Fourteen members of the European Parliament have asked the European Commission to assess whether vehicles made by Chinese automaker BYD could pose a cybersecurity or national security threat. They also proposed considering restrictions on the company, including excluding it from public procurement, Reuters reports.
The initiative followed a decision by the US military to ban BYD vehicles from Kadena Air Base in Japan. The military cited an unacceptable and unmitigable risk but provided no specific evidence. One of the request’s initiators, French left-wing MEP François Calfon, pointed to China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires companies to cooperate with the state. He said internet-connected vehicles could gain access to sensitive European infrastructure.
The lawmakers want the EU Agency for Cybersecurity to investigate BYD and consider adding the company to a list of high-risk suppliers. They also propose examining restrictions on the use of its vehicles at strategically important and dual-use facilities.
BYD dismissed the concerns. The company said data stored or processed in its vehicles and cloud systems in Europe cannot be accessed remotely from China, and that customers retain control over it.
A possible ban on public procurement could be complicated by the fact that BYD has production capacity in Hungary and plans to expand manufacturing in Europe. The European Commission typically responds to such requests within six weeks.
Calfon also called on the French government to take steps to address potential surveillance risks from connected Chinese vehicles, with particular attention to BYD models.
