Upon their arrival at the informal meeting of European Telecommunications Ministers on Friday 1 March, several national representatives called on the EU to present a coordinated response to Huawei. As is customary, however, no formal decisions emerged from the discussions.
This case follows the US decision to ban the Chinese giant Huawei, accused of espionage, from participating in the deployment of 5G on US territory. The Europeans, on the other hand, have not yet officially defined their position.
However, when questioned by a Bloomberg journalist on their arrival, some ministers clearly called on the EU to make concrete proposals. This is the case of the Belgian minister, Philippe De Backer, and the Norwegian minister, Nikolai Astrup. "It would be interesting to see the EU recommendations on safety standards and general requirements. This could be useful for some Member States", he said. Belgium has indicated that it will take a decision on the basis of an ongoing investigation as early as April. Germany was open to a discussion, but indicated that it was too early to take action. The Netherlands has adopted more or less the same approach, emphasising the importance of cooperation.
The ministerial meeting focused on two themes: the strategy for a digital single market after 2020 and artificial intelligence. Cybersecurity was discussed at the working lunch. "We discussed cybersecurity in general. The concern and desire to have a safe environment, regardless of the supplier, were present. The responses of the Member States were very different. But it was a good opportunity for everyone to participate in a collective discussion", commented Romanian Minister of Communications Alexandru Petrescu. Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip did not answer journalists' questions, so as not to miss his flight.
It should be noted that, on the same day, the Commission published a response to a parliamentary question from Louis Michel (ALDE, Belgium) calling for rapid information sharing, coordination capacity and the ability to impose concrete sanctions against cyberattacks. The Commission replied that the Council, in cooperation with the European External Action Service, was considering implementing provisions to impose restrictive measures for certain types of online activities. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)