On 29 January, Executive Vice-President for A Europe fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton unveiled a set of tools that aim at securing and boosting the European domestic 5G industry.

The toolbox, previously adopted by the EU Member States, includes a series of mitigating measures – technical and strategic – to address potential security risks related to the fifth generation of telecommunication networks better known as 5G. It also provides guidance for EU Member States to prioritise mitigation plans at the national and European levels.

“We can do great things with 5G. The technology supports personalised medicines, precision agriculture and energy grids that can integrate all kinds of renewable energy. This will make a positive difference. But only if we can make our networks secure. Only then will the digital changes benefit all citizens,” Vestager said at a press conference following the presentation of the toolbox.

“Europe has everything it takes to lead the technology race. Be it developing or deploying 5G technology – our industry is already well off the starting blocks. Today we are equipping EU Member States, telecoms operators and users with the tools to build and protect a European infrastructure with the highest security standards so we all fully benefit from the potential that 5G has to offer,” Breton concluded.

The development and protection of critical technologies such as 5G is crucial to make the EU an industrial key player and to achieve the digital transition outlined in the priorities of the new European Commission. The regulation of the 5G network remains an issue of strategic importance for the technological sovereignty of the EU and for the single market.

A report on the implementation of these measures in each member state is set to come in June 2020.

The full content of the EU toolbox can be found here.

See extracts of the press conference here.