France's 5G Bill Makes It Tough, But Not Impossible, for Huawei

If France is trying to keep Huawei out of its 5G networks, it’s doing it a lot more subtly than the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

The country’s parliament starts to debate a bill aimed at tightening security around its 5G networks after an earlier version was rejected in February by senators for the government’s failure to fully consult them. The bill doesn’t name Huawei, but instead provides a framework for protecting networks by subjecting equipment to tests that may be tantamount to suppliers handing over industrial secrets to be eligible to bid for contracts.

“We don’t target any gear maker; we target equipment,“ said Thomas Gassilloud, a lawmaker from President Emmanuel Macron’s party who sits on the defense committee. He noted, however, that the bill will reflect France’s attempts to ensure the new networks are secure and its push for more reciprocal access to the Chinese market.

“We are not naive, and the bill will leave room for the prime minister’s national security agency to make the wisest choices taking into account both the network’s security and our place in global competition,“ he said.

The bill shows that France isn’t succumbing to pressure from the U.S. for an outright ban of Huawei. France, a large number of whose companies do business in China, has gone to great lengths to not be seen as targeting Huawei. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to France late last month, Macron and his advisers avoided any public discussion of Huawei or cybersecurity. Instead, Macron said Europe is trying to build “a coherent strategy“ with China.

“We give ourselves the means to be sovereign, like China has always done, with no discrimination on foreign investments, which are welcome in France like in Europe,“ he said. The comments were the latest demonstration of Europe de-escalating what’s been a tense few months of U.S.-led anti-China tech sentiment, centering on Huawei. For all that, though, the new French bill will require Huawei and other gear makers to divulge a lot more information on their equipment than in the past.

In addition to the safeguards in place for critical parts of the country’s telecoms networks, the bill envisages a vetting procedure that broadens the list of components that must be fully reviewed by government cyber experts. The core of networks and towers are already on that list, but now electronic components and software in the towers and equipment linked to the heart of the network will also be scrutinized, according to a copy of the bill.