EU moves to purge Huawei and ZTE from critical infrastructure

The European Commission is preparing a Cybersecurity Act that would require EU member states to remove equipment from designated “high-risk” Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE from sensitive infrastructure. The scope of the crackdown is expanding beyond telecoms to include security scanners, solar inverters and wind turbines. Germany has already set firm deadlines: remove Huawei and ZTE from core networks by 2026 and from access networks by 2029; its regulator is proposing to classify Radio Access Network (RAN) hardware as “critical.” Other member states differ—Spain signed a €12.3m contract in July 2025 to use Huawei OceanStor servers for judicially authorised wiretaps, prompting U.S. warnings about intelligence-sharing risks. The Commission has previously probed Chinese companies (e.g., Nuctech under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation) and is investigating Chinese wind turbine makers like Ming Yang for potential unfair subsidies. Brussels says the moves are aimed at reducing dependence on Chinese and major U.S. technology and achieving technological self-reliance, leaving Europe largely reliant on Ericsson and Nokia for telecom alternatives. Beijing calls the measures market-distorting and warns of economic retaliation.