Huawei opposes European Commission representatives statement

Today, Huawei has published an official statement to comments made by European Commission representatives. Below you can check the full press release.

“Huawei strongly opposes and disagrees with the comments made by representatives from the European Commission. This is clearly not based on a verified, transparent, objective, and technical assessment of 5G networks.

Huawei understands the European Commission’s concern to protect cybersecurity within the EU. However, restrictions or exclusions based on discriminatory judgments will pose serious economic and social risks. It would hamper innovation and distort the EU market. An Oxford Economics report states that excluding Huawei could increase 5G investment costs by up to tens of billions of euros, and it will have to be paid by European consumers.

Publicly singling out an individual entity as ‘HRV’ without a legal basis is against the principles of free trade. 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. As an economic operator in the EU, Huawei holds procedural and substantial rights and should be protected under the EU and Member States’ laws as well as their international commitments.

Cybersecurity is Huawei’s top priority. Huawei has opened a Cyber Security Transparency Centre in Brussels. This center is open to customers and independent third-party testing organizations. They are invited to perform fair, objective, and independent security tests and verifications according to industry-recognized cybersecurity standards and best practices. We remain committed to delivering globally certified and trusted products and services, connecting millions of Europeans.”

What’s the matter?

The European Commission, the bloc’s secretariat, want to remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from their premises across the continent, said Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal-market commissioner, at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.

“We will ask our connectivity services to tell suppliers to be free from Huawei and ZTE, and this applies of course for new and existing contracts,” Breton said, adding that the commission would recommend that the European Parliament and Council follow suit.

(source)