On Wednesday the Financial Times reported that the EU is considering banning member states from using equipment produced by Chinese telecom group Huawei in their 5G networks, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions.

The officials said there is growing concern in Brussels that some EU nations are not taking action aggressively enough on the issue, which is being deemed an increasingly serious intelligence and security risk.

According to the report, EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton noted to the telecom ministers from bloc nations, that of all the EU member states, only a third have banned Huawei products from being installed in critical parts of the 5G communications infrastructure of the bloc.

Reportedly, Bretton said, “This is too few. And it exposes the union’s collective security.”

EU members agreed in 2020 to abide by certain recommendations designed to exclude high-risk vendors from technology investments, in areas such as certification requirements, or diversification of suppliers. The agreement arose out of a growing concern within the bloc regarding member states’ growing technical dependence on China.

The company has already been banned from being installed in the infrastructure of the network in Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Portugal is preparing to ban the company’s products from its 5G network infrastructure. Earlier this year Germany said it was conducting a review of the use of Chinese components in its 5G infrastructure, and whether it would need to implement new laws. Outside the  union, Britain’s 5G infrastructure also is forbidden to equipment from Huawei.

For its part, Huawei denies its equipment poses any danger, noting the company has a policy of not politicizing cyber security.

In a statement the company said, “Assessing cyber security risks without sticking to technological standards, or excluding specific suppliers from the system without proper technological evaluation, is a violation of the principles of fairness and non-discrimination, and also against the laws and regulations of the European Union and its member states.”

The firm emphasized, “No court has ever found that Huawei had engaged in malicious intellectual property theft, or required Huawei to pay damages for infringement on others’ intellectual property.”

Next week there will be a report issued by the European Commission examining the progress in implementing the security recommendations across the bloc.