The European Commission attacks Huawei as a 5G supplier. “Few countries have removed Chinese equipment”

Despite calls to abandon the services of the Chinese company Huawei as a 5G network provider, few EU countries have taken appropriate action, European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said on Tuesday. Now the fate of introducing a ban on using this company's services in the EU is in the balance.

According to the plan, the EC was to adopt the Cybersecurity Act on Wednesday, which would include them provisions to strengthen the security of critical infrastructure in Member States. However, as an EU source told PAP, its presentation was delayed by a week.

For years, the EC has made no secret of the fact that it considers it risky for member states to use the services of Chinese telecommunications companies when introducing new generation networks.

Years of EU recommendations, but no results

Despite, The EC has not yet decided to propose a ban use of Huawei services, which would be legally binding on Member States. It limited itself to recommendations, leaving the final decision to the member states.

In the EC guidelines for securing the 5G network issued in 2020 recommended that member states limit or exclude “high-risk” suppliers such as Huawei from critical infrastructure. The lack of reaction from many member states led the EC to tighten its recommendations in 2024. The Commission then identified Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE, as high-risk suppliers and called on Member States to phase out their services.

However, the truth is that still few member states have taken appropriate action, spokesman Regnier said on Tuesday.

He admitted that the Vice-President of the European Commission for Technology, Henna Virkkunen, is focused on the potential exclusion of some suppliers and the taking of additional actions by member states.

Poland's position: No prohibitions

In March 2025, the Ministry of Digitization declared that Poland would not introduce a ban or restriction on the use of Huawei equipment in telecommunications networks. This equipment is used in Polish 5G networks, and approximately 60 percent 4G network infrastructure in Poland comes from a Chinese supplier.

From Brussels Magdalena Cedro (PAP)

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