Influential tech industry group DIGITALEUROPE suspended Chinese member Huawei in the wake of a probe by Belgian prosecutors into suspected bribery at the European Parliament.
Tech industry group DIGITALEUROPE has temporarily suspended Chinese tech giant Huawei from membership in the wake of a probe into alleged bribery, Director General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl has told employees of the group in an email seen by Euronews.
The note said that the suspension was a “precautionary measure to safeguard the effective operations of the association”, making clear it “does not imply any assumption of guilt”.
On Tuesday, five people were charged in a corruption probe linked to Huawei, suspected by Belgian prosecutors of bribing EU lawmakers.
The Belgian Public Prosecutor’s office confirmed that four were charged with “active corruption and criminal organisation”, while a fifth person was charged with money laundering.
DIGITALEUROPE is a leading trade association in Brussels which, according to its website represents 45,000 businesses, 41 national trade associations and 102 corporations. Corporate membership of the group allowed Huawei to participate in policy discussions and input into the group’s policy positions.
DIGITALEUROPE said it was “aware of the serious allegations against Huawei, whose access to our work was already limited. We take ethical business conduct and compliance with the law very seriously,” when asked for comment.
References to Huawei have disappeared from the association’s website.
According to the transparency register, the EU lists of representatives’ interests, Huawei remains aligned to several think tanks and trade associations such as BRUEGEL, BusinessEurope, CEPS, CERRE, European Internet Forum (EIF) and European Policy Center (EPC), among others.
Huawei didn’t reply to a request for comment.
