by N. Peter Kramer
Fifteen EU member states call in a letter to the European Commission to launch a strategy to address a spate of conspiracy theories in the EU. It has not only led to political action by socialists and green mayors of big cities in France but also to arson attacks against telecommunications masts. Telecoms groups have reported 140 attacks across the EU in the first half of this year, with a majority of criminal acts occurring in The Netherlands.
‘We are witnessing increasing activity of the anti-5G movement across the European Union’, says the letter, signed by Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. He letter was addressed to Commission Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Vera Jourova as well as internal market commissioner Thierry Breton.
As part of the EU’s 2016 5G action plan, member states committed to developing their next-generation telecommunications infrastructure. Also the EU pledged to enhance the deployment of 5G networks by ensuring the availability of 5G radio spectrum before the end of this year.
The letter of the 15 member states does not mention the political opposition on local level in some countries. In France for instance, Green and Socialist mayors in big cities as Bordeaux, Lyon, Lille, Grenoble, Nantes, Tours and Besancon. But also in Brussels the regional authorities are not able to take a decision on 5G. Also in the capital of the EU, the Green party is blocking the path to 5G
The EU targets have become beset by a series of setbacks. In addition to the arson attacks and political hold-ups on local level, infrastructure rollout was slowed by supply chains disruptions caused by the corona pandemic and geopolitical tensions between the US and China.
A Commission official said, that by the end of the year there will b a legal obligation in all member states to assign operators to 5G pioneer frequencies. If a member state will not assign these frequencies, it will be in breach of the EU law’. A member state in breach of the EU law! What does it mean practically? Didn’t we hear that before…
