European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel, made it clear in her keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Background: Cybersecurity has been one of the key areas of activity for the European Commission in recent years. The Network and Information Security directive of 2016, and the Cybersecurity Act of 2018, have significantly updated the regulatory framework, and strengthened the tools for a common approach to cybersecurity across the EU.
What else is needed then? Commissioner Mariya Gabriel touched on network cybersecurity during her keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, arguing 5G networks ‘need to be secure’. The Commissioner stressed the need for a ‘common approach’ in Europe on the issue, to avoid fragmentation which could be more damaging. Gabriel did not engage in detail on which way the common position could lean.
How could this play out? Reports of a possible ban of Chinese vendors have been circulating since early February 2019 with a number of debates taking place at a national level across Europe. Time is running out for the Commission to intervene before the European elections that are due to take place in May 2019. In the meantime, industry bodies such as the GSMA are voicing their concerns about the negative impact this could have on 5G deployment in Europe, due to the reduced competition it would cause in the market for network components.
