Three months after the expiry of the derogation from the ePrivacy Directive, which allowed platforms to voluntarily detect online child sexual abuse, the Council of the European Union is preparing to relaunch this interim text, according to information obtained on Friday 26 June.
The initial deadlock, which came after the failure of negotiations between the European Parliament and the Cyprus Presidency of the Council (see EUROPE 13837/2), had raised fears within the institutions of a prolonged legal vacuum, all the more so as the parallel negotiations on the regulation on combating child sexual abuse (CSAM) are still stumbling over the issue of detection (see EUROPE 13867/13).
The resumption of discussions was partly prompted by a letter from Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, alongside the European summit of 18 June, in which she called to “look at how to find an agreement on a second reading of this file”.
Seizing this opportunity, the ambassadors of the Member States voted on Friday in favour of resuming the legislative procedure, according to our information. As the text has not been officially withdrawn by the European Commission, the EU Council can still formulate a first-reading position. This is a task currently being undertaken by the Cyprus Presidency at technical level, before the forthcoming Irish Presidency formally adopts it.
The file will then go directly to the European Parliament plenary for second reading. It will then require an absolute majority of votes against to reject the EU Council’s position. Failing such an outcome, the extension of the interim regulation will be considered approved, bringing the current legal vacuum to an end. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)