Just days after joining Luxembourg and Slovakia in opposing “Chat Control”, Germany has now reverted to an undecided stance. Berlin abstained from taking a definitive position during the Council’s Law Enforcement Working Party held on September 12th, reported the platform “Fight Chat Control“.
According to Netzpolitik, a representative of the Interior Ministry admitted that Germany could not “support the Danish position 100 per cent”. While it remains opposed to breaking end-to-end encryption, it is open to scanning of known material on user devices. This refers to the so-called client-side scanning, where the content of a message is analysed before sending. Germany’s departure from opposition last week marks a clear change in the discussion, as it would have been crucial to forming a blocking minority in the Council.
Member states divided
EU member states remain divided over the proposed Child Sexual Abuse Regulation. The regulation in question would require messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Signal to scan private communications for illegal content. Germany’s shift to an undecided position changes the balance. Without Berlin’s firm rejection, the opposition can no longer guarantee a blocking minority. To pass, it requires backing from member states representing at least 65% of the EU population, so Germany’s position is decisive to tip the proposal either way.
According to the recent data, so far, 14 countries support the law: France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, and Hungary. The opposition bloc includes Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, and Slovakia. Besides Germany, four countries remain undecided: Greece, Romania, Slovenia, and Estonia. The divided positions underline how Germany is once again pivotal for the outcome.
October Council vote
The decisive moment will come on October 14, when EU ministers are expected to vote on the Danish proposal. The regulation was originally framed in 2020 as a temporary voluntary CSAM detection scheme and made permanent by the European Commission in 2022. Since then, the law has sparked heated debate over encryption, privacy, and child protection.
Experts warn that client-side scanning undermines end-to-end encryption and carries serious privacy and security risks. At the same time, child protection organisations argue that the law is essential to detect grooming and online abuse. The Council vote will formally set the mandate for trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council.
