The informal meeting of Member States’ justice ministers and their representatives, on Wednesday 23 July in Copenhagen, and the session devoted to violence against children, provided an opportunity for the Danish Minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard, to reiterate the determination of the Danish Presidency of the EU Council to do everything possible to reach an agreement on the regulation on the removal of child sexual abuse material online (‘CSAM’).
And the discussions have shown “that there is a broad recognition in the Council that we need to move on the regulation”, he explained at the end of the proceedings (see EUROPE 13672/13).
“During the latest Presidencies there was a debate on one side, privacy concerns on the other side, effective law enforcement regulation and law enforcement tools. I recognise that there are these differing opinions”, added the Minister.
But “I also think that we need to ask ourselves at the end of the day, whose privacy is it that we are mostly concerned with in the end, we have to ask ourselves whose privacy is affected” by this regulation - that of child victims of sexual abuse, or that of people who might share this abusive content? “We need to try to compromise” between these different opinions.
“This is an extremely urgent issue”, making everything else “secondary”, commented Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, who welcomed “the commitment of (...) the Danish Presidency to secure agreement on this regulation as a matter of absolute priority”.
On the broader issue of child protection, the Commissioner recalled the recent launch of an Internet age verification mechanism and the preparation of the Digital Fairness Act, which “will also have a significant dimension aimed at protecting children”.
He also cited the role of the directive on combating violence against women, which requires children who witness domestic violence to be considered as victims, and also requires child-sensitive support services and protection measures. Member States must fully implement and apply these instruments.
The Commissioner also called for the revision of the directive on victims’ rights to be completed as quickly as possible in order to improve access for child victims to integrated and targeted services.
Multi-criminal families. While Denmark is currently examining how to apply legislative measures to criminal families similar to those concerning organised gangs, the Danish minister wanted to ask his counterparts whether they are also concerned by the phenomenon of multi-criminal families and whether the European framework (anti-corruption directive, directive on the freezing and confiscation of assets, framework directive on crime, etc.) should therefore be adjusted.
At the end of the meeting, Michael McGrath recalled that, in the fight against crime, the Commission would be presenting a new European strategy against drugs and would be seeking to strengthen international cooperation on the subject.
During the discussion, the national delegations did not, however, raise any particular need to adjust European texts. Some countries reportedly also indicated that they have sufficient provisions in their criminal codes, without making any particular distinction for family criminal groups. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)