Question for written answer E-000101/2021 to the Commission Rule 138 (ID), (ID), (ID), (ID), Anna Bonfrisco (ID), (ID)

Subject: Reverse engineering and discrimination of a whistleblower in respect of alleged wrongdoings by Huawei

Following a journalistic investigation, some media outlets have reported the news of an alleged reverse engineering request made by Huawei to its own employees1. According to the allegations, top managers at the Chinese giant asked engineers and physicists at the German Research Center to ‘spy on and copy’ a competing product from the American company Cisco, even though it is protected by a proprietary licence.

One of the whistleblowers who reported the alleged serious wrongdoing, an Italian national, decided to disclose his identity after being discriminated against by the company’s ‘German Lab’, which punished him by firing him.

In view of the above, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Is it aware of Huawei’s alleged requests, which are unlawful under Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how?

2. Directive (EU) 2019/1937 provides for the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, by effectively prohibiting dismissals of whistleblowers. Will the Commission ensure that this rule is properly applied in order to protect the Italian citizen concerned?

3. The Huawei research centre seems to be involved in HiPEAC, a European network of innovation and research into cyber-physical systems, funded through the Horizon 2020 programme2. In the light of the alleged serious wrongdoing and given the clear difference between European and Chinese standards, will the Commission launch a procedure to monitor this funding?

Supporter3

1 https://www.lastampa.it/topnews/primo-piano/2020/12/09/news/cosi-ci-chiesero-di-spiare-e-copiare-cisco-e-huawei-licenzia-il-whistleblower-italiano-1.39636379 2 https://www.hipeac.net/network/institutions/7829/huawei-research-germany/https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/871174 3 This question is supported by a Member other than the authors: (ID)

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