A group of 14 Members of the European Parliament, led by French MEP François Kalfon, has formally called on the European Commission to assess the security of vehicles from the Chinese brand BYD.
In written questions submitted on 4 November 2026, the lawmakers asked for the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) to evaluate the level of threat. They also proposed considering whether BYD should be added to a list of high-risk suppliers.
The MEPs point to China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires companies and citizens to cooperate with state intelligence services. In their view, allowing connected vehicles from third countries to access sensitive European infrastructure creates an “unacceptable security risk”.
An additional trigger was the U.S. military’s ban on BYD vehicles at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan. The Pentagon described the risk as “unacceptable and unmitigable”.
Kalfon also sent a letter to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, urging the government to take measures against potential espionage through Chinese connected vehicles, particularly those made by BYD.
If BYD is designated a high-risk supplier, this could lead to the company’s exclusion from public procurement and restrictions on Chinese vehicles’ access to strategic dual-use infrastructure (both civilian and military).
For now, the request is limited to an assessment and a formal response from the European Commission. No immediate ban on the sale or private use of BYD cars is being introduced. The Commission typically has six weeks to reply to written questions from MEPs.
BYD has strongly rejected the allegations. In a statement to Reuters, the company said that no data processed or stored — whether in the cloud or in the vehicle itself — can be remotely accessed from China, and that customers remain in control of their data. “BYD Europe does not make such data available to BYD entities or third parties in China,” the company emphasized.
Компания категорически отвергает обвинения. В заявлении для Reuters BYD заявила, что никакие данные, обрабатываемые или хранящиеся в облаке или в самом автомобиле, не могут быть удалённо доступны из Китая, а контроль над данными остаётся у клиентов. «BYD Europe не предоставляет такие данные ни структурам BYD, ни третьим сторонам в Китае», — подчеркнули в компании.
