Verbatim report of proceedings

Thursday, 14 May 2020 - Brussels

Use of contact tracing apps in the fight against the coronavirus (debate)

  Sophia in ‘t Veld (Renew). – Mr President, I’ve heard some people refer to this app as a so-called ‘deconfinement app’, as if the app is going to reopen the borders. Well, let me tell you something. It will not. We need a range of other measures. What will open the borders is a common European approach and interoperability. That is what will open the borders. What we are seeing is Member States going in all directions again, with not just 27 national apps, but even a range of regional apps. Now that is a barrier to free movement.

National governments are presenting the app as a silver bullet against the pandemic, but not only is it not a silver bullet, it’s also not going to solve the problem of politicians that they have to reconcile health concerns and economic concerns and are just hoping for this app to be the answer to that dilemma when it’s not.

But we do need full transparency on the decision—making – and not just on the technical aspects, but also on why governments choose a particular model, why they choose particular providers. Where are the political and commercial interests?

Finally, I agree with everyone who said it must be strictly voluntary. Not only does that mean that it should not be mandatory, but there has to be a legal ban on making downloading the app a precondition for entering public spaces like public transport or schools or gyms, or indeed crossing the borders, because freedom of movement in Europe is a fundamental right.