A meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) counsellors scheduled for 14 July 2026 at the Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels will take stock of two key legislative files on combating online child sexual abuse. The agenda, published in a notice of meeting dated 7 July 2026, lists a state-of-play update on a draft Regulation temporarily derogating from Directive 2002/58/EC (the ePrivacy Directive) for providers of number-independent interpersonal communications services, as well as the progress of interinstitutional negotiations on a permanent Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.
Under agenda item 2, counsellors will discuss the temporary derogation, which would allow providers to use technologies to process personal and other data to detect and report online child sexual abuse. The relevant documents are 11261/1/26 REV 1, ADD 1, and COR 1. This file has been under negotiation as a stopgap measure while the broader permanent Regulation is being finalised.
Agenda item 3 covers the state of play of interinstitutional negotiations on the proposed Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse (document 11501/26). The Regulation aims to establish a permanent legal framework requiring online platforms to detect, report, and remove child sexual abuse material, while balancing privacy and security concerns. The meeting will also discuss next steps in the legislative process.
Agenda item 4 is reserved for any other business. The meeting format is 1+0 (delegations only, no remote participation). The contact for the meeting is csa@consilium.europa.eu.
The discussions come amid ongoing debates between EU institutions over the scope of detection obligations, privacy safeguards, and the proportionality of measures affecting encrypted communications. The temporary derogation has been a contentious issue, with some member states and civil society groups raising concerns about potential overreach and impacts on fundamental rights. The outcome of the counsellors' meeting may shape the Council's position ahead of further trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament.