The probe into suspected bribery of Members of the European Parliament (MEP) by Chinese network manufacturer Huawei included eavesdropping on their conversations during football games, per revelations published by Politico last week. Belgian national security agents planted bugs in a private box at the stadium of Anderlecht football club, just a 20 minute drive from the European Parliament building in Brussels, upon learning that Huawei had spent EUR50,000 to hire the box for the 2024-25 season. The box was reportedly used to make connections with politicians to see if they could be ‘greased’ to support the purchase of Huawei equipment and oppose the bans that a growing number of European countries have adopted.
Other conversations involving a top Huawei lobbyist were also bugged, including conversations in his car. The surveillance was part of an extensive probe into Huawei’s attempts to influence European politics. The lobbyist said that the assistants of new MEPs would first be invited to football games. Invitations would then be extended to MEPs from various parties, and also to former MEPs and other EU officials. Anderlecht is the most successful club in the history of Belgian football and their stadium (pictured) often hosts games involving leading teams from across Europe.
13 people have been charged and more than 20 locations in Belgium and Portugal have been raided as part of an investigation into alleged bribes by Huawei. An arrest warrant seen by Politico indicates that Huawei wanted eight European lawmakers to sign an open letter in support of Huawei’s interests. An April court hearing involved three Huawei employees and a Managing Director from Forum Europe, a conference organizer based in Brussels. Requests have been submitted to remove the immunity of four MEPs so far. Insiders with knowledge of the investigation say it has examined connections between Huawei and 15 current and former MEPs in total. Huawei responded to the revelations with a statement saying it complies with the law and has a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.
Huawei spends a lot on lobbying, but that expenditure has fallen in recent years. They evidently realized their efforts were proving largely ineffective due to a more general souring of relations between China and the West. Communications industry insiders will have noticed the reduced prominence of Huawei’s influence-peddling operation. There were times when it seemed Huawei’s stooges — often speaking with British or American accents — were trying to dominate every institution. Their lobbying is less prominent than before but they will undoubtedly keep looking for opportunities to reverse or delay bans on the sale or use of Huawei’s products.
The European Union has been rocked by corruption scandals before, including the Qatargate affair which involved multiple arrests and the seizure of cash worth EUR1.5mn (USD1.7mn). However, none of these scandals ever prompt more than superficial changes to the way the European Union is run in practice. Many Eurocrats are against the adoption of an ethics body that would hold them to a higher standard. In particular, the largest political grouping in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, opposes the proposed independent mechanism to discipline Eurocrats. They recently blocked the allocation of a measly EUR110,000 (USD125,000) budget for the new body.
Europe needs to take a stronger stand against exploitation by other powers. On the other hand, some people really love money. The communications sector is about as crooked as it is possible to imagine, given that it still successfully connects customers from all quarters of the planet. You do not need to bug Anderlecht stadium or open investigations into MEPs to see plenty of signs of corruption involving comms providers, their suppliers, their regulators and governments. The privacy and security of communications is the nub of all the arguments about whether to use Huawei’s tech, or any other tech that might be abused by a hostile government. It is remarkable the extent to which insiders in the comms industry claim not to know, or admit to not caring about the consequences of using networks for surveillance. We all remain at risk until more professionals find the courage to challenge every sign of corruption.
Politico’s article about surveillance of Huawei and MEPs at Anderlecht can be found here.
