The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday 21 January, during an exchange of views in the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), that it had no intention of withdrawing its proposal for a regulation on the confidentiality of online communications (ePrivacy) (see EUROPE 12382/4).
For its part, Croatia, which currently holds the Presidency of the EU Council, has indicated that it will do its best to unblock the discussions between Member States. "As seven rotating Presidencies have tried before us without success, it would be arrogant to say that we will succeed in bringing this matter to a conclusion. But know that we will do everything in our power to achieve this", Croatian Secretary of State for the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Josip Bilaver, told the parliamentarians. He also hinted that his country would submit a new compromise proposal on this text in February, tackling the difficult issue of ‘cookies’ on the Internet.
The intervention of the rotating EU Council Presidency and the Commission was intended to respond to the impatience of MEPs, who decided their position in 2017 (less than a year after the draft legislation was presented). The rapporteur, Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany), criticised the Council's slowness and the turn of their discussions. Ms Sippel thus regretted the addition of new issues to the dossier, such as data retention, which should, if necessary, be dealt with in a separate legal instrument. Similarly, she has castigated the exceptions wanted by some Member States, such as those on child pornography. For his part, Patrick Breyer (Greens/EFA, Germany) said Parliament would oppose a massive weakening of the current directive. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)