In January 2026, the executive arm of the European Union quietly escalated its long-running campaign against what it calls “high-risk suppliers” of telecom infrastructure. It circulated a draft proposal that would require EU countries to phase out Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE from critical 5G networks. 

The EU’s latest proposal is part of a series of measures to achieve tech sovereignty, a strategic push to reduce dependence on foreign actors and protect the Single Market from economic coercion, unfair competition, and foreign surveillance. 

At the heart of that goal is 5G infrastructure. Because of its streaming speed, quick response, and capacity to connect, 5G is the foundation for everything from artificial intelligence to autonomous vehicles to the Internet of Things.

But recent changes in the geopolitical landscape make the EU’s pursuit of tech sovereignty more complicated.

Will Getting Chinese Tech Suppliers out of Europe Translate into Tech Sovereignty? 

Since 2020, the EU has urged its member states to exclude Huawei and ZTE from their networks over concerns that  China’s 5G supply chain poses security risks. China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires Chinese companies to share information with intelligence agencies, potentially leading tech companies to install backdoors that could give the Chinese government access to foreign citizens’ private data. 

From a political standpoint, outright banning Chinese vendors could help improve the EU’s relations with the U.S., which has consistently urged European allies to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks. 

But recent actions by President Donald Trump’s administration — from threats of annexation of Greenland to claims of civilizational erasure in Europe as part of its new National Security Strategy — have convinced some European governments to urgently de-risk from U.S. technology providers, too. 

What is clear is that market forces alone will not create alternatives to Chinese and U.S. vendors.  Europe needs a different approach.

France, for example, has announced it will replace U.S. videoconferencing services like Zoom with domestic alternatives.

The uncertainty of its relationship with the U.S. makes the EU’s push for tech sovereignty even more urgent for some European governments. They reason that, if the U.S. government is willing to leverage its economic and technological interdependence with allies to extract political concessions, partnering with U.S. technology providers could pose risks comparable to relying on Huawei and ZTE. 

Unifying Europe’s Telecom Sector

It is perhaps no surprise that during the same week it proposed the phase-out of high-risk 5G providers, the EU also unveiled the Digital Networks Act. 

This initiative aims to unify Europe’s fragmented telecom sector and promote infrastructure investment. It intends to do so by establishing a single passport system that would allow providers to register in one EU country and operate across the Union.

However, the proposal falls short of establishing a truly unified market that would help European operators achieve the scale needed to compete throughout the bloc. It keeps important decisions, such as spectrum allocation, competition policies, and market structure, under the control of the member states. 

The stakes go far beyond 5G infrastructure. 

The lack of internal cohesion in the European telecoms market will limit the economies of scale that European operators need to compete with Chinese or American investments in research and development and manufacturing.

Currently, Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson generates 43% of its revenue from U.S. customers. And in November 2025, the Finnish company Nokia announced a $4 billion investment in research and development and manufacturing in the U.S. while cutting 700 jobs in Germany and France.

What is clear is that market forces alone will not create alternatives to Chinese and U.S. vendors.  Europe needs a different approach.

A Different Approach

Public procurement could be a solution.  

Public procurement would entail the EU and its member states strategically directing funds to vendors that prove their products are made in Europe and commit to EU manufacturing and research and development. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has long championed a “Buy European” policy, or a priority for European products in public contracts. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has similarly supported a “European preference” in public procurement for key sectors. 

None of this means that Europe will completely supplant American and Chinese providers anytime soon. European companies have already warned against ending reliance on American technology — arguing that European solutions are not yet capable of replacing American technology in terms of quality and product maturity. 

The question isn’t whether it’s possible to end reliance on foreign telecom infrastructure. If the case of Huawei teaches us something, it is that world-class technology is built on decades of strategic investment and political support. The question is whether Europe is ready to mobilize all tools of statecraft at its disposal to ensure its technological independence. 

Europe’s tech sovereignty cannot just be built on bans. Achieving it will require Europe to make hard political decisions not only about which providers will build and operate its telecom infrastructure but also about how much market integration and investment it is prepared to promote and finance domestically. The stakes go far beyond 5G infrastructure. 

Huawei and ZTE might be on their way out, but what replaces them may be more crucial in defining the EU’s ambitions for tech sovereignty.