by Théophane Hartmann
Seventeen EU countries, including the bloc’s biggest economies, still lack comprehensive plans to cut their dependency on "high-risk" Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE—despite nearly five years of efforts by the EU, new data shows.
The topic is gaining renewed importance at EU level in light of the strained US-EU relationship which brings security and sovereignty to the fore. De-risking telecommunications networks is also a priority for tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen.
A March European Parliament working document, obtained by Euractiv, had stated "14 member states have yet to implement any restrictions on high-risk suppliers, posing significant security vulnerabilities." MEPs are considering having the Commission make the EU’s 5G cybersecurity toolbox mandatory under EU law, in a bid to compel member states to take swift action.
According to new data published on 18 March by the Danish telecommunications consulting company Strand Consult, 17 member states did not fully implement the Commission’s tool, the 5G toolbox, which mandates member states to ban Chinese Huawei and ZTE from their networks.
Of these 17, six have partially implemented the toolbox, seven others are in the process of implementing it and four have no plans to implement the EU’s toolbox, five years after the adoption of EU’s common approach to securing 5G networks.
The four most reluctant countries are Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Hungary. Cyprus’ networks are fully (100%) dependent on Chinese components, a number that is at 67% for Austria, 65% for Bulgaria and 62% for Hungary, according to Strand Consult’s data, published earlier this year.
Among the most dependent national telecommunications networks Czechia stands out (67%), where work to implement the toolbox is ongoing as part of the transposition of the EU’s cyber law NIS2. Also noteworthy were Germany (59%), whose Ministry of the Interior implemented a partial ban on certain 5G network components in July 2024 and Greece (53%), where there is no formal decision, but an informal understanding across politicians, regulators and operators to not use Chinese components, according to Strand Consult.
Germany’s situation is especially alarming, John Strand, CEO of Strand Consult, told Euractiv. One decision by the Chinese Communist Party, with its deep ties to Huawei, could cripple Germany’s mobile-dependent digital economy, triggering widespread disruption across the entire EU, he said.
Strand notably pointed towards German railway system, which is heavily reliant on Huawei components.
Strand Consult is the only private organisation to provide data on the percentage of national EU telecommunication networks set on Chinese tech.
The good guys
Although 17 countries are behind in terms of implementing the 5G toolbox in law, 18 countries have more than a quarter of their mobile networks using high-risk components, previous data from Strand Consult shows.
Relatively safe from risk are Slovakia (15%) and France (13%), according to Strand Consult, while the following countries have entirely China-free mobile networks: Denmark, the three Baltic States, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden.
Three member states implemented the 5G toolbox, with noticeable impact on their networks. The percentage of Chinese components in 5G mobile networks in Q4 2024 was 41% in Belgium, a significant reduction on its 100% dependence in Q4 2019. In the same period, the percentage of Chinese components in Romanian 5G fell from 61% to 44%.
These numbers should still be viewed with caution however, as 5G is still being rolled out across the EU.
Mobile operators face a two-pronged challenge: they need to replace high-risk Chinese components in their older 4G mobile networks while building out their new 5G mobile networks without these companies’ components.
National plan commitments
Only a handful of EU countries have set in law a deadline for the full de-risking of Chinese components, according to a previous report published at the end of 2024 by research firm Cullen International, seen by Euractiv.
20 countries have no hard deadline for their telecoms operators.
Most importantly, only four countries, Denmark, Finland, France and the Netherlands have implemented a compensation mechanism to cover the increased cost of phasing-out from high risk vendors, according to Cullen’s report.
De-risking carries both transition costs, as well as higher prices to install European alternatives such as Swedish Ericsson and Finnish Nokia, whose components are generally more expensive than their Chinese competitors.
The EU should put in place an industrial policy for the connectivity sector, including a "toolbox with tailored funding and policy instruments," read the November policy agenda of large European telecoms operators’ lobby Connect Europe.
Since 5G rollout is not yet complete, operators in countries without specific regulations, namely Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Cyprus, can still use Chinese components to build their networks.
*first published in euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
