On 23 July 2026, the Council's Justice and Home Affairs counsellors are scheduled to meet in Brussels to discuss two legislative files aimed at combating online child sexual abuse. The meeting, set for 10:00 in the Justus Lipsius Building, will cover a draft Regulation for a temporary derogation from the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) and a presentation by the Presidency on detection measures under a proposed Regulation on preventing child sexual abuse.
The agenda item 2 concerns a draft Regulation that would temporarily allow providers of number-independent interpersonal communications services to use technologies for processing personal and other data to combat online child sexual abuse, derogating from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC. This is a state-of-play discussion, indicating ongoing work on the file.
Agenda item 3 features a presentation by the Presidency on the way forward for detection under the proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. This suggests the Presidency is steering the discussion on how detection obligations should be structured in the new permanent framework.
The meeting format is 1+0, meaning only the counsellors themselves attend without additional advisors. The session will take place in the Council's Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels.
These discussions come as the EU continues to grapple with balancing child protection against privacy rights. The temporary derogation addresses the need for service providers to scan for child sexual abuse material without breaching ePrivacy rules, while the broader regulation aims to establish a permanent legal basis for such measures. No decisions are expected at this counsellors-level meeting, which serves to prepare the ground for future Council deliberations.