Angela Merkel said to be seeking to delay Germany’s Huawei position until after March EU summit

Merkel’s conservatives are divided on whether to support a proposal that, if approved, would effectively shut out Huawei from the country’s 5G network

The chancellor favours strict security requirements for the 5G network, but opposes excluding individual companies

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a panel discussion in Deggendorf, Germany on 20 January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:54am, 21 Jan 2020Updated: 5:31pm, 16 Feb 2020

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked her conservative lawmakers to wait until after a March European Union summit before taking a position on whether China’s Huawei can take part in the roll-out of Germany’s 5G network, sources involved in their talks said.

Merkel believes EU coordination on the issue is important and she has been unable to bridge differences within her CDU-CSU (Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union) bloc, the sources said on Monday.

Merkel’s conservatives are divided on whether to support a proposal by their Social Democrat (SPD) junior coalition partners that, if approved, would effectively shut out the Chinese technology giant from the network.

Merkel favours strict security requirements for the 5G network, but opposes excluding individual companies.

In a meeting with a dozen CDU-CSU lawmakers last Thursday, Merkel and chancellery chief Helge Braun argued against moving toward isolationism in the current international environment.

The take-up of the technology is expected to be on the agenda when EU leaders gather in Brussels in March.

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