On Friday 11 July, experts from the European Union Member States held an initial exchange of views on the new proposals of the Danish Presidency of the EU Council on the draft ‘CSAM’ regulation on the removal of child sexual abuse material online (see EUROPE 13672/13).
According to one source, the countries, which had supported the proposals as negotiated under the previous Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies, have reaffirmed their support and welcomed the ambitious new Danish proposals as a step in the right direction.
Among other things, the Danish authorities have re-established the principle of mandatory detection orders for new or known CSAM (child sexual abuse material) content.
Faced with the continuing deadlock on this issue, the Polish Presidency opted for voluntary detection orders.
The discussion on 11 July is also said to have suggested that the fate of this controversial issue – because it affects private online communications – rests partly with Germany, and that the arrival of Friedrich Merz’s government could change the situation.
The positions of countries such as the Netherlands, the Parliament of which was very firm in 2024 in its opposition to several key provisions of the regulation (such as client-side analysis), and the Czech Republic could also be decisive, depending on the outcome of the elections scheduled for the autumn.
The position of Berlin, which has always feared widespread surveillance of communications, has in any case remained secret for the last few days.
Most delegations are said to have expressed the need to avoid a legal vacuum in the event of an agreement and to have an extended temporary derogation (after 2026) if the 2022 regulation were still being negotiated.
This derogation from the directive on the confidentiality of communications allows hosting and content providers to voluntarily detect CSAM content.
The Danish Presidency wants to go all in on this issue, and has chosen in its first compromise proposal to take up elements on which there was consensus under the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies.
Faced with the same uncertainties over German positions, the Commission is keen to inject fresh impetus and will attempt to reach an agreement at the meeting of European home affairs ministers on 13 and 14 October.
In any case, an extension of the temporary derogation seems inevitable, as the EU Council will still have to negotiate with the European Parliament if an agreement is reached between the Member States in 2025. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)