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Seehofer expects Corona warning app in mid-June

2020-05-28T19:43:39.755Z


Mid-June is a magical date for the free movement of people in Europe. Then all borders closed due to the Corona crisis should open again. And this could also be an important date for the Corona warning app, which has been tinkering with for a long time.


Mid-June is a magical date for the free movement of people in Europe. Then all borders closed due to the Corona crisis should open again. And this could also be an important date for the Corona warning app, which has been tinkering with for a long time.

Berlin / Paris (dpa) - Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer assumes that the German Corona warning app will be available around mid-June - at the same time as the desired opening of the borders to European neighbors.

There was a "very, very good conversation" with the project promoters SAP and Deutsche Telekom on the evening before, said the CSU politician on Thursday in the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.

Seehofer declared border controls and the closure of border crossings as indispensable for combating the pandemic. His French colleague Christophe Castaner refused to remove the controls before June 15, so that, for example, German tourists could travel to France during the Pentecost holidays.

Seehofer emphasized that the goal was to make the warning app usable across Europe. "People are mobile. And the app has only a limited impact if we only use it in the Federal Republic of Germany." To do this, however, some problems with the interfaces would have to be solved with the groups Google and Apple.

Both interior ministers answered the questions of the deputies in a video session of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly. The assembly consists of 50 German and French parliamentarians. Although it cannot make binding decisions or pass laws, it can give political impulses. The members are appointed by the Bundestag and the French National Assembly at the beginning of each parliamentary term.

Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) emphasized: "Normality before the corona virus will not be the future after the virus." Parliaments in Europe should now urge governments to see this crisis as an opportunity. "That is what Europe urgently needs now: a coordinated approach with the aim of Europe overcoming some incrustation and thereby coming out of the crisis stronger."

Seehofer emphasized that the border controls had made their contribution to containing the infection. "That is why this effort has already paid off," he said. "It's always about not importing a virus." With regard to easing, Seehofer emphasized: "The protection of health and life must be the top priority for these questions. It is not negotiable."

Parliamentarians from eastern France partially criticized the controls introduced on the German side in mid-March. Conservative MP Patrick Hetzel said that led to a "feeling of injustice", particularly in Alsace. There were barriers and police again at the border.

Seehofer admitted: "It was a major cutback for the population, an imposition, nationally and internationally." The measures were "bitter, bitterly necessary". It was not a conflict with France or the population. "It was fueled by the need to get this damn virus under control."

Castaner made it clear that he would not seek exemptions from border controls for German tourists until mid-June. One has to act in a European coordinated manner. "There is a risk," said Emmanuel Macron's confidante, referring to the corona pandemic, which has so far claimed well over 28,000 lives in France. The border region with Germany is an area that is particularly affected by the pandemic.

Explanation Schäuble and Ferrand

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-05-28

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