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Extension of the temporary derogation from the ePrivacy Directive to combat online child sexual abuse

COD - Ordinary legislative procedure (ex-codecision procedure)2025/0429(COD)Committee: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsDG: [HOME] Migration and Home Affairs

Policy topics

Digital platforms liability for harmful and illegal contentPrivacy & law enforcementPrivacy & detection of online child abuseGoverning standard for investigative powers in cross-border cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidenceCriminal-law harmonisation of child sexual abuse offences (CSAM Directive recast)

What this file does

Overview

The policy initiative concerns a legislative file (2025/0429(COD)) for an extension of a temporary derogation from the ePrivacy Directive to combat online child sexual abuse. The file is currently at the first reading stage in the European Parliament, awaiting a committee decision, with an overall status of Ongoing. This analysis is based on the provided procedural narrative, institutional handling data, and a consolidated summary of amendments from a European Parliament document (P10_TA(2026)0070). The summary outlines a series of proposed amendments that collectively seek to impose stricter limits and safeguards on the regulation of technologies used to detect online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), with a clear thrust towards tightening the legislative framework to prevent generalized surveillance and enhance fundamental rights protections.

Legislative timeline

The procedural history shows the file is progressing through the European Parliament's first reading. It was referred to the responsible committee on 27 January 2026. The committee report was tabled on 5 February 2026, followed by the tabling of committee amendments on 10 February 2026. The committee adopted its report on 2 March 2026, and the file was tabled for plenary on 3 March 2026. The next steps are not specified in the provided data.

Institutional handling

The lead committee in the European Parliament is the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Within the European Commission, the responsible Directorate-General is the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA), under Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque. In the Council of the EU, the relevant configuration is the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA).

Stakeholder reactions

Stakeholder engagement has been active, with 10 documented meetings involving 10 distinct organisations. These meetings involved 7 Members of the European Parliament, 2 Commissioners, and 1 European Commission staff member. The most frequently engaged organisations were Chaos Computer Club e.V., Apple Inc., Amazon, YouTube, and Thorn. Available data on specific positions from these meetings indicates discussions on tangential topics. For instance, on the topic of 'EU law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters', both AWS and Amazon's discussions were interpreted as signaling subtle support for strengthening such coordination. On the topic of 'EU industrial funding', TotalEnergies presented its investments in low-carbon technologies during a meeting.

Media coverage

No data on media coverage is provided.

Institutional status

ParliamentAwaiting Council's 1st reading position
CouncilFirst reading

Official documents (12)

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