NEW PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS ON THE EUROPEAN REGULATION TO PREVENT AND COMBAT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

On April 16, the third interinstitutional meeting was held on the proposal for a Regulation establishing rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. The meeting was attended by European Commissioner Magnus Brunner, Ambassador Christina Rafti, representing the Cypriot Presidency of the Council, and the European Parliament’s rapporteur for this file and Chair of the LIBE Committee, Javier Zarzalejos.

The meeting confirmed that the positions of the Council and the Parliament on Articles 3, 4, and 5 are already quite close. Both institutions are working constructively and are confident that this part of the negotiation—relating to risk assessments by service providers, the adoption of mitigation measures, and the obligation to report those risks and measures to the competent authorities—can be concluded soon.

For the European Parliament, these articles are particularly important as they form the core of the prevention of child sexual abuse. The Parliament has consistently maintained that a rigorous risk assessment, combined with proportionate and effective mitigation measures, together with oversight by the competent authorities, will help create a safer digital environment for minors. On this basis, the Parliament considers detection orders to be a measure of last resort, to be used only once all other preventive measures have been exhausted.

At the end of the trilogue, both institutions agreed to task their technical teams, with the support of the Commission, to continue exploring possible avenues for agreement regarding the detection of child sexual abuse material. The aim is to move forward on solutions that can help bridge differences on one of the most sensitive aspects of the negotiation.