On Thursday 15 February, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council and representatives of the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a regulation extending a temporary measure to combat online child sexual abuse. Under the agreement, this provisional measure will be extended until 3 April 2026.
This is a derogation to the e-Privacy Directive on the confidentiality of electronic communications allowing, since 2021, providers of interpersonal communications services (such as messaging services) to voluntarily use specific technologies to detect, report and remove online child sexual abuse on their services.
This derogation was due to expire on 3 August 2024. In the absence of agreement on a permanent regulation proposed in 2022, the Commission proposed at the end of November to extend this derogation to e-Privacy until 3 August 2026.
The EU Council had proposed a three-year extension and the European Parliament one year.
For European Parliament rapporteur Birgit Sippel (S&D, German), this “tight” 20-month deadline will make it possible to put pressure on the EU Council to adopt its mandate on the permanent regulation presented in May 2022. The agreement will have to be confirmed by the European Parliament and the Member States. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)