The European Commission wants to force EU member states to remove Chinese companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE from its mobile networks, as part of a sweeping new cybersecurity act unveiled on Tuesday.
The new proposal would force capitals to comply within three years of adoption, although the legislation itself would first have to be approved by the countries themselves.
If approved, it could be the tip of the iceberg for Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese operators, should China be designated as a cybersecurity threat under criteria the commission published on Tuesday.
If a country is listed as a threat, its companies would then be considered off-bounds in sensitive sectors including connected vehicles, electricity and water supply and storage, cloud computing, medical devices, space services and semiconductors, the proposal shows.
Given Beijing’s focus on the promotion of “new productive forces”, many of which fall within those sectors, further frictions in the EU-China relationship could be expected.