The Commission is confident that an agreement can be reached between the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the regulation concerning the removal of child pornography content online, which has only been the subject of a progress report under the Polish Presidency (see EUROPE 13654/7).
“The Danes are taking the regulation very seriously and are making it a top priority for the next six months”, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner, told Agence Europe when asked about a possible withdrawal or amendment of the text, which has been blocked since 2022.
“I understand the challenges”, added the Commissioner, but he had no doubt that solutions would be found.
The Commissioner reiterated the scourge of online sexual abuse of minors and the crucial importance of this new regulation, which aims to oblige content providers and service hosts to track down paedophile images and videos in private communications.
Although they did not specifically discuss this regulation, the interior ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on 13 June, did address the issue of police access to data and, in particular, encryption. The Commission is preparing a ‘roadmap’ on the subject “which will be published very soon”, said the Commissioner.
“This is a subject that has been much debated today. This is a key issue. And the question is, how can the law enforcement authorities do their job if their hands are tied? So how can we equip them with the right tools so that they are no longer a step behind the criminals? How can we give the law enforcement authorities the ability to access the information that is needed in 95% of investigations?”
“We hope that the ‘roadmap’ will find the right balance between a solution that allows us to be effective, but is also future-proof and allows law enforcement authorities to legally access digital information and electronic communications while preserving the right to privacy and maintaining the highest level of cyber security”.
This ‘roadmap’ will not necessarily lead to a legislative initiative. At the end of the year, on the other hand, the Commission could launch a consultation on the retention of personal data, obliging operators to keep certain communications data for a certain period of time, which could lead to new legislation. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)