Under the proposed legislation, which must still be approved
by parliament, "critical components" in strategic installations such
as telecommunications can only be used if the supplier submits a
"declaration of trustworthiness".
Critical components are defined as of such importance that a
failure would have dramatic consequences, the interior ministry said.
Manufacturers will have to guarantee that the components
don't have any technical features that could influence the security or proper
functioning of the infrastructure, particularly for the purposes of
"sabotage, espionage or terrorism", according to the bill.
It will also be possible to ban certain components if their
manufacturer has not reported known weak points.
Chinese tech giant Huawei, a world leader in the telecoms
industry, could be hit by the new legislation.
The United States has long accused Huawei of being a conduit
for espionage by Beijing and has pressured allies to exclude the firm from
their telecoms infrastructure.
After Britain in July, Sweden in October became the second
country in Europe to ban Huawei equipment although the decision is on hold
pending a legal appeal.
Germany however has so far ruled out barring individual
firms from its 5G rollout.
Beijing and Huawei have strongly denied the spying
accusations.
An interior ministry spokesman said the new draft law does
not "target any particular manufacturer".
But the legislation has raised eyebrows among industry
observers.
"The definition of critical components and their use in
critical infrastructures remains too vague," said Achim Berg, president of
the Bitkom federation of digital companies.
The new requirements "offer no legal, planning or
investment security" for companies, he added.