During the plenary session in the European Parliament in Brussels (13-16 May 2020), debate on use of contact tracing apps in the fight against the coronavirus. Opening statements by Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency and by Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice. The following transcription is the result of an automatic process. Check Against delivery.

Brussels

debate

plenary session

protection of personal data (T)

healthcare safety (T)

REYNDERS, Didier (BE, EC)

BRNJAC, Nikolina (HR)

Coronavirus outbreak (T)

Use of contact tracing apps in the fight against the coronavirus: opening statements by Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency and by Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice

SOUNDBITE (Original), Pedro SILVA PEREIRA, EP Vice-President, Opening the debate

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, Thank you, Mr. President. Honourable members, thank you for this opportunity to address the European Parliament on an issue so closely related to Covid-19 pandemic.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, The work on the Covid-19 contact tracing applications for feet's retained more general work to ensure a safe return to our normal social and economic activity as quickly as the circumstances allow.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, Contact tracing applications can help restore life in the European Union, and we used to know and appreciated the unrestricted movement of people goods and services while upholding the car's health and safety standards.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, They would support the revival of our tourism, aviation and shipping industries. We have followed with interest the statements and declaration coming from the European Parliament, especially the resolution of the EU coordinated action to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, As you are aware, the commission presented its recommendation on 8 of April 2020 on a common union tool box for the use of technology and data to combat an exit from the Covid-19 crisis.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, All member states welcome the initiative and there was overall agreement that technology is a key element in the mix of measures for the exit strategy. On 9 of April, the European data Protection Board also issued its guidance on this subject.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, When ministers responsible for telecommunications and digital issues held an informal videoconference on the 5th of May, they reached a consensus on the need to ensure the interoperability of national applications.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, At this point in time, we have national solutions. Some already working, some under-development to save time and effort to work on inter bility should take into account the progress already made at the national level.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, We must also make sure that irrespective of the technical solutions adopted these apps are trusted enough to be used by our citizens in large enough numbers. This will not happen unless the apps can be used on a voluntary basis.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, Ensure adequate protection or personal data and privacy, and avoid the stigmatisation or any potential misuse of the collected and stored data. There is a need for a joint shared approach and common standards in developing such apps.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, This app should do nothing more than trace contacts. Malfunctioning in the app could potentially change the life of our users. So the efficiency of the application should always be checked.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, It is also important to measure that they are sizeable regional differences between digital services across and between different member states. We must ensure digital inclusion in every part of Europe.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, Bridging this gap will not happen without investments into interconnectivity, technological and human digital skills. In this respect, the Croatian presidency is working on the council conclusions as our answer to the Commission Communication on shaping Europe's digital future.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, These issues include the resilience of our digital infrastructure and the importance of real, real data availability at the European level. The urgency of implementing our e-health initiatives. The importance of improving the digital aspects of our education, our security of our networks and data.

SOUNDBITE (original), Nikolina BRNJAC, Croatian Presidency of the Council, All these aspects will be covered in the council conclusions. Thank you for your attention

SOUNDBITE (Original), Pedro SILVA PEREIRA, EP Vice-President, Thank you very much. We have Commissioner Didier Reynders participating. And I give you the floor.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Thank you very much, President, members of the Parliament, I'd also like to thank you for having included this, included this and my own.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Today, the epidemic knows no borders. Data and technology can help us in the fight against the Corona virus and also in the lifting of restrictions and the restoration of free movement of people.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Tracing and contact apps can play a role in that task recommendation on 8 April setting out principles and showing the respect of fundamental rights and in particular, the right to privacy and personal data protection and the prevention of must surveillance and stigmatization.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, It was followed by a common EU toolbox developed by the member states with the support of the Commission and complemented by commission guidance on the respect of privacy and data protection.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Our guidance sets key principles national House authorities, authorities responsible for the crisis management should be the controller. The installation of an app on a user's device should be voluntary if proximity that is used.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, It should be stored on an individual's device and only shared at the initiative of the user. For contact tracing, there is no use of geolocalisation data, only proximity data based on Bluetooth.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Only the personal data that are necessary to meet the purpose of the app can be processed. The identity of the user of the app will not be disclosed to order users. The personal data should not be kept for longer than necessary

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, [11:23:41] Timelines should be based on medical relevance. In addition, the apps should be only used during the crisis and be deactivate at the latest when the pandemic is over.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The deactivation should not depend on the installation by the user. The data and the entire application should be protected through state of the art security techniques, including encryption.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, And finally, data protection authorities should be fully involved and consulted in the development of an app and should keep its deployment under review.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Honourable members, the aim of the tracing and contact apps is to help break the chains of infection and save lives. But this will only work if citizens know that they are safe and that their data and private lives are protected.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Citizens need to be sure that the applications will only be used to fight against the epidemic. And these are preconditions for the development, recognition and use of applications of this state

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, And I would like to stress this point. There should be no doubt about this. These applications cannot be used for mass surveillance. Individuals will retain and must retain the right to their data. This is the only way that the applications can work and to help us to fight the spread of the virus.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, So the applications need to be non-intrusive and they need to respect the personal data as defined in EU law

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We have a coordinated European approach, this European approach is clear: these apps must be voluntary, transparent, temporary, cyber secure, using temporary and arbitrary data identifiers rely on proximity, data, Bluetooth technology and not on geo localization.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, That means not tracking and there must be interoperable across borders, but also across operating systems. As regards the two different approaches referred to as centralized and decentralized, boss can be compatible with privacy and data protection rules and both need to follow the highest standards of data security.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Former data minimization perspective the decentralized approach is preferable since less data would be stored on the backend server than under the centralized one.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Regardless of the approach chosen. We should strive to have a common approach to ensure interoperability of the apps. The Commission is working with member states on this issue as a top priority, and I am glad that guidelines on interoperability for approved contact tracing mobile applications in the EU were adopted yesterday by the E Earth Network of Member States and published on the Commission website.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, I cannot emphasize enough how important interoperability will be for the cross-border circulation of people in the union and for many sectors, including tourism. We should also make sure that national authorities are able to adjust these epidemiologic barometers of the apps and to obtain the necessary aggregated information to monitor the efficiency of the measures taken.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The Commission also firmly believes that the process regarding the selection of the apps as well as their functioning should be transparent. The technical specifications and the source code of the apps should therefore be published

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Some member states are using manual tracing together instead of tracing apps. These tracing modalities need to be in line with personal data protection rules as well. We will also be attentive to this.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Members of Parliament and we all know our member states have started to introduce the first steps for the lifting of measures. And this is why we need to have a coordinated European approach.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We need to act together in a responsible manner and with solidarity to stop the virus. The president I would like to thank you for this opportunity to set out the guidelines set out by the commission in cooperation with the member states. And obviously I am looking forward to hearing your comments and any questions you may have. Thank.