Published on Tuesday 20 January, the revision of the European Union’s Cybersecurity Act is already irritating China. The text, which establishes a legal framework for designating countries posing risks to EU security, aims to gradually eliminate suppliers from these countries from Europe’s critical sectors (see EUROPE 13790/1).
No company or country is named in the proposed text, but China has been the number one suspect for several years (see EUROPE 13711/12).
“Chinese companies have long operated in Europe in compliance with laws and regulations and have never endangered Europe’s national security”, said Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday.
“A legislative proposal to limit or exclude non-EU suppliers based on country of origin, rather than factual evidence and technical standards, violates the EU’s basic legal principles of fairness, non-discrimination and proportionality, as well as its WTO (World Trade Organization) obligations”, added a Huawei spokesperson. The company has already been excluded from the 5G networks of around ten Member States. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)