already importing significant amounts of Chinese electronic equipment, with this equipment already being integrated into public telecommunications infrastructure. Huawei in Spain is also involved in servicing the Spanish authorities with monitoring equipment.
The specific EU article of the act is Article 103 (1) which states that:
Article 103
Mitigation measures in the ICT supply chain
1. The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts establishing, where necessary to ensure high level of cybersecurity, cyber resilience and trust within the Union, that specific type of entities referred to in Annex I and II to Directive (EU) 2022/2555 shall be prohibited to use, install or integrate in any form ICT components or components that include ICT components from high-risk suppliers as identified in accordance with Article 104 in key ICT assets identified in accordance with
Article
102. Such implementing acts shall provide for appropriate transition periods, during which the Commission shall publish the list of high-risk suppliers referred to in Article 104, as well as additional time periods for phasing out the relevant ICT components and components that include ICT components. Such implementing act may also specify these ICT component or components that include ICT components.
The draft text document of the EU Cybsecurity Act can be found here.
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