On Wednesday 4 September, the Member States agreed to resume discussions on the regulation on the removal of online child sexual abuse material, (CSAM) on the basis of new proposals from the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13473/7), several sources have reported.
The Presidency’s aim is to reach a political agreement (‘general approach’) by October. Based on the latest compromise reached by the Belgian Presidency, which failed to reach an agreement on 20 June, these Hungarian proposals suggest, among other things, removing from the scope of the regulation the detection of new CSAM material (material not yet detected and not yet identified as criminal content) and the practice of child sexual abuse or online solicitation of minors.
They take up the idea of a review clause to possibly extend the scope of application and would also mention the expiry date of the derogation currently in force allowing Internet platforms to track down this content (a derogation from the directive on the confidentiality of communications).
According to one source, the majority of Member States have agreed that time is of the essence, given that the voluntary regime (a derogation from the Communications Privacy Directive) is due to expire in mid-2026.
And they expressed their willingness to continue discussions on the basis of the Hungarian proposal.
However, some delegations are still concerned about the orders of detection of this content and its suitability for being offered. Countries such as Germany are said to have expressed further difficulties with this regulation.
According to another source, a large number of member countries have agreed to resume technical work, but this does not yet mean that there is agreement on the substance of the proposals.
The Hungarian Presidency will have to formalise this green light with a new proposal to be presented as soon as possible, potentially next week. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)