Brussels – Lie detector machines supplied to border guards to question migrants: this, too, is the EU of today, with EU funds being used to develop projects that escape the European Commission’s oversight. Immigration Commissioner Magnus Brunner acknowledged this after being pressed to explain new technologies developed with Horizon funds, the EU’s research programme.
In a parliamentary question, MEP Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle (RE) denounced that the Dutch research institute TNO and the technology company Vicarvision have developed a lie detector that could help border guards determine whether a person is telling the truth. “The AI-driven tool, funded under Horizon Europe, looks for non-verbal cues in individuals being questioned, such as whether the person being checked blinks, makes hand movements, leans forwards or backwards, and how they laugh,” she noted.
This incident raises questions about today’s Europe and the shifting boundaries of ethics and values. Brunner’s response offers confirmation: “Investing in European civil security research helps European authorities to have effective,
trustworthy and compliant EU technologies to protect the EU and its citizens, ” he said. Then comes the clarification: “Funding research
does not imply their deployment.” In this specific case, the Commissioner for Migration adds, “EU-funded research allowed a better
understanding of the limitations and reliability of the technologies in question and to draw policy
conclusions.”
Today’s EU essentially operates as follows: the Commission allocates funds, which governments then use to develop what is deemed beneficial for national security, which remains the competence of the Member States. Consequently, oversight is minimal. In the specific case of the EU executive, guardian of the Treaties, it ensures that, ultimately, everything is used in accordance with the common rules. As Brunnner explains, “while the Commission has not funded and is not funding projects specifically developing ‘lie
detectors’ for use in border checks, EU funds are used to support research for Member States
authorities to effectively and efficiently implement the obligations set out in, among others, the
Schengen Borders Code.” If the lie detector enables the Schengen Borders Code to be implemented, then it is welcome.
