Huawei slams new EU restrictions

Huawei Friday said it “strongly opposes and disagrees” with an announcement by the EU Commission to block the Chinese technology giant from EU research funding and contracts because it poses “materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers.”

The EU executive and member countries’ cybersecurity experts on Thursday urged national governments to restrict the role of Chinese 5G vendors Huawei and ZTE in Europe.

But Huawei said in a response the EU’s move was “clearly not based on a verified, transparent, objective and technical assessment of 5G networks.”

“It is of paramount importance to emphasize that the discriminatory ‘HRV’ assessment shall not be applied to any vendor without justified procedure and adequate hearing,” it said. “Huawei holds procedural and substantial rights and should be protected under the EU and member states’ laws as well as their international commitments.”

It added that publicly singling out an individual entity as a “high-risk vendor” (HRV) was “against the principles of free trade.”

Huawei has previously fought a ban on its 5G equipment in Sweden in court but lost that challenge last year.