Deutsche Telekom and SAP developed the interoperability gateway service that allows for “a safe exchange of information between the backends of national contact tracing and warning apps,” according to the EC. The system will be run from the EC’s data centre in Luxembourg. If all goes well during the trial period, the gateway should go live in October.

No personal data will be shared between the countries through this system. Other EU countries will be able to join the network later if their contact tracing apps use a decentralized system like the one developed by Apple and Google. That probably rules out France, which is storing its data centrally.

“Many member states have implemented national contact tracing and warning applications. It is now time to make them interact with each other,” Thierry Breton, the EC’s commissioner for the single market, said in a statement. “Travel and personal exchange are the core of the European project and the single market. The gateway will facilitate this in these times of pandemic and will save lives.”