COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT Accompanying the document Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on combating child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (recast)
Date: 2024-02-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: child, child pornography, child protection, children's rights, fight against crime, help for victims, paedophilia, penalty, prostitution, sexual violence

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Strasbourg, 6.2.2024  SWD(2024) 33 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT  Accompanying the document  Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on combating child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (recast) {COM(2024) 60 final} - {SEC(2024) 57 final} - {SWD(2024) 32 final} - {SWD(2024) 34 final}  
 
 
Table of contents 

1. INTRODUCTION: POLITICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT .................................................................... 4 

2. PROBLEM DEFINITION ........................................................................................................................ 13 

2.1 What is/are the problems? ................................................................................... 14 
2.2 What are the problem drivers? ............................................................................ 24 
2.3 How likely is the problem to persist if there is no EU level action? ................... 40 

3. WHY SHOULD THE EU ACT? .............................................................................................................. 41 

3.1 Legal Basis .......................................................................................................... 41 
3.2 Subsidiarity: necessity of EU action ................................................................... 41 
3.3  Subsidiarity: added value of EU action ........................................................... 42 

4. OBJECTIVES: WHAT IS TO BE ACHIEVED? ..................................................................................... 43 

4.1 General objective ................................................................................................. 43 
4.2 Specific objectives ............................................................................................... 43 

5  WHAT ARE THE AVAILABLE POLICY OPTIONS? .................................................................... 44 

5.1 What is the baseline from which options are assessed? ...................................... 44 
5.2 Description of the policy options ........................................................................ 52 
5.4 Conclusion on Policy Options ............................................................................. 59 
5.5 Options discarded at an early stage ..................................................................... 60 

6  WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF THE POLICY OPTIONS? ........................................................... 61 

6.1 Qualitative assessment ........................................................................................ 61 
6.2 Quantitative assessment ...................................................................................... 65 
6.3 Conclusion on Assessments ................................................................................ 76 

7 

HOW DO THE OPTIONS COMPARE? ............................................................................................ 77 

7.1 Effectiveness ....................................................................................................... 78 
7.2 Efficiency ............................................................................................................ 80 
7.3 Coherence ............................................................................................................ 80 
7.4 Necessity and Relevance ..................................................................................... 81 
7.5 Subsidiarity and Proportionality .......................................................................... 81 

8 

PREFERRED OPTION ...................................................................................................................... 81 

8.1 Summary of the preferred option ........................................................................ 81 
8.2 REFIT (simplification and improved efficiency) ................................................ 84 

8.3 APPLICATION OF THE ‘ONE IN, ONE OUT’ APPROACH ............................................................. 85 

9 

HOW WILL ACTUAL IMPACTS BE MONITORED AND EVALUATED? .................................. 85 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Term or acronym  Meaning or definition 

AI 

Child 

CSA  

CSAE 

CSA content  

Artificial Intelligence 

Any person below the age of 18 years 

Child Sexual Abuse  

Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation  

CSA content  refers  to  any  material  as defined  under  the definition  of  “child 
pornography” present  in Article 2c of Directive  2011/93/EU Directive  of 13 
December  2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of 
children and child pornography.  

CSA Directive  

Directive  2011/93/EU  of  13  December  2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse 
and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography 

CSAM  

CSEA 

DSA 

ECRIS 

Grooming 

Hotline 

LEA 

NCMEC 

The 
Derogation 

Interim 

Child Sexual Abuse Material  

Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse  

Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC 

European Criminal Records Information System 

Offenders  building  trust  and  a  relationship  with  a  child  in  an  effort  to  gain 
access to the minor for sexual exploitation or abuse. Also known as solicitation 

Child sexual abuse hotlines deal with questions about or reports of child sexual 
abuse and cooperate with industry in this regard. They can report content to law 
enforcement, take action for CSAM to be removed from the internet and act as 
interest groups 

Law Enforcement Authorities 

National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, a US private, non-profit 
organisation to which online service providers are required to report under US 
law instances of child sexual abuse that they may find in their networks 

Regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  a  temporary 
derogation from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council as regards the use of technologies by number-
independent interpersonal communications service providers for the processing 
of  personal  and  other  data  for  the  purpose  of  combatting  child  sexual  abuse 
online 

(The) Directive  

Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation 
of children and child pornography 

The 
Decision  

Framework 

Council framework Decision 2004/68/JHA of 22 December 2003 on combating 
the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. 

The  Recast  of  the 
Directive 

The revision of the Directive on combatting child sexual abuse 

2 

 
The Strategy 

EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse 

Member States  

Member States bound by the Directive, i.e. all Member States except Denmark 

3 

 
 
1. INTRODUCTION: POLITICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT 

With  the  expansion  of  sophisticated  technologies  used  by  child  sexual  offenders1,  and 
children increasingly using the Internet2, children are facing more and more risks of being 
sexually abused throughout  their childhood.  A  global study of childhood experiences in 
2021  found  that  than  one  in  three  respondents  (34%)  had  been  asked  to  do  something 
sexually explicit online during their childhood, and more than half (54%) had experienced 
a form of child sexual abuse online3.  

The sexual abuse of children can take multiple forms, both offline (e.g. engaging in sexual 
activities with a child or exploiting a child for prostitution purposes) and online (e.g. forcing 
a child to engage in sexual activities via live streaming, or viewing or distributing online 
child sexual abuse images and videos)4, with a known individual (e.g a child’s parent, carer, 
teacher) or an unknown individual (e.g a stranger who grooms a child online).   

Children’s best interests must be a primary consideration in every action relating to them, 
considering that they have the fundamental right to protection and care. Therefore, the fight 
against child sexual abuse (CSA) is a priority for the EU5 and is being pursued through a 
series of EU initiatives. The main policy document is the July 2020 EU strategy for a more 
effective  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse6  (hereinafter,  “the  Strategy”),  where  the 
Commission set  out  eight  concrete initiatives  aiming  to  implement  and develop  the right 
legal framework, strengthen the law enforcement response and catalyse multi-stakeholder 
efforts in relation to prevention and investigation of these crimes and assistance to victims 
and survivors. 

The proposal that this impact assessment accompanies aims to complement the existing EU 
framework by proposing revised and targeted measures to protect children against the sexual 
abuse and sexual exploitation and to reinforce support and assistance to victims, by taking 
into account current and expected technological changes, as well as lessons learnt and best 
practices in relation to coordination among relevant actors, investigations and prevention. It 
originates in the commitment undertaken in the Strategy to ‘identify legislative gaps, best 
practices and priority actions’ and ensure that EU legislation enables an effective response 
to child sexual abuse, including by amending Directive (EU) 2011/93 on combating child 

1  Europol Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2020 
2     ECPAT, Summary Paper on Child Sexual Exploitation, November 2020 
3  Economist Impact survey of more than 5,000 18 to 20 year olds in 54 countries, published in the 2021  

Global  ThreatAssessment,  WeProtect  Global  Alliance,  2021.  The  forms  of  child  sexual  abuse  online 
surveyed (referred as “online harms”) include 1) Being sent sexually-explicit content from an adult or 
someone they did not know before they were 18; 2) Being asked to keep part of their sexually-explicit 
online  relationship with an adult / or someone they did not know before a secret; 3) Having sexually-
explicit images of them shared without consent (by a peer, adult, or someone they did not know before); 
and 4) Being asked to do something sexually-explicit online they were uncomfortable with (by a peer, 
adult, or someone they did not know before). 

4   Protect Children, CSAM Users in the Dark Web: Protecting Children Through Prevention, 2021. 
5   EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse, COM (2020) 607, 24 July 2020 
6  

Ibid 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
sexual  abuse,  sexual  exploitation  and  child  pornography7  (hereafter  “the  Directive”),  if 
needed.  

On 13 December 2011, the Parliament and the Council adopted the Directive to strengthen 
the  EU  legal  framework  in  this  field  and  replace  Framework  Decision  2004/68/JHA8 
(hereafter “the Framework Decision”). The Directive is a comprehensive legal framework 
which  covers  investigation  of  crimes  and  prosecution  of  offenders,  assistance  to  and 
protection of victims, and crime prevention. It approximates the definition of a number of 
offences,  sets  minimum  level  for  criminal  penalties,  and  facilitates  the  reporting, 
investigation and prosecution of the crimes within its scope. It extends national jurisdiction 
to cover abuse perpetrated by EU nationals abroad, gives child victims easier access to legal 
remedies  and  also  includes  measures  to  prevent  additional  trauma  from  participation  in 
criminal proceedings.  

The  Directive  also  facilitates  the  circulation  of  information  on  convictions  and 
disqualifications  among  different  national  law  enforcement  authorities,  and  improves  the 
management  of  criminal  records  by  allowing  for  more  reliable  checks  and  controls.  The 
Directive prohibits advertising the possibility of abuse and organising child sex tourism9. It 
provides  for  education,  awareness  raising  and  training  of  officials  and  society  at  large. 
Member  States  bound  by  the  Directive10  (hereafter  “Member  States”)  are  obliged  to 
implement and reflect its provisions in their national laws. The deadline for transposition of 
this Directive was December 13, 2013.  

Since 2013, the EU Member States have made significant progress towards full transposition 
of  the  Directive,  for  certain  aspects,  the  Commission  opened  infringement  procedures 
against  23  Member  States  in  2019  to  ensure  conformity.  Exchanges  between  the 
Commission and Member States are ongoing to ensure that they swiftly address remaining 
issues.  The  challenges  Member  States  have  faced  in  the  transposition  of  the  Directive 
concern  notably  criminal  law  definitions  and  offline  prevention  measures  (in  particular 
prevention programmes for offenders and for people who fear that they might offend).  

In  2022,  the  Commission  conducted  an  evaluation  to  assess  the  implementation  of  the 
Directive, identifying legislative gaps, best practices and priority actions at EU level. The 
study11  shows  that  the  legislative  framework  presents  opportunities  for  improvement, 

7   Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating 
the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and  replacing  Council 
Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, OJ L 335, 17.12.2011 

8   Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA of 22 December 2003 on combating the sexual exploitation 

of children and child pornography, OJ L 13, 20.1.2004.  

9 

     Recital 29 of Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and 
replacing  Council  Framework  Decision  2004/68/JHA,  OJ  L  335,  17.12.2011  Where  child  sex  tourism 
takes place outside the Union, Member States are encouraged to seek to increase, through the available 
national  and  international  instruments  including  bilateral  or  multilateral  treaties  on  extradition,  mutual 
legalassistance  or  a  transfer  of  the    proceedings,  cooperation  with  third  countries  and  international 
organisations  with  a  view  to  combating  sex  tourism.  Member  States  should  foster  open  dialogue  and 
communication with countries outside the Union in order to be able to prosecute perpetrators, under the 
relevant national legislation, who travel outside the Union borders for the purposes of child sex tourism. 

10   All EU Member States except Denmark.  
11   Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the EU Directive 2011/93 of 13th December 
2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and the 
impact  assessment  of  the  possible  options  for  its  amendment.  Finalised  on  30  November  2022,  The 
magnitude and the EU dimension of the problem, p.19 

5 

 
 
considering the significant societal and technological changes during the last 11 years. The 
study  highlights  notably  ambiguity  in  certain  definitions,  and  problems  concerning 
investigations  and  prosecution  of  offenders12.  Concerns  also  stem  from  the  exponential 
growth  of  online  sharing,  increased  abilities  for  perpetrators  to  hide  their  identity  (and 
conceal their illegal activities), and facilitation in conspiring between perpetrators to avoid 
accountability  and  commit  further  crimes13.  The  increased  use  of  anonymity  tools  and 
encryption  has  enabled  offenders  to  become  increasingly  sophisticated  in  their  use  of 
technology  and  technical  capabilities,  making  it  difficult  to  provide  swift  assistance  to 
victims due to the challenges to investigations that encryption and anonymity tools create.  
In  general,  the  evaluation  shows14  that  even  with  complete  transposition  of  the  2011 
Directive,  child  sexual  abuse15  crimes  are  not  adequately  addressed  in  the  EU  due  to 
challenges in their investigation, reporting and action by relevant service providers, as well 
as insufficient prevention and assistance to victims. 

Current and future legal framework   

The existing legal framework consists of measures in the areas of criminal law, protection 
of privacy and personal data, and the internal market. 

It includes:  

•  sector-specific  legislation,  such  as  the  Interim  Regulation  derogating  from  the 
application of certain rights and obligations under the ePrivacy Directive,16 and the 
Anti-Trafficking Directive17;  

12   Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the EU Directive 2011/93 of 13th December 
2011 on    combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and the 
impact assessment of the possible options for its amendment (Finalised on 30 November 2022), Chapter 
2.4 concerning the causes (‘drivers’) of the problems, Core problem 1: Investigation and prosecution of 
CSAE offences are not fully efficient, p. 25. 
13   Europol Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2020 
14   Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the EU Directive 2011/93 of 13th December 
2011 on    combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and the 
impact assessment of the possible options for its amendment (Finalised on 30 November 2022), Chapter 
2.4 concerning the causes (‘drivers’) of the problems, pp. 26, 41, 55.  

15   This document refers to child sexual abuse for simplicity but it should be understood as covering also child 

sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material   

16   Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 July 2021 on a temporary 

derogation 
from  certain  provisions  of  Directive  2002/58/EC  as  regards  the  use  of  technologies  by  providers  of 
number-independent interpersonal communications services for the processing of personal and other data 
for the purpose of combating online child sexual abuse, OJ L 274, 30.7.2021, p. 41–51. 

17   Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and 
combating  trafficking  in  human  beings  and  protecting  its  victims,  and  replacing  Council  Framework 
Decision 2002/629/JHA.  

6 

 
 
 
•  horizontal  instruments,  such  as  the  General  Data  Protection  Regulation18  and  e-
Privacy Directive19 and its proposed revision20, and of the single market for digital 
services such as e-Commerce Directive21 and the Digital Services Act22, as well as 
the Victims Rights Directive23, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities. 

Upcoming legislation includes: 

•  sector-specific  legislation,  such  as  the  proposed  Regulation  laying  down  rules  to 
prevent  and  combat  child  sexual  abuse24,  the  proposed  revision  of  the  Anti-
Trafficking  Directive  and  the    Proposal  for  a  Directive  on  Combating  Violence 
against Women and Domestic Violence.25 

•  horizontal  legislation,  such  as  the  revision  of  the  horizontal  Victims’  Rights 
Directive that applies to all victims of all crimes, including those covered by sector-
specific legislation.  

Sector specific legislation  
Regulation  (EU)  2021/123226  (Interim  Derogation  from  certain  provisions  of  Directive 
2002/58/EC) 

•  What  it  does:  The  legislation  enables  providers  of  certain  number-independent 
interpersonal communications services (‘providers’) to process personal and other data 

18  Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of 
natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and 
repealing Directive 
95/46/EC (‘General Data Protection Regulation’), OJ L 119, 4.5.2016. 

19   Directive  2002/58/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  July  2002  concerning  the 

processing of 
personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (‘Directive on privacy 
and electronic Communications’), OJ L 201, 31.7.2002. 

20    Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private 

life and 
the  protection  of  personal  data  in  electronic  communications  and  repealing  Directive  2002/58/EC 
(Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications) COM/2017/010 final - 2017/03 (COD). 

21   Directive  2000/31/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  8  June  2000  on  certain  legal 
aspects  of  information  society  services,  in  particular  electronic  commerce,  in  the  Internal  Market 
('Directive on electronic commerce'), OJ L 178, 17.7.2000. 

22   Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council  on a Single Market For Digital 

Services 
(Digital Services Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC of 15 December 2020, COM/2020/825 final. 
23   Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing 
minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection  of  victims  of  crime,  and  replacing  Council 
Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. 

24   European Commission (2022) Proposed Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying 

down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. COM/2022/209 final. 

25   The Commission’s proposal for a directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence 

(COM/2022/105 final). 

26   Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 July 2021 on a temporary 

derogation 
from certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC as regards the use of technologies by providers of number 
independent interpersonal communications services for the processing of personal and other data for the 
purpose of 
combating online child sexual abuse. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to the extent strictly necessary to detect online child sexual abuse on their services and 
report it, and to remove online child sexual abuse material from their services, provided 
the  use  of  specific  technologies  by  the  providers  is  lawful.  The  Interim  Regulation 
provides for derogations from Articles 5(1) and 6(1) of Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy 
and electronic communications (ePrivacy Directive).27  

•  How CSA-related responsibilities are distributed between EU and Member States: 
the Commission is responsible mainly for organisation aspects such as providing lists of 
relevant stakeholders and providing an evaluation of the functioning of the law after a 
few  years.  Member  States  are  in  charge  of  implementing  the  regulation,  notably 
responsible  for  enforcing  it,  and  also  for  providing  statistics  related  to  the  detection, 
reporting and follow up of the CSA reports. 

•  How the CSA Directive builds on and interacts with the Interim Regulation: The 
CSA Directive and the Interim Regulation on voluntary measures to detect, report and 
remove child sexual abuse have different scope and legal basis. The former is aimed at 
harmonising the criminal laws of Member States while the latter is aimed at creating an 
exception  from  the  application  of  EU  legislation  with  respect  to  the  electronic 
communication sector.   

The Anti-trafficking Directive (Under Revision)  

•  What it does: The Anti-trafficking Directive provides for an overarching framework at 
the EU level to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings and to protect its victims. 
It  sets  binding minimum  rules on the definition of criminal  offences  and the level  of 
sanctions  in  the  area  of  trafficking  in  human  beings.  The  Directive  also  introduces 
common  provisions  to  strengthen  prevention  as  well  the  protection  of  victims.  It  is 
currently under revision and will be adopted before Q3 of 2023. 

•  How  CSA-related  responsibilities  are  distributed  between  the  EU  and  Member 
States: as a sector-specific instrument, the Anti-trafficking Directive and its Revision 
cover child sexual exploitation as a purpose of the trafficking offence. When the conduct 
involves a child, it is considered as a trafficking offence even if none of the means set 
out in the definition of trafficking in human beings has been used. The main function of 
the  Anti-trafficking  Directive  and  its  Revision  is  to  combat  the  trafficking  of  human 
beings, which affects both adults and children.  

•  How the CSA Directive builds on and interacts with the Anti-trafficking Directive: 
The  CSA  Directive  and  the  Anti-trafficking  Directive  may  both  apply  to  certain 
offences, as some victims of human trafficking have also been victims of child sexual 
abuse or sexual exploitation.  

Horizontal instruments  

The  General  Data  Protection  Regulation  (GDPR)  and  the  Law  Enforcement  Directive 
(LED) 

•  What it does: the GDPR sets out rules on the processing of personal data relating to 
individuals, specifying the fundamental right to protection of personal data. The LED 
sets out rules with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for 
the  purposes  of  the  prevention,  investigation,  detection  or  prosecution  of  criminal 
offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data. 

27   Directive 2002/58 of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy 

in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) 

8 

 
 
 
 
•  How CSA-related responsibilities are distributed between EU and Member States: 
as a horizontal instrument, the GDPR does not contain CSA-specific provisions, but it 
applies  to  all  activities  of  processing  personal  data,  including  those  related  to  CSA, 
except for those carried out by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, 
investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal 
penalties,  which  are  covered  by  Directive  2016/680/EU  on  the  Protection  of  natural 
persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the 
purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences 
or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data.Member 
States are primarily responsible for enforcement through their data protection and courts 
authorities,  and  the  European  Data  Protection  Board  (EDPB)  is  tasked  with  the 
consistent application of data protection rules. 

•  How  the  legislation  builds  on  and  interacts  with  the  GDPR:  The  CSA  Directive 
coexists and complies in line with the GDPR and the LED, ensuring safeguards for the 
protection of the processing of personal data. 

The ePrivacy Directive and its proposed revision 

•  What  it  does:    Directive  2002/58/EC  on  privacy  and  electronic  communications,  as 
amended by Directive 2009/136/EC (‘ePrivacy Directive’)28  ensures the confidentiality 
of  users’ electronic communications and personal data in the electronic communications 
sector. In 2017, The European Commission adopted the ePrivacy Regulation proposal,29 
which is currently under trilogue negotiations. The ePrivacy Regulation will enhance the 
protection of rights for users of all electronic communications services and the protection 
of their terminal equipment. It will also complete and further harmonise the privacy rules 
in  the  European  single  market  and  overcome  fragmented  implementation  of  the 
Directive.  These rules particularise and complement the GDPR. 

•  How CSA-related responsibilities are distributed between EU and Member States:  
the  ePrivacy  Directive  and  the  proposed  ePrivacy  Regulation  do  not  contain  CSA-
specific  provisions;  they  lay  down  the  rules  for  ensuring  the  right  to  privacy  and 
confidentiality in the electronic communication sector. 

•  How  the  legislation  builds  on  and  interacts  with  the  ePrivacy  Directive  and  its 
proposed revision: The CSA Directive could by extension, lead to national investigative 
authorities’ request for telecommunications data which in turn would have to comply 
with the rights and obligations which are currently in the ePrivacy Directive, notably 
those on the confidentiality of communications and related data. 

The Digital Services Act  

•  What it does: the Digital Services Act (DSA) provides a horizontal framework of due 
diligence obligations for content moderation by providers of intermediary services. It 

28    Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of  25 November 2009 amending 
Directive  2002/22/EC  on  universal  service  and  users’  rights  relating  to  electronic  communications 
networks  and  services,  Directive  2002/58/EC  concerning  the  processing  of  personal  data  and  the 
protection  of  privacy  in  the  electronic  communications  sector  and  Regulation  (EC)  No  2006/2004  on 
cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws, OJ 
L 337, 18.12.2009, p. 11–36 

29   Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private 
life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC 
(Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications) COM/2017/010 final - 2017/03 (COD) 

9 

 
 
 
 
removes a number of disincentives for providers’ voluntary efforts to detect, remove or 
disable  access  to  illegal  content  (including  child  sexual  abuse  material,  CSAM)  and 
creates obligations for them to provide information on their content moderation efforts, 
including when requested by national authorities.  

•  How CSA-related responsibilities are distributed between EU and Member States: 
as a horizontal instrument covering all types of illegal content, the DSA does not contain 
CSA-specific provisions. The DSA creates a framework at EU level for the notification 
of materials noticed by users to providers, with obligations for providers to respond to 
orders issued by public authorities in Member States, as well as additional due diligence 
requirements for very large platforms. For the very large platforms, the Commission is 
the sole enforcement authority that is to ensure compliance with systemic obligations by 
providers of very large online platforms and very large online search engines. 

•  How the legislation builds on and interacts with the DSA: the CSA Directive coexists 
with the DSA and in particular provides legal definitions for offences of online child 
sexual abuse. 

The Victims’ Rights Directive (Under Revision) 

•  What it does: the Victims’ Rights Directive establishes minimum standards on the rights 
of, support for and protection of victims of crime and ensures that they are recognised 
and treated with respect. They must also be granted access to justice. 

•  How  CSA-related  responsibilities  are  distributed  between  the  EU  and  Member 
States:  as  a  horizontal  instrument,  the  Victims’  Rights  Directive  and  its  revision, 
applicable to all victims of crime, does not contain CSA-specific provisions. The EU 
adopted specific rules for victims of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation under the 
Child Sexual Abuse Directive to respond more directly to the specific needs of those 
victims. 

•  How the legislation builds on and interacts with the Victims’ Rights Directive: The 
CSA Directive and the Victims’ Rights Directive and its revision focus on strengthening 
the  prevention  of  child  sexual  abuse  as  well  as  more  effective  investigation  and 
prosecution, taking into account the cross-border nature of the phenomenon.  

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) 

•  What it does: The UNCRPD is an integral part of the EU legal order. The EU and all 
its  Member  States  are  party  and  are  bound  by  its  obligations  to  the  extent  of  their 
respective competences. The UNCRPD’s purpose is to promote, protect and ensure the 
full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons 
with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. 

•  How  CSA-related  responsibilities  are  distributed  between  the  EU  and  Member 
States:  as  a  horizontal  instrument,  the  UNCRPD  does  not  contain  CSA-specific 
provisions.  

•  How the legislation builds on and interacts with UNCRPD: Both legislations aim to 
ensure  and  protect  children  with  disabilities,  with  the  UNCRPD  focusing  on  the 
protection of children with disabilities in Articles 7, 13 and 16, while the CSA Directive 
focuses  mainly  on  protecting  children  from  sexual  violence,  and  investigating  and 
prosecuting all cases of child abuse.  

10 

 
 
 
Proposed and upcoming legislation 

Proposed  Regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  preventing  and 
combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children 

•  What it does: it sets out harmonised obligations for certain online service providers to 
prevent, detect, report, block and remove child sexual abuse online in order to tackle 
child sexual abuse online more effectively and provide for more legal certainty in the 
internal market. The proposed legislation does not merely focus on online child sexual 
abuse material and grooming-as if adopted, the Proposal would establish an EU Centre 
to prevent and counter child sexual abuse to facilitate compliance with those obligations, 
and to act as a facilitator to prevent and combat online and offline child sexual abuse. 
The Proposal is an internal market instrument and therefore does not contain rules of 
criminal law in relation to CSA-related crimes.  

•  How  CSA-related  responsibilities  are  distributed  between  the  EU  and  Member 
States: If established, the EU Centre's primary task is to facilitate the application of the 
obligations  imposed on service providers under the proposed Regulation, including by 
assisting the competent authorities of the Member States. In addition, given its central 
role, the EU Centre would serve as an expertise hub and facilitate the exchange of best 
practices and lessons learned. Each Member State will designate an authority competent 
to ensure the application and enforcement of the proposed regulation. 

•  How  the  legislation  builds  on  and  interacts  with  the  Proposed  Regulation  on 
preventing and combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children: The 
Proposed  Regulation  focuses  on  setting  out  obligations  on  relevant  online  service 
providers. On the other hand, the CSA Directive focuses on setting out obligations on 
Member States, notably on the definition of offences and level of penalties, given its 
legal basis (Art. 82(2) and 83(1) of the TFEU. Under this legal basis it is not possible to 
directly  regulate  online  service  providers,  nor  to  set  up  a  centre  to  steer  and  support 
efforts in this regard. Both legal instruments interact as follows: 
o  Firstly, the Proposed Regulation utilizes and refers to the criminal offences present 
in the CSA Directive, notably on the definition of child sexual abuse material and of 
grooming.  

o  Secondly,  the  definitions  of  criminal  offences  are  key  to  help  law  enforcement 
determine and label new/previously unseen pieces of material (pictures, videos, text 
etc…)  as  the  child  sexual  abuse  material  under  EU  law.  This  will  then  serve  as 
indicators  for  the  companies,  who  will  use  the  indicators  (otherwise  known  as 
‘hashes’)  throughout  respecting  their  detection  obligations  on  known  child  sexual 
abuse material, and the basis for the removal and blocking orders. 

o  Thirdly, the Proposed Regulation will facilitate the work of Member States thanks to 
the  potential  creation  of  the  EU  Centre,  which  will  facilitate  the  exchange  of  best 
practices on prevention and assistance to victims. The Proposed Regulation does not 
introduce  any  new  obligations  for  Member  States  on  prevention  and  assistance  to 
victims, beyond those already present in the CSA Directive.  

Proposal for a Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence 
•  What it does: The Proposal for a Directive on combating violence against women and 
domestic violence lays down measures related to (i) the definition of criminal offences 
and penalties in the areas of sexual exploitation of women and children (both boys and 
girls), as well as computer crime, (ii) the rights of victims of all forms of violence against 

11 

 
 
 
women  or  domestic  violence  before,  during  or  after  criminal  proceedings,  and  (iii) 
victims’ protection and support.  

•  How CSA-related responsibilities are distributed between EU and Member States: 
The Proposal  will ensure that Member States focus on defining criminal  offences and 
penalties including countering sexual exploitation of women and girls, and will ensure 
the support of victims throughout criminal proceedings. 

•  How the legislation builds on and interacts with the Proposal: The CSA Directive 
does not provide for a specific gender-based dimension, both in terms of offences and 
specific  prevention,  assistance,  support  and  protection  of  victims.  The  Proposal  is 
complementary  in  this  respect,  since  it  provides  for  new  measures  and  standards  that 
enhance the rights of victims of gender-based violence, including CSAE, whose victims 
are predominantly girls according to relevant statistics30.   

Relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

The most relevant SDGs for this initiative are 5.2. (eliminate all forms of violence against 
women and girls), and 16.2.(end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence 
against children). 

Other SDGs of particular relevance are those that address risk factors of CSA, such as SDG 
1 on poverty (e.g. children forced by their parents to be sexually abused online), SDG 3 on 
health (e.g. given the short and long-term negative health consequences of CSA on children), 
SDG 4 on education (e.g. provisions on prevention mechanisms to raise awareness of CSA 
online risks), and SDG  9 on industry, innovation  and infrastructure  (e.g. as the initiative 
aims  to  support  service  providers  efforts  to  fight  against  CSA  online,  including  through 
definitions of online child sexual abuse and exploitation). 

30   Collin-Vézina, D., et al.,  Lessons learned from child sexual abuse research: Prevalence, outcomes, and 
preventive strategies, 18 July 2012, p. 6. See also M. Stoltenborgh, M.H. van IJzendoorn, E.M.Euser, M.J. 
Bakermans-Kranenburg, A global perspective on child sexual abuse: Meta-analysis of prevalence around 
the world, 2011, pp. 79-101. and M. Stoltenborgh, M.H. van IJzendoorn, E.M.Euser, M.J. Bakermans-
Kranenburg, A global perspective on child sexual abuse: Meta-analysis of prevalence around the world, 
2011, pp. 79-101. This study, based on 331 independent samples and almost 10 million individuals, found 
an overall prevalence rate of 13%, with the rate for girls being more than twice that of boys (18% vs. 8%, 
respectively). These numbers concur with those of another study involving more than 10 000 individuals, 
which found a prevalence of 7.9% of males and 19.7% of females: Pereda N, Guilera G, Forns M, Gómez-
Benito J, The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: a meta-analysis, 2009.  

12 

 
 
 
 
 
2. PROBLEM DEFINITION 

Table 1 shows the intervention logic (problem, drivers, objectives and options) that will be described and analysed in the impact assessment: 

Problem 

Problem drivers 

General 
objective 

Specific objectives 

Legislative 

A 

B 

C 

child 

Improve 
identification, 
protection 
and 
support  of  victims 
sexual 
of 
ensure 
abuse, 
effective 
prevention, 
facilitate 
investigations  and 
prosecution. 

and 

Notwithstanding 
the 
2011  CSA  Directive, 
children  in  the  EU  are 
protected 
not 
effectively 
enough 
against  sexual  abuse 
and  exploitation,  and 
certain  behaviours  that 
should  be  criminalised 
cannot  be  brought  to 
court  due  to  persisting 
challenges  related 
to 
criminalisation 
investigation 
and 
prosecution, as well as 
insufficient 
to 
prevention 
and 
assistance to victims. 

1. The increased online 

presence of children, and 
the latest technological 
developments, raise 
challenges for law 
enforcement while 
creating new opportunities 
for abuse 

2. The different legal 

frameworks in place in 
the Member States 
concerning investigation 
and prosecution do not 
allow for an effective fight 
against child sexual abuse 
and exploitation 

3. Member States’ efforts to 

prevent child sexual 
abuse and to assist 
victims are limited, lack 
coordination and are of 
unclear effectiveness 

Option A 
+ 
Legislative 
amendments 
modifying 
definitions of 
crimes to take into 
account current and 
expected 
technological 
developments 

Targeted 
legislative 
adjustments 
1) clarifying 
ambiguities of 
current 
framework  
2) ensuring 
coherence with 
new instruments  
3) improving the 
quantity and 
quality of 
available 
information 

Option B 
+ 
Legislative 
amendments to 
ensure more 
effective 
prevention,  
assistance to 
victims and 
investigation, and 
prosecution, 
taking into 
account the cross-
border dimension 
of the 
phenomenon  

1. Ensure the 

criminalisation of all 
forms of online child 
sexual abuse and 
exploitation  

2. Ensure that national 

rules on investigation 
and prosecution allow 
for an effective fight 
against child sexual 
abuse and exploitation 

3. Improve prevention as 

well as protection, 
support and assistance to 
victims and ensure an 
increased coordination 
among different Member 
States and, at the 
national level, among all 
the actors involved 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
2.1 What is/are the problems? 

2.1.1 Definition and magnitude  

Notwithstanding the 2011 CSA Directive, children in the EU are not protected effectively 
enough against sexual abuse and exploitation, due to persisting challenges related to  

•  prevention, in particular due to a lack of prevention programmes for offenders and 

for people who fear that they might offend;  

•  a  lack  of  criminalization  of  certain  actions  that  have  emerged  as  modi  operandi 

• 

since the adoption of the original Directive; 
the definitions of some offences and the associated level of penalties may benefit 
from  additional  clarity  as  experience  has  shown  that  they  have  led  to  divergent 
interpretation in different Member States; 
limited possibilities and police resources for investigation and prosecution;  

• 
•  assistanceand support measures for child victims are not sufficient to ensure a full  

protection of children. 

Some Member States employed transposition measures which were not mandated by the 
Child Sexual Abuse Directive, but which proved effective in the fight against child sexual 
abuse31. It is time to take stock of the lessons learnt from the process of transposition and 
implementation of the 2011 Directive and to turn best practices into EU-wide standards 
whenever appropriate. 

Prevalence  
At  least  one  in  five  children  falls  victim  to  sexual  violence  during  childhood32.  This 
includes sexual touching, rape, sexual harassment, grooming, exhibitionism, exploitation 
in prostitution and pornography, online sexual extortion and coercion. A global study of 
childhood experiences in 2021 found that more than one in three respondents (34%) had 
been asked to do something sexually explicit online during their childhood, and more than 
half (54%) had experience a form of child sexual abuse online33. A recent survey in Spain 

31   For example, measures mandating employers in professions that involve direct and regular contact with  

children to request the criminal records of candidates when recruiting for a position. 

32   One in Five Campaign, Council of Europe, 2010-2015. 
33   Economist Impact survey of more than 5,000 18 to 20 year olds in 54 countries, published in the 2021 
Global Threat Assessment, WeProtect Global Alliance, 2021. The forms of child sexual abuse online 
surveyed (referred as “online harms”) include 1) Being sent sexually-explicit content from an adult or 
someone they did not know before they were 18; 2) Being asked to keep part of their sexually-explicit 
online relationship with an adult / or someone they did not know before a secret; 3) Having sexually-
explicit images of them shared without consent (by a peer, adult, or someone they did not know before); 
and 4) Being asked to do something sexually-explicit online they were uncomfortable with (by a peer, 
adult, or someone they did not know before). 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
concluded  that  two  out  of  five  Spanish  adults  suffered  sexual  abuse  when  they  were 
children34. 

The majority of victims are girls, who are more than twice as likely to be abused than 
boys35.   

Vulnerable children36 are more likely to fall victims of CSA online. The recent survey 
about childhood experiences37 also found that:  

•  59% of respondents who identified as transgender and non-binary experienced 

online sexual harm, compared to 47% of cisgender38 respondents;  

•  65%  of  respondents  who  identified  as  LGBQ  experienced  online  sexual  harm, 

compared to 46% non-LGBQ+ people;  

•  57% of respondents with disabilities experienced online sexual harm, compared 

to 48% of respondents without disabilities.  

In addition, existing support measures do not effectively cater to particularly vulnerable 
children, such as child victims who have disabilities, children in migration, and children 
with gender-based vulnerabilities39.  

The scale of CSAE has showed no sign of decline in recent years. Although important 
gaps in terms of available statistics on CSAE were identified during the study, estimates 
on  CSAE  trends  can  be  derived  from  data  available  in  some  individual Member  States 
and/or on specific CSAE offences.  

For instance, statistics available in Germany, Italy, and Romania show that CSAE offences 
have been continuously growing in recent years. 

34   M. Ferragut, M. Ortiz-Tallo, M. J Blanca. Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Spain: A Representative 

Sample Study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21 September 2021. 

35   Collin-Vézina, D., et al., Lessons learned from child sexual abuse research: Prevalence, outcomes, and 
preventive strategies, 18 July 2012, p. 6. See also M. Stoltenborgh, M.H. van IJzendoorn, E.M.Euser, 
M.J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, A global perspective on child sexual abuse: Meta-analysis of prevalence 
around the world, 2011, pp. 79-101. 

36   There is no definition in EU law of “vulnerable children”, so the measures taken by Member States to 

protect vulnerable children vary across Member States. 

37   Idem footnote 33. 
38   Cisgender is when the gender identity of person (how they identify themselves) is the same as the sex 
they were assigned at birth (male or female). In contrast, people who are transgender or nonbinary have 
genders that are different from their sexes. 
39   See evaluation annex (III – Evaluation Matrix) 

15 

 
 
 
 
Trends in CSAE offences in Germany40, Italy41 and Romania42 

According to UN-CTS trend data, child pornography offences in the EU nearly doubled 
from  2014 to 2019. Assuming that such trends will evolve in line with the previous period, 
it can be expected that the next 5 to 10 years will continue to see an increase in CSAE-
related  offences.  The  figure  below  illustrates  the  evolution  of  the  number  of  child 
pornography offences  over the next  years if it maintains the growth  rate  recorded from 
2014 to 2019. 

Child pornography, number of offences per 100,000 population43 

Overall, stakeholders consulted during the study agreed that CSAE-related offences will 
increase in the next 5 to 10 years.44 Such increases in scale were stated to be strictly related 

40   Police Crime Statistics from BKA. Available at: link. Legend for Germany – 131010: Sexual acts under 
Sect. 176 (5) PC, 131100: Sexual acts under Sect. 176 (1 and 2) PC, 131200: Indecent exposure/sexual 
acts in front of children, 131300: Sexual acts under Sect. 176 (4), 131400: Exerting influence on children, 
131500: Consummation of sexual intercourse with a child or other acts, 131600: Serious sexual abuse 
of children for the purpose of producing and distributing pornographic material, 131700: Other types of 
serious sexual abuse of children. 

41   Italian Police Crime Statistics.  
42   Data from the Romanian Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. 
43   United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2018 UN-CTS). 
Available  at:  https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/United-Nations-Surveys-on-Crime-
Trends-and-the-Operations-of-Criminal-Justice-Systems.html. 

44   33 respondents to online survey Q11.2; targeted interview with one third country organisation (#31). 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
to technological and social developments, which are also expected to facilitate and enable 
new  forms  of  CSAE,  as  well  as  to  pose  new  challenges  to  victims’  protection  of  child 
victims.  

“Offline” and online CSA  
The sexual abuse of children can take multiple forms, both offline (e.g. engaging in sexual 
activities with a child or exploiting a child for prostitution) and online (e.g. forcing a child 
to engage in sexual activities via live streaming, or viewing or distributing online child 
sexual abuse images and videos). The offline and online aspects of the crimes have become 
increasingly intertwined, and most CSA cases today contain an online component45. For 
example, an offender may abuse a child offline, record the abuse, and share it online. Or 
the offender may establish a first contact with children online and then lure them to meet 
offline  and  sexually  abuse  them46.  It  is  therefore  not  possible  to  separate  categorically 
between online and offline.  

Interlinkages between detection, reporting and action, prevention, and assistance to victims  
In addition to the online-offline interlinkages, all the different areas of the problem are also 
closely related: detection, reporting and action (i.e. follow up to the reports, including 
removal by service providers and action by law enforcement), prevention, and assistance 
to victims. In general, for public authorities to be able to act and assist the victim, the crime 
has to be detected and reported, which in turn may prevent future crimes from happening 
(e.g.  if  the  offender  is  arrested  and  granted  access  to  a  prevention  programme  and  the 
victim is rescued). This also applies to detecting grooming and to stopping the circulation 
of CSAM (known and new), which are both criminal behaviours.  

The distribution of CSAM is a form of re-victimisation that occurs every time the images 
and videos are seen. The knowledge that the images and videos are being distributed is a 
continuous  source  of  distress  for  victims.  In  addition,  recent  surveys  indicate  that  the 
viewing  of  CSAM  can  lead  to  hands-on  abuse47.  When  CSAM  is  detected  by  service 
providers and investigated by law enforcement, it frequently leads to stopping ongoing or 
future abuse of child victims by the offenders caught distributing CSAM and/or grooming 
the child.  

National and cross-border challenges.  
The  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse  is  hampered  by  both  national  and  cross-broder 
challenges.  Both  national  difficulties  and  differences  among  Member  States  legislative 
frameworks  can  lead  to  an  EU-wide  under-performance  in  the  fields  of  prevention, 
investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse and exploitation offenses. 

In relation to prevention, the monitoring of the implementation of the Directive has shown 
significant divergencies in the approach taken by different Member States, and significant 
challenges in the setting up of specific prevention programmes, in particular, targeted at 

45   Targeted survey of law enforcement authorities, ‘Fighting child sexual abuse: detection, removal and 
reporting of illegal content online’ (2021): Two thirds of law enforcement authorities surveyed indicate 
that over 70% of child sexual abuse cases have an online component.   

46   ECPAT, Summary Paper on Child Sexual Exploitation, November 2020, p. 6.   
47   Protect Children, CSAM Users in the Dark Web: Protecting Children Through Prevention, 2021. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
potential offenders and offenders at risk of re-offending. These programmes are national 
in nature. However, failure to adopt effective and dedicated prevention measures in one 
Member State has consequences for all others, given the cross-border nature of child sexual 
abuse and exploitation. In the face of the phenomenon of travelling offenders and of the 
rise  of  online  abuse  and  exploitation,  a  failure  to  establish  effective  offender-side 
prevention  in  one  Member  States  can  easily  lead  to  EU-wide  consequences,  i.e.  to  the 
commission of further offenses in another Member States.  

As a cross-border crime, child sexual abuse requires cross-border investigations. If not all 
forms  of  child  sexual  abuse  are  criminalised  in  all  Member  States,  cross-border 
cooperation on investigations becomes challenging. Hence, it is crucial to ensure that the 
Directive minimum definition of what constitutes child sexual abuse and exploitation in 
the Union includes new trends, such as live-streaming, abuse in virtual reality settings and 
the dissemination of paedophile manuals online.  

In addition, the Directive contains a provision on effective investigation and prosecution 
of child sexual abuse, but significant divergencies have emerged as to its implementation, 
in part due to its relatively broad wording. The resulting unavailability of the most effective 
investigative tools (e.g. undercover investigations on the dark web) in some Member States 
hampers  the  collection  of  evidence  and  identification  of  victims  and  offenders  in  cross 
border cases. Moreover,  excessively short statutes of limitations in some Member State 
prevent prosecution of offenses occurred in the past. The lack of prosecution entails the 
impossibility to include these offenses in the perpetrator’s criminal record, leading to a de 
facto failure of the cross-border checks that are possible through ECRIS (whose consistent 
use by all Member States for background checks in this area seem to constitute a challenge 
in  and  of  itself)  and  of  the  system  of  exchange  of  criminal  records  for  the  purpose  of 
employment.  This  last  consequence  is  particularly  troubling  in  light  of  recent  studies 
showing that the level of danger posed by child sexual abuse offenders does not decrease 
with age.48 

A last point to note is the lack of systematic collection of statistical data on child sexual 
abuse and exploitation by each Member State. This is linked to the vague wording of the 
Directive,  coupled  with  the  Member  States  resistance  to  commit  resources  to  data 
collection in the absence of a specific obligation to do so. The result of this lack of data is 
a reduced effectiveness of the fight against child sexual abuse in all its components, from 
prevention  to  investigation  and  effective  assistance  to  victims,  both  at  the  national  and 
cross-border level.   

48 See Amicus Curiae by American Psychological Association in Supreme Court case Marion R. Stogner v 
State of California, p. 23 and following and studies quoted therein.  

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Box 1: importance of detection, reporting and action in prevention and assistance to 
victims 

The  distribution  of  CSAM  is  closely  linked  to  its  production,  and  therefore  physical  sexual 
abuse of children. The detection and reporting of CSAM is therefore a key prevention tool and 
an important way to assist victims by also preventing re-victimisation.  

The detection of CSA online frequently leads to stopping ongoing or future physical sexual 
abuse. This is clearly the case for new CSAM and grooming, which often reveals ongoing and/or 
imminent physical sexual abuse. But it is also the case for known CSAM, as viewing it often 
leads to hands-on abuse. In an anonymous online survey in the Darkweb, 37% of individuals 
who viewed CSAM had sought direct contact with a child after viewing the material49. Also, 
half of the offenders sentenced in the US in 2019 for CSAM related offences (non-production) 
engaged in aggravating sexual conduct prior to, or concurrently with, the CSAM charge50. The 
detection  of  CSAM  also  stops  its  distribution,  which  fuels  demand  for  more  and  new 
material  and  therefore  new  abuses.  Offenders  not  only  exchange  CSAM  bilaterally  but  are 
typically required to contribute with new material to join online communities trading it. 44% of 
offenders convicted in the US for CSAM-related offences (non-production) participated in an 
online  community,  77%  required  sentencing  enhancements  for  possession  of  600  or  more 
images51. The material demanded has become more and more extreme. In the same 2019 US 
data, 52% of cases included images or videos of infants or toddlers and 84% of cases required 
sentencing enhancements for images depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct or abuse of an 
infant or toddler.  

Detection, reporting and action  
The proportion of cases where CSA is discovered in a timely manner and prevented or 
stopped is very limited. Oftentimes, children do not manage to seek help themselves, and 
those in their ‘circle of trust’ (i.e. family and other close contacts), in charge to provide 
protection and care, are often the abusers52. One in three victims will never tell anyone 
and  at  least  four  in  five  CSA  cases  are  not  reported  to  public  authorities53.  There  are 
indications  that  the  COVID-19  crisis  has  exacerbated  the  problem54,  especially  for 
children who live with  their abusers55. In this  context,  online service providers and in 
particular ‘online intermediaries’ 56 such as messaging services, online forums, and online 

49   Protect Children, CSAM Users in the Dark Web: Protecting Children Through Prevention, 2021. 
50   United  States  Sentencing  Commission,  Federal  Sentencing  of  Child  Pornography  (non-production 

offences), June 2021. 

51   Ibid. 
52   Gewirtz-Meydan, A., Finkelhor, D., Sexual Abuse and Assault in a Large National Sample of Children 

and Adolescents, 16 September 2019. 

53   Ibid 
54   Europol  report  on  online  child  sexual  abuse  during  the  pandemic,  19  June  2020.  Europol  report  on 
‘Exploiting isolation: sexual predators increasingly targeting children during COVID pandemic’, 19 
June 2020 

55   Unicef et al. COVID-19 and its implications for protecting children online, April 2020. 
56   See also the Impact Assessment accompanying the Proposal on a Single Market For Digital Services 
(Digital Services Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC, SWD(2020) 348 final, December 2020, p.7 
(para 15). 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
platforms (such as video-sharing and media sharing platforms, social networks, etc.) have 
acquired  an  important  role,  as  they  are  often  the  only  ones  to  have  any  possibility  to 
detect the ongoing abuse57. 

The  exponential  development  of  the  digital  world  has  facilitated  the  global  sharing  of 
materials and the creation of networks of offenders via online intermediaries. The images 
and videos of CSA continue to circulate long after the abuse itself, and survivors often 
find themselves powerless to ensure removal of online content depicting their abuse58. It 
is  estimated that,  at any given moment, across the world  there are more than  750 000 
individuals online exchanging CSAM, streaming live abuse of children, extorting children 
to produce sexual material or grooming children for future sexual abuse59.  

The  past  few  years  have  nonetheless  seen  a  strong  increase  in  reports  of  CSA  online 
submitted by online service providers globally through NCMEC: from 1 million reports in 
2010 to over 21 million in 2020. The number of reports concerning the EU (e.g. images 
exchanged in the EU, victims in the EU, etc.) has also dramatically increased: from 17 500 
in 2010 to more than 1 million in 202060. 

The amount of grooming cases reported globally increased by 98% in 2020 compared to 
the previous year (37 872 in 2020 vs 19 147 in 2019), presumably due to the pandemic, 
when both children and offenders spent more time online and at home61.  
The reports that service providers submitted in 2020 in relation to cases in the EU included 
3.7  million  images  and  videos  of  known  CSAM,  528  000  images  and  videos  of  new 
CSAM, and more than 1 400 grooming cases62.  

Prevention  
Prevention is an essential component for tackling CSA at its roots. There are two main 
types of prevention efforts:  

1.  Prevention efforts focused on children and their environment and on decreasing 
the likelihood that a child becomes a victim. Examples include awareness raising 
campaigns to help inform children, parents, carers and educators about risks and 
preventive mechanisms and procedures, as well as training, and efforts to detect 
and stop online grooming.  

2.  Prevention efforts focused on potential offenders and on decreasing the likelihood 
that a person offends63. Examples include prevention programmes for persons who 

57    See the impact assessment accompanying the Proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent 

and combat child sexual abuse, SWD/2022/209 final, p20. 

58  NCMEC, Captured on Film, 2019. 
59   U.N.  General  Assembly,  Human  Rights  Council,  Report  of  the  Special  Rapporteur  on  the  sale  of 

children, child prostitution and child pornography, 13 July 2009. 

60   NCMEC,  2020  data:  The  data  does  not  include  the  UK  in  the  first  years  of  the  period  to  ensure 

comparability. 

61   NCMEC, Online Enticement Reports Skyrocket in 2020, 21 January 2021. 
62   NCMEC, 2020 data. 
63   In  a  recent  survey  to  offenders  in  the  Darkweb,  50%  of  offenders  stated  that  they  wanted  to  stop 
offending and expressed feeling of shame, guilt and self-harm. See Protect Children, CSAM Users in 
the Dark Web: Protecting Children Through Prevention, 2021. 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
fear  that  they  might  offend,  and  for  persons  who  have  already  offended,  to 
prevent recidivism64.  

Setting  out  effective  prevention  programmes  remains  challenging  and  statistics  on 
offenders  are  not  collected  by  Member  States  for  research  purposes.  Monetary  and 
personnel-related resources are limited and lack coordination, and efforts, where present, 
are rarely evaluated to assess their effectiveness (see section 2.2.3. on problem drivers).  

Convicted  offenders  may  continue  to  be  pose  a  risk  of  re-offending  after  serving  their 
sentences. It is estimated that some 20% of sex offenders on average (with big differences 
between different profiles of offenders)65 go on to commit new offences after conviction. 
Additional measures to reduce the risk of their reoffending (such as exclusion from certain 
activities  involving  contact  with  children,  or  monitoring)  are  not  always  taken,  and  are 
difficult to implement if they leave the country66. However, research also shows that those 
who get help are 97% more likely not to offend again67.  

Assistance to victims  
Assistance  to  victims  is  essential  to  mitigate  the  harm  and  severe  consequences  for 
children’s physical and mental health caused by child sexual abuse. 

Victims  require  both  immediate  and  long-term  assistance,  before,  during  and  after 
criminal proceedings and taking into account the best interests of the child. This assistance 
must be specific, i.e. following an individual assessment of the special circumstances of 
each particular child victim, taking due account of the child’s views, needs and concerns68.  

However,  immediate  and  long-term  assistance  remains  limited,  not  sufficiently 
coordinated  between  relevant  actors  within  and  between  Member  States  and  of  unclear 
effectiveness.  This  leads  to  information  gaps,  hampers the identification  and sharing of 
best practices and lessons learnt and decreases the efficacy of efforts (see section 2.2.3. on 
problem drivers). 

2.1.2 Why is it a problem?  

The fact that some child sexual abuse crimes are not adequately addressed in the EU is a 
problem because it results in victims not being rescued and effectively assisted as soon as 

64   Di Gioia, R., Beslay, L., ‘Fighting child sexual abuse-Prevention policies for offenders, 3 October 2018.   
65   Redondo, S., ‘Sirve el tratamiento para rehabilitar a los delincuentes sexuales?’ in Revista Española de 

Investigación Criminológica, No 4, 2006. 

66   This is illustrated by a number of tragic cases in recent years, and in particular by that of Mr Fourniret 
in 2004. A French citizen, he had previous convictions for a series of murders and sexual assaults against 
children  before  moving  to  Belgium.  As  the  Belgian  authorities  were  not  aware  of  these  previous 
convictions, he was able to start working in a school. He was then able to use this position to commit 
further murders and sexual assaults against children (source: NSPCC (2007) "Protecting children from 
sexual abuse in Europe: safer recruitment of workers in a border-free Europe"). 

67   Caldwell, M. F. (2016). Quantifying the decline in juvenile sexual recidivism rates. Psychology, Public 

Policy and Law, 22, 414–426.  

68   As required by Article 19(3) of the CSA Directive.   

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
possible, children being less protected from crimes, and offenders enjoying impunity. It 
affects public security in the EU and infringes children’s fundamental rights under the 
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Charter)69, including the right to such protection 
and care as is necessary for their well-being, the right to human dignity and the right to 
privacy.  

Additionally,  CSA  has  societal  and  economic  costs.  In  particular,  it  contributes  to  an 
increased  risk  of  serious  mental  and  physical  health  problems  across  the  lifespan,  and 
exerts  a  substantial  economic  burden  on  individuals,  families,  and  societies.  There  are 
negative consequences at all stages:  

•  Before the crime is committed: in the absence of proper preventative interventions, 
individuals who could have been stopped from abusing children may become first-
time offenders, offenders are more likely to re-offend, and children are more likely 
to become victims if they and their carers lack awareness of the threat.  

•  While  the  crime  is  being  committed:  the  consequences  of  not  detecting  and 
addressing the crimes swiftly include prolonged suffering and harm for victims. 
In  addition,  it  reinforces  the  perception  of  impunity,  reducing  deterrence  and 
facilitating further offending.  

•  After  the crime has  been committed: the consequences of not  acting effectively 
after  the  crime  include  the  inability  to  provide  proper  immediate  and  long-term 
assistance to victims, with negative effects for victims and society as described 
above. In addition, it may not be possible to prosecute offenders, which reduces 
opportunities  for  rehabilitation  before,  during  and  after  criminal  proceedings  to 
prevent reoffending.  

2.1.3 Who is affected and how?  

First, children in the EU and elsewhere, who may fall victim to sexual abuse and suffer 
its negative effects, both in the immediate and long-term70. Immediate effects include 
physical  injuries  and  psychological  consequences  (e.g.  shock,  fear,  anxiety,  guilt,  post-
traumatic  stress  disorder,  denial,  withdrawal,  isolation,  and  grief),  sexual  behaviour 
problems and over-sexualised behaviour, academic problems, substance abuse problems, 
increased likelihood of involvement in delinquency and crime, and increased likelihood of 
teen  pregnancy71.  Long-term  effects  include  psychological  and  social  adjustment 
problems that can carry over into adulthood and affect married life and parenthood. They 
include  negative  effects  on  sexual  and  overall  physical  health;  mental  health  problems 
including depression, personality psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-
mutilation, attempted or completed suicide; and relational and marital problems including 
fear of intimacy and spousal violence. 

69   See Annex 5, Chapter 2.2.Point(s) of comparison, p. 63  
70   Institut  National  de  Santé  Publique,  Gouvernement  du  Québec,  Consequences  of  child sexual  abuse; 

ODI Report: The cost and economic impact of violence against children, p.20. 

71   Masumova, F., A Need for Improved Detection of Child and Adolescent Sexual Abuse, May 2017; 

Darkness to Light,  Child Sexual Abuse StatisticsChild Sexual Abuse Statistics, accessed on 20 April 
2021.  

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Secondly, governments and public authorities.  The competent public authorities (e.g. 
law enforcement or governments at national, regional and local levels) dedicate significant 
resources to act against CSA. In particular, they put in place prevention programmes and 
measures to assist victims, and conduct investigations after they become aware of possible 
CSA.  

Finally, society in general, given that CSA has consequences not only for the victims, but 
also for society as a whole72. Social costs correspond to the non-monetary consequences 
of  the  criminal  acts,  and  include  diminished  quality  of  life  for  society  and  increased 
feelings  of  insecurity  among  individuals.  Economic  costs  include  those  of  police  and 
judicial services  (e.g.  criminal  prosecution, correctional  system), social services, victim 
support service and victim compensation programmes, education, health, and employment 
costs.  

Box 4: Estimated costs of child sexual abuse 

Victims of child sexual abuse require immediate and long-term assistance. The costs 
of providing such assistance can be significant. For example, the total lifetime costs of 
assistance to victims arising from new substantiated cases of child sexual abuse in the 
United States in 2015 was estimated at USD 1.5 billion per year73.  
The  long-term  effects  of  child  sexual  abuse  on  victims  also  include  lifelong  loss  of 
potential earnings and productivity74. The total lifetime cost of such losses arising 
from  new  substantiated  cases  of  CSA  in  the  US  in  2015  was  estimated  at  USD  6.8 
billion per year75. Overall, the total estimated costs of child sexual abuse in the US in 
2015 were estimated at USD 11 billion per year. 
A study76 run in the UK on financial and non-financial costs relating to CSA in England 
and Wales during the years 2018-2019 found that the cost of CSA between those 2 years 
to amount at least to £10.1 billion. This estimate takes into consideration the lifetime 
consequences as a result of CSA for victims as well as the cost of anticipating and 
preventing abuse and the police, court, prison, and safeguarding costs anticipated 
as part of the response to abuse. The unit lifetime cost of an instance of contact CSA 
is an estimated £89,240. 

72   Institut  National  de  Santé  Publique,  Gouvernement  du  Québec,  Consequences  of  child sexual  abuse; 

ODI Report: The cost and economic impact of violence against children, p.20. 

73   Letourneau, E., The Economic Burden of Child Sexual Abuse in the United States, May 2018.   
74   Ibid. 
75   Ibid, based on combined estimated productivity losses for non-fatal and fatal cases.   
76   Radakin, F., Scholes, A., Soloman, K., Thomas-Lacroix, C., & Davies, A., The economic and social cost 

of contact child sexual abuse, 13 December 2021 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.2 What are the problem drivers? 

2.2.1  The  increased  online  presence  of  children,  and  the  latest  technological 
developments,  raise  challenges  for  law  enforcement  while  creating  new 
opportunities for abuse 

Developments in and the spread of information technology have made child sexual abuse 
more acute in both the offline and online dimensions. Images and videos of child sexual 
abuse are produced through hands-on abuse and then exchanged and accessed online. The 
internet has become the main medium for sharing CSAM, as well as for contacting children 
with the aim of abusing them77.  

The internet and technology facilitates the exchanges among offenders 
The internet facilitates the creation of communities in which offenders share materials 
and  experiences,  including  on  how  to  avoid  law  enforcement.  Broader  Internet 
penetration  and  an  expanding  use  of  mobile  devices  make  it  possible  for  offenders  to 
misuse technology to contact, groom and abuse children. Additionally, the easy availability 
of encrypted messaging platforms, peer to peer networks, and easy access to the ‘Darknet’ 
make it easier for perpetrators to connect, cooperate, evade identification and share child 
sexual abuse and exploitation material.  

A recent study78 shows that over half of all discussion observed on known offender dark 
web forums was related to new tools to evade detection and make offending more secure. 
For example, the study shows that veiled or hidden use of typical grooming or child sexual 
abuse material (CSAM) terms in gaming has grown over 13% 2019-2020.  

Online exchanges among offenders lead to contact with children online  
According to a recent research focusing on dark-net online communities of child sexual 
abuse offenders79, contact with other CSAM users is associated with higher likelihood of 
contacting children online and therefore a higher risk of further offend against children. 
The  desensitisation  and  normalisation  that  comes  from  groups  of  CSAM  users  may 
increase the risk that these individuals will commit further sexual offenses against children.  

Sharing of self-generated material has significantly increased  
Technology has also facilitated the production and sharing of self-generated material. Up 
to 88% of self-generated, sexually explicit online content has been taken from its original 
location  and  uploaded  elsewhere.  “Sexting80”  behaviour  makes  adolescents  especially 
vulnerable  to  abuse.  Around  15-40%  of  young  people  engage  in  sexting,  using 
smartphones, messaging apps and lives-streaming technology to explore their sexuality in 

77   European  Parliament  (2017).  Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children  Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 

Implementation Assessment. 

78   Global Threat Assessment 2021 - WeProtect Global Alliance 
79   ReDirection  Report,  Darknet  Online  Communities  of  Child  Sexual  Abusers:  Reinforcing  and 

Rationalising Offending Behaviour, July 2022, available here. 

80   Sexting  could  be  defined  as  anything  from  sexy  talk,  such  as  suggesting  sexual  activity  or  making 
sexualized comments, to more explicit displays of sexuality, such as sending nude or nearly nude photos 
or videos, usually with the use of technological means, such mobile phones. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
an increasingly risky online environment81. Minors also  produce material  to  boost their 
online status on particular platforms, seeking likes and other indicators of approval, and in 
some cases for financial gain. 
The  Internet  Watch  Foundation  (IWF)  reported82  a  168%  increase  from  2020  to  2021 
globally.  Self-generated  sexual  imagery  of  children  aged  7-10  years  old  has  increased 
three-fold making it the fasted growing age group. Self-generated content of children aged 
11-13 remains the biggest age group for this kind of material, with a 167% increase from 
2020  to  2021.  The  Internet  Watch  Foundation  also  found  that  46%  of  self-generated 
material identified during 2020 was classified as ‘Category A- depicting the most severe 
form of CSA.  

Whereas  the  first  time  the  material  is  shared  may  be  consensual,  further  re-sharing  is 
typically not consensual. In a 2020 survey conducted by Thorn, 1 in 6 children aged 9 to 
12 admitted that they had seen non-consensually reshared nudes of other children, up from 
1  in  9  in  201983.  A  separate  survey  by  Economist  Impact  of  18-20  year  olds  on  their 
childhood experiences found similar data: 18% of them reported experiencing a sexually 
explicit image of themselves being shared by a peer without consent84.  

First time sharing of self-generated material may also be the result of online grooming. In 
the same survey conducted by Thorn, 50% of the children aged 9 to 17 said that they had 
sent the nudes to someone they had never met in real life, up from 37% in 201985.  

Livestreaming of child sexual abuse enables long-distance abuse  
The wider availability of internet connections and their increased speeds and data capacity 
have facilitated the spread of child sexual abuse via livestreaming.  

Livestreaming of child sexual abuse can also take the form of a child groomed/coerced 
into producing and sharing illicit material of themselves in front of a webcam. Up to 88% 
of self-generated, sexually explicit content being shared online originated from children 
coerced into live-streaming these actions. 

In many cases, livestreamed abuse is transmitted online in encrypted/private channels and 
usually no trace is left of the abuse unless recorded by the abuser and disseminated more 
broadly.  

Technology also facilitates the sexual abuse of children for financial gain 
The internet has created a marketplace that enables the low-threshold buying and selling 
of child abuse online. Enabled by technology (e.g. livestreaming, private communication 
applications,  cryptocurrencies),  considerable  profits  can  be  made  with  little  risk  by 
organised crime groups involved in the trade in child pornography or the direct abuse of 
children.  The  growing  use  of  cryptocurrencies  (such  as  Bitcoin)  as  an  alternative 
payment method ensures anonymity in payment transactions and facilitates offences 
related to child sexual abuse committed for financial gain. The global annual revenue of 

IWF Study 2022.  

81   Bracket Foundation (2019). Artificial Intelligence – Combating Online Sexual Abuse of Children. 
82 
83   Thorn, Self-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material: Youth Attitudes and Experiences in 2020, 2020. 
84   Economist Impact, WeProtect Global Alliance Global Threat Assessment, 2021. 
85   Thorn, Self-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material: Youth Attitudes and Experiences in 2020, 2020. 

25 

 
 
 
  
 
CSAM  sites  is  estimated  to  have  more  than  tripled  between  2017  and  202086.  Online 
platforms to be used by adults only for the exchange of explicit adult content, are instead 
used for the monetisation of CSAM, as some of these platforms fail in preventing access 
by minors who register with fake identification and sell or appear in explicit videos.  

Technology is constantly developing… and constantly creating new threats  
The constant development of technology also entails the continuous attempts of misuse by 
offenders for child sexual abuse purposes. For example, the use of entertainment tools 
based  on  virtual  reality  technology  to  contact  children  for  the  purpose  of  sexual 
exploitation.  Notably,  it  has  been  argued  that  immersive  video  games  incorporating 
haptic87technologies that enable the delivery of sensation to wearers, may attract those with 
a  sexual  interest  in  children.  Child  sexual  abuse  through  virtual  reality  technology  has 
already been documented, but its future developments, implications and impact on children 
are yet to be fully understood88. 

Member States dispose of different resources to combat child sexual abuse 

The  evaluation  found  that  some  national  LEAs  have  insufficient  expertise  in  order  to 
effectively  investigate  cases  of  online  CSAE89,  which  also  hinders  the  EU-wide  fight 
against  CSAE.  In  addition,  CSAE  related  investigations  often  require  specific 
technological tools which can be expensive and harder for some Member States to afford 
than others90. Not only are there divergent resources and levels of expertise among Member 
States, but also divergencies in the available budget to fight against child sexual abuse and 
exploitation. The limited amount of resources available constitutes a horizontal problem-
driver for any initiative targeting the public sector, in particular but not only where law 
enforcement is concerned. 

Legislation lags behind technological developments 
Studies  show  that  existing  rules  are  limited  in  scope  and  do  not  cover  technological 
developments that pose increasing threats for children becoming victims of sexual abuse, 

86   Ibid. 
87    Haptic technology is the use of tactile sensations to stimulate the sense of touch in a user experience. For 
example, direct applications of haptic solutions frequently include phone and game controller vibrations. 
Haptic science also involves any tactile feedback such as air pressure or sound waves. 
88  Baines, V. (2019). Online child sexual exploitation: Towards an optimal international response. p30-31.  
89   Targeted interview with two CSO (#19); respondent to Q7 (‘Do you have any other comments in relation 
to the current situation and challenges in your actions to fight against child sexual abuse online?’) PC 
Fighting child sexual abuse: detection, removal and reporting of illegal content online. 
European  Parliament  (2017),  Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children  Directive  2011/93/EU.  European 
Implementation Assessment. Available at: link;    
 European Parliament (2017), Combating sexual abuse of children Directive 2011/93/EU. European      
 Implementation Assessment. Available at: link.  

90 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
such as text and audio-based CSAM, live streaming, virtual reality and augmented reality 
CSAM, CSAM deepfakes91, the use of digital currencies, and metaverse developments92.   

Experts  participating  in  a  Commission’s  expert  workshop  on  key  challenges  to  fight 
against CSAE pointed out that the limited and inconsistent coverage of new technological 
developments  across  national  legislations  is  linked  with  the  vagueness  of  existing  EU 
provisions,  which  do  not  provide  an  adequate  framework  for  addressing  the  online 
dimension of CSAE, including removal of CSAM online93.  

Cyberspace  also  provides  offenders  with  new  opportunities  to  find,  approach  and 
manipulate children under the cover of anonymity. At the same time, national legal systems 
find it difficult to respond because of the number of actors (users, publishers of websites, 
internet  service  providers,  and  telecom  companies)  involved  in  producing  and 
disseminating  the  information,  with  different  degrees  of  responsibility  and  operating  in 
different jurisdictions.  

Besides the limited coverage of new forms of online CSAE, some experts also pointed out 
that the penalties established for CSAE offences committed by means of ICT are too low 
and not dissuasive enough94. The WePROTECT Global Alliance 2019 Threat Assessment 
for  example  observed  a  trend  of  low  sentences  for  demand-side  offenders  across 
jurisdictions that “undermine the gravity of their serious, repeated and sometimes violent” 
child exploitation and abuse offences95. Penalty levels for some crimes, such as possession 
of  child  sexual  abuse  material  (CSAM),  might  be  too  low  to  act  as  a  deterrent  for 
perpetrators96.  

91   Deepfakes use deep learning artificial intelligence to replace the likeness of one person with another in 
video and other digital media. Deep learning algorithms, which teach themselves how to solve problems 
when  given  large  sets  of data,  are  used  to  swap  faces  in  video  and  digital  content  to make  realistic-
looking fake media. 

92   Council of Europe, Lanzarote Committee (2022), Second monitoring round (implementation report): the 
protection  of  children  against  sexual  Exploitation  and  sexual  abuse  facilitated  by  information  and 
communication technologies. Available at: link. This monitoring round covers all Member States except 
Ireland;  
Targeted interviews with two EU CSOs (#7 and #10), four EU bodies/agencies (#5, #8, #15 and #27), 
two international bodies (#13 and #25) and two international CSOs (#11 and #16); one respondent to the 
Public Consultation “Fighting child sexual abuse: detection, removal and reporting of illegal content 
online”;  based on  written  contributions  received  to  the  Public  Consultation  “Combating child  sexual 
abuse - review of EU rules”. 

93   European Commission workshop report (2019), Expert workshop on current and future challenges in the 

fight against child sexual abuse. 

94   European Commission workshop report (2019), Expert workshop on current and future challenges in the 

fight against child sexual abuse;  
online survey Q4.5; targeted interview with one international CSO (#11); two respondents to the Public 
Consultation “Combating child sexual abuse - review of EU rules”.  

95   WeProtect Global Alliance, ‘Threat Assessment 2019’, (Report, WePROTECT Global Alliance). 
96   Commission  workshop  report  (2019),  Expert  workshop  on  current  and  future  challenges  in  the  fight 
against child sexual abuse; targeted interviews with one representative from one CSO (#11); feedback 
provided by one respondent to survey question #4.5 (See Annex I.1.1). 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stakeholders'  views  on  problem  driver  1  (Increased  online  presence  of  children,  and  the  latest 
technological developments) 

Considering main trends relevant to CSAE, most respondents of the online survey claimed that the number 
of offences prosecuted related to child pornography (69%, n=22 out of 32), offline CSAE (46%, n=12 out of 
26), and online CSAE (66%, n=19 out of 29) increased (by more than 5%) over the past ten years, though 
the increase appears to be most significant for crimes related to online CSAE and child pornography. The 
majority of respondents (74%, n=35 out of 47) agreed that CSAE-related offences will increase in the next 
5-10  years.    Specifically,  growing  trends  will  mainly  concern  the  amount  of  child  sexual  abuse  material 
(CSAM) circulating online (n=3), dissemination of CSAM through the darkweb (n=12), online solicitation 
(n=9), including for the production of self-generated content by victims (n=13) and live streaming (n=4).  

Many  stakeholders  (n=6)  believe  that  tech-facilitated  means  and  their  ongoing  development  and  use  in 
society represent key threats for the safety of children (n=30), introducing inter alia new forms of child sexual 
exploitation (e.g. sugaring and survival sex). In particular, they refer to artificial intelligence technologies, 
like deepfake technologies (n=8), the metaverse (n=2), as well as to malicious uses of tech-based services, 
like social media and gaming platforms (n=6), often characterised by encrypted communication (n=7), and 
anonymous online services (n=8), such as cryptocurrency-based payment methods (n=1). Such technological 
developments pose a serious threat also in light of the diffusion of technological devices and access to social 
media among many more children and increasingly younger (n=12), combined with a lack of parental control 
and awareness of the dangers of navigating the web (n=7).  

Regarding emerging technological developments, the participants to the targeted interviews were concerned 
by developments in AI, augmented reality (e.g. the metaverse) and gaming. Interviewees also raised concerns 
over the proliferation of existing technology, both in terms of the increasing use of technology as well as 
children  accessing  technology  at  an  ever-younger  age.  The  lack  of  parental/caregiver  filtering  between 
children and content/interactions facilitated by technology presents new opportunities for offenders to target 
their victims. Two interviewees also specified the increasing threat posed by organised criminal groups, as 
the trade of CSAM represents a growing market for criminal organisations to profit. One interviewee posited 
that offenders are already drawing from organised criminal groups and adopting some of their tactics, for the 
sake  of  profiting  off  of  their  own  activities  they  would  conduct  anyway.  The  other  interviewee  foresaw 
existing organised crime groups entering into the market themselves for the sake of profit. 

Finally,  many  stakeholders  replying  to  the  public  consultation  observed  that,  since  2011,  significant 
technological development took place, and rendered more difficult the fight against CSAE. Specifically, risks 
are determined, on the one side by the increasing number of children spending more and more time on the 
internet (e.g. on social media platforms), often without adult supervision; on the other, by the increasing use 
of technology by offenders, who can benefit from hidden identities, encrypted communication, peer-to-peer 
networks  on  the  darkweb  to  perpetrate  CSAE-related  offences  (e.g.  grooming  and  distant  coercion  and 
control of victims). Meanwhile, the online environment enables new forms of offences (e.g. live streaming, 
revenge  porn,  deep  fakes,  AI-child  sex  robots,  sexual  assault  and  sexual  harassment  taking  place  in  the 
Metaverse), which are not fully addressed by the CSAE Directive. Against this background, the online space 
results underregulated in this respect,  lacking an adequate and efficient infrastructure to prevent children 
from falling victim to CSAE.   

2.2.2   The  different  legal  frameworks  in  place  in  the  Member  States  concerning 
investigation  and  prosecution  do  not  allow  for  an  effective  fight  against  child 
sexual abuse and exploitation 

Certain behaviours are not considered a criminal offence in all Member States, and due to 
the nature of different interpretations on how to transpose the Directive and the fact that 
the  terminology  present  in  the  Directive  was  interpreted  differently  (such  as  ‘child 
pornography’),  and  that  some  definitions  were  not  provided  (such  as  the  age  of  sexual 

28 

 
 
 
 
consent),  variations  in  criminal  law  and  procedure  have  given  rise  to  differences  in 
investigation and prosecution in different countries.  

‘Paedophile handbooks’ 
‘Paedophile  handbooks  refer  to  documents  created  by  offenders  for  offenders  with 
information on how to find, approach and groom children to sexually abuse them. Some 
countries  such  as  Germany  have  banned  them,  whereas  others  like  the  Netherlands  are 
considering  legislation  banning  them.  Taking  into  account  the  principle  of  strict 
interpretation of criminal law, and as outlined in the Explanatory Report to the Council of 
Europe  Convention  regarding  the  advantages  of  harmonising  criminal  offences,  this 
situation may favour certain acts in Member States where the law is more lenient, make 
the collection of comparable data and experience more difficult, and obstruct international 
cooperation (in particular extradition and mutual legal assistance)97. 

Box 10: Pedophile handbooks 

Grooming or child paedophile handbooks are identified under the proposed Dutch law98 as 
“instruction  manuals  containing  tips  and  tricks  for  sexually  abusing  children”.  The 
legislative proposal goes on to state that they could “inspire potential child molesters to 
action”. The emergence of paedophile handbooks/grooming manuals is a relatively recent 
phenomenon, with their distribution and acquisition greatly facilitated by the internet.   

Typical handbooks99 can contain information on where to look for children, how to identify 
possible  victims  and  gain  their  trust  and  create  a  relationship,  how  to  coerce  them  into 
abuse and ensure their silence. Manuals also provide tips on how to avoid being caught in 
the  real  world  and  online,  including  tips  and  tricks  on  how  not  to  leave  any  physical 
evidence including DNA, and how to exploit technology such as encryption, VPNs, the 
darkweb and peer-to-peer sharing and in sophisticated cases, the legislative systems and 
how to avoid prosecution. These handbooks are not only a threat to children but they serve 
to further desensitise abusers and normalise these crimes. 

The motion calling for the criminalisation of dissemination, acquisition and possession of 
paedophile handbooks was adopted by the Dutch House of Parliament on the 13 September 
2022. These crimes would carry a maximum sentence of four years’ imprisonment. At the 
time of writing, debate on the bill has yet to take place in the Senate. Similarly, Germany 
adopted an amendment to their criminal code in late June 2021100, making the possession 
and/or dissemination of any material with instructions on how to perpetrate child sexual 
abuse punishable by up to three years imprisonment.  

97   See the Explanatory Report to CETS 201, para. 112. 
98   House  approves  maximum  prison  sentence  of  four  years  for  possession  of  ‘paedophiles’  handbook’. 

News item of 13/09/2022, Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands  

99   Abuse by the book: Paedophiles share grooming manuals and learn to prey on children, Child Rescue 

Coalition. 

100   German legislation criminalising paedophile handbooks. 

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Statute of limitations 
Another important difference concerns statutes of limitations. Different time limitations 
have been established in the Member States as regards the definition of the period during 
which victims can report abuses after they reached the age of majority. The CSA Directive 
does not set any time-limit indication, leaving the Member State with discretion as regards 
statutes of limitation for CSAE-related offences. Such a margin of discretion has created 
some barriers to the prosecution of CSAE offences. 

Box 11: Differences in statutes of limitations 

The  variance  in  national  statutes  of  limitation  results  in  different  levels  of 
criminalisation of CSAE offences across the EU. For instance, as pointed out during an 
interview with an EU-level CSO conducted by the study team, the shorter the statute of 
limitation, the fewer the victims who can disclose their abuses, and in turn the fewer the 
perpetrators that can be  convicted101. Moreover, the study team  found  evidence that,  in 
some Member States, the statute of limitation might be too short for victims to disclose 
their  abuses,  as  they  may  need  a  long  time  to  be  emotionally  ready  to  report  abuse, 
particularly in the event they suffer from post-traumatic disorders. In turn, an insufficient 
timespan prevents victims to report cases, and this affects both prosecution of offenders 
and protection of the right of CSAE victims and their families within the EU102.  

Travelling child sex offenders 
Western  European  countries,  traditionally  known  as  the  source  of  travelling  child  sex 
offenders, are now becoming the destination of child victims of sexual abuse.103 However, 
children's vulnerability to sexual  abuse is particularly increasing in Eastern and Central 
Europe, which have become countries of origin and destination104.  

The different legal frameworks across Member States create difficulties to cooperate with 
regard  to  travelling  child  sex  offenders.  Difficulties  have  emerged  with  respect  to  the 
exchange  of  information  on  convictions,  with  a  consequent  limited  effectiveness  in 
preventing travelling sex offenders from moving and gaining access to children in different 
Member States105.  

Severe challenges persist also when cooperating with third countries, including in relation 
to  jurisdiction,  lack  of  trust  towards  data  protection  regimes,  lack  of  hotlines  in  third 
countries,  and  cumbersome  legal  procedures,  such  as  Mutual  Legal  Assistance  (MLA). 

101   Targeted interview with one EU CSO (#29). 
102   Tamarit Sumalla J.M., Hernandez-Hidalgo P. (2018), Victims of child sexual abuse: understanding their 
need  for  justice.  Available  at:  link;  European  Parliament  (2017),  Report  on  the  implementation  of 
Directive  2011/93/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13  December  2011  on 
combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. Available at: 
link; targeted interview with two EU CSOs (#10 and #29), one representative from academia (#32), one 
international CSO (#11) and one international body (#13). 

103   European  Parliament  (2020).  Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children  Directive  2011/93/EU,  European 

Implementation Assessment. 

104   ECPAT (2016). Offenders on the move. The Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel 

and Tourism. Available at: link. 

105   ECPAT (2020). Summary Paper on Sexual Exploitation of Children on Travel and Tourism.  

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The application of certain rules on criminal jurisdiction often results in child sex offenders 
committing offences abroad and enjoying impunity in practice. 

Statistics 
A comprehensive, factual dataset with comparable statistics related to investigations and 
prosecutions of child sexual abuse cases for all Member States is not available. Indeed, 
most  of  the  Member  States  do  not  have  in  place  a  comprehensive  national  database 
including the number of identified CSAE victims106. The most complete dataset available 
is  from  the  statistics  of  the  United  Nations  Survey  of  Crime  Trends  and  Operations  of 
Criminal  Justice  Systems  (UN-CTS)  collected  by  the  UNODC,107  which,  however,  is 
limited in terms of (i) availability of responses of the individual Member States over the 
time period (2014-2019) and (ii) completeness of the questions answered. Some consulted 
stakeholders shared frustrations on the lack of a single EU database that brings together all 
the statistics related to all aspects of CSAE108.  

Another issue relates to the lack of standardisation of data collection mechanisms in place, 
preventing data comparability both within and across the Member States109. The lack of 
publicly  available  information  affects  research  in  the  area,  e.g.  on  the  effectiveness  of 
primary, secondary and tertiary prevention programmes, which indeed is limited110. 

Stakeholders'  views  (online  survey,  targeted  interviews  and  public  consultation)  on  problem  driver  2 
(Different legal frameworks and their effect on investigation and prosecution) 

Regarding investigation and prosecution of CSAE offences, survey respondents confirmed that the CSAE 
Directive’s implementation has enhanced the use of appropriate investigative tools to fight against CSAE. 
Most respondents (77%, n=34 out of 44) agreed that the CSAE Directive’s implementation had a moderate 
or even large effect on ensuring that LEAs have access to the right tools to investigate cases of CSAE.  Two 
respondents  mentioned  that  the  CSAE  Directive’s  implementation  had  helped  introduce  high-tech  and 
specialised tools for investigating CSAE cases.  Also, a large share of respondents agreed that the sanctions 
foreseen by the CSAE Directive are dissuasive (44%, n=22 out of 50), effective (48%, n=25 out of 52), and 
proportionate (51%, n=27 out of 53) to a large or very large extent.  Nevertheless, the share of respondents 
that considered such sanctions as only moderately dissuasive is still considerable  (34%, n=17 out of 50).  
Finally, the majority of respondents confirmed that there is high variance in terms of what materials constitute 
“child pornography” according to Member States’ legislations. Depending on specific national definitions 
included in different Member States’ legislations, “child pornography” can include AI robot (51%, n=24 out 
of 47), anime and manga depicting sexual images of children (63%, n=35 out of 56), child sex dolls (51%, 
n=27 out of 53), deep fake (67%, n=32 out of 48), literary novels romancing child sexual abuse (39%, n=20 
out of 51) and texts explaining how to groom (46%, n=23 out of 50).  

106   European  Council  (2017),  Final  report of  the  seventh  round  of mutual  evaluations  on "The  practical 
implementation and operation of the European policies on prevention and combating cybercrime”.  
107   United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2018 UN-CTS).  
108   One respondent to online survey Q2.1.2; targeted interviews with one representative from the prison, 
detention  and  restorative  justice  institutions  (#18),  one  representative  from  academia  (#14)  and  one 
international body (#25). 

109   Targeted  interview  with  one  international  body  (#25),  one  respondent  to  the  Public  Consultation 

“Combating child sexual abuse - review of EU rules”. 

110   UNICEF (2020), Action to end Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: A Review of the Evidence, page 
38.  Available  at:  link;  targeted  interviews  with  one  representative  from  the  prison,  detention  and 
restorative justice institutions (#18) and one representative from academia (#14). 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
In addition, regarding CSAE investigation and prosecution, the participants to the targeted interviews agreed 
that  the  CSAE  Directive  provided  for  an  effective  legal  framework  for  investigation  and  prosecution 
procedures  at  the  national  level.  The  most  reported  factor  undermining  the  effectiveness  of  the  CSAE 
Directives  was  the  absence  of  a  common  definition  of  the  “age  of  sexual  consent”.  Also,  interviewees 
highlighted that the term “child pornography” should be replaced with a more suitable term: as the term 
“pornography” is primarily used for adults engaging in consensual sexual acts, hence using the terms “child 
pornography” might appear to imply a similar legitimacy to that of consensual pornography. A shortage of 
both financial and human resources available at the Member State level emerged as an additional barrier to 
investigation and prosecution of CSAE-related offences. Stakeholders agreed that the CSAE Directive has 
helped investigate and prosecute cross-border online CSAE-related offences, though they broadly agreed its 
contribution has been insufficient. One interviewee criticised the CSAE Directive’s focus on perpetrators 
and committed offences instead of regulating the online environment that enabled the crimes. 

Respondents  to  the  public  consultation  In  terms  of  crime investigation  and prosecution,  the  majority of 
stakeholders responded to the public consultation stated that the CSAE Directive contributed to successful 
criminal proceedings to a moderate or high extent (78%, n=28 out of 36), and that the penalties foreseen by 
the CSAE Directive have a proportionate and dissuasive effect to a moderate, high or very high extent (66%, 
n=23 out of 35). Also, the extension of the statute of limitation after the victim has reached the majority was 
mentioned as the key provision of the CSAE Directive that contributed the most to increasing reporting of 
CSAE  cases  (60%,  n=24  out  of  40  respondents  answering  very  high  or  high  extent).  The  possibility  to 
continue investigation and prosecution of CSAE offences even if the victim’s statement was withdrawn 
was mentioned among the key measures that contributed to improving the investigation and prosecution 
of offenders (50%, n=9 out of 18 respondents answering very high or high extent). 

The respondents identified as one of the major problems affecting the fight against CSAE in the EU the use 
of term ‘child pornography’ which has been found as being outdated and incoherent. The term narrows the 
category  of  material  that  should  be  considered  abusive  to children,  for  instance,  it  does  not  include  self-
produced  sexual  content,  with  respect  to  which,  however,  children  need  protection.  Moreover,  the  word 
‘pornographic’ risks distracting from the serious violation it actually consists of, because it can imply the 
idea of consent from the depicted children. They further stated that internet Service Providers (ISPs) need 
clear and mandatory rules on the detection, reporting blocking and removal of CSAM in their services, which 
should also be held accountable for failure to act. To render such procedures effective, cooperation between 
ISPs and LEAs authorities should be strengthened. 

Finally, the respondents supported the creation of a European Centre dedicated to the fight against online 
CSAE, as outlined in the Proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual 
abuse.  The Centre will facilitate CSAE prevention and enhance cooperation in delivering justice not only 
within the EU but also working with jurisdictions outside of the EU. Stakeholders raised that the operational 
activities and methods of the European Centre remain unclear and should be defined. To this end, the Centre 
would benefit from an EU-wide set of updated terminology and definitions. 

Stakeholders' views (case study interviews111) on problem driver 2 (Different legal frameworks and their 
effect on investigation and prosecution) 

As a result of the conducted case study interviews, the consulted  law enforcement and judicial authorities 
highlighted  the  following  needs  with  regards  to  legislative  policy  measures  about  the  adequate  legal 
framework and its effect on investigation and prosecution:  

111   Four  case  study  interviews  with  national  stakeholders  from  Germany,  Italy,  the  Netherlands  and 
Romania have been conducted online. The interviews involved key ministries, JAs, LEAs and national 
CSOs and aimed at the collection of their views on key problems affecting the fight against CSAE, as 
well  as  the  feasibility/functioning  of  identified  policy  measures  and  related  impacts.  In  total,  18 
stakeholders have been consulted during the case study interviews. 

32 

 
 
 
 
•  Replace the concept of “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material (CSAM)” / Replace 
“child pornography” with child sexual exploitation material” (CSEM). At the same time, one JA, 
one NCA and one CSO argued that a recast CSAE Directive should include two separate definitions 
of CSAM and CSEM according to the specific content they refer to. In their view, inclusion of just 
one  overarching  definition  could  create  misunderstanding  in  the  transposition  of  the  CSAE 
Directive at the national level. 

•  Pointed to the need to ensure prohibition of manuals that contain instructions for offenders on how 

to groom or sexually exploit children.  

•  Require the Member States to establish a common minimum threshold for the age of sexual consent. 
Along the same lines, two NCAs pointed out that a common definition of a minimum threshold for 
the  age  of  sexual  consent  would  at  least  minimise  the  risk  that  offenders  exploit  differences  in 
national laws to perpetrate CSAE offences in countries where lenient penalties are in place. 

•  A couple of interviewees also stressed the need to remove any distinction between above/below the 
age  of  sexual  consent.  However,  one  NCA  pointed  out  that  introducing  this  measure  might  be 
challenging in terms of political feasibility because, due to differing cultural views and domestic 
debates, the age of sexual consent is given greater weight in some Member States than in others. 
•  Require the  Member States to establish minimum rules for CSAE offences “perpetrated through 
tech-facilitated or tech-enabled means. However, one NCA highlighted that the CSAE Directive 
shall remain “tech-neutral” in terms of how CSAE offences are defined, and that the threats posed 
by the use of technological instruments shall be addressed through adequate prevention measures. 
•  Require  the  Member  States  to  provide  for  an  aggravating  circumstance  for  CSAE  offences 
“perpetrated  through  tech-facilitated  and  tech-enabled  means”.  However,    a  few  argued  that 
including  an  aggravating  circumstance  for  CSAE  offences  perpetrated  online  could  be  relevant 
though not necessary, and that online offences should be on par with those that occur offline. Also, 
one  LEA  further  remarked  that  any  aggravating  circumstances  should  not  go  so  far  in  terms  of 
higher penalties so to lead an offender to opt for engaging in offline CSAE. Finally, one LEA and 
one NCA specified that the national legislation in their Member State already provides aggravating 
penalties for crimes perpetrated through tech-facilitated means against children who are below the 
age of sexual consent.  

•  Require the Member States to ensure that any statute of limitations commences from the victims’ 

age of majority.  

•  Prohibit the statute of limitations for CSAE offences.  
•  Require the Member States to ensure adequate training of professionals in charge of investigating 
and prosecuting CSAE offences, while (one) LEA representative remarked the necessity to invest 
on the recruitment of new staff to deal with the need to assess the increasing volume of reported 
CSAM. Also, one CSO further specified that training courses shall involve also other stakeholders, 
such as hotline analysts, who could have a supportive role in the identification and assessment of 
CSAM.  

•  Mandate employers to request information on criminal convictions during the recruiting process 

for any activities involving direct and regular contact with children, including volunteers.   

•  Require, on a mandatory basis, professionals and persons working with children to report CSAE 
offences. One of the CSO pointed out that, sometimes, reporting mechanisms are burdensome, hence 
preventing professionals to report CSAE offences while one LEA suggested that parents shall be 
included in the group of mandated reporters, as sometimes they refrain from reporting due to shame 
or reluctance. Finally, four NCAs stated a mandatory requirement for professionals working with 
children to report CSAE offences would be too strong whereas capacity building initiatives would 
be needed to improve skills of professionals working with children to understand the signs of sexual 
abuse suffered by children.  

33 

 
 
 
Stakeholders’ views (final workshop112) on investigation and prosecution of CSAE offences  

Positive impacts are expected in particular from: 

•  A  common  understanding  of  what  child  sexual  exploitation  material  is  and  what  is 

covered; 

•  A common minimum threshold for the age of sexual consent; 
•  An obligation to run any statute of limitations from the victim’s age of majority;  
•  An obligation for background checks. 

Participants raised concerns regarding: 

•  The dissuasive effect of a ban for manuals that contain instructions for offenders;  
•  Difficulties in establishing reporting systems tailored to different groups of children; 
•  Mandate  employers  to  require  information,  an  alternative  could  be  having  an 

independent organisation in charge of performing background checks. 

2.2.3   Member  States’  efforts  to  prevent  child  sexual  abuse  and  to  assist  victims  are 

limited, lack coordination and are of unclear effectiveness 

Prevention efforts 

•  Limited.  

In relation to the two main types of prevention efforts described in section 2.1.: 

•  Prevention  efforts  to  decrease  the  likelihood  that  a  child  becomes  a  victim. 
Awareness  raising113  and  training  is  limited  in  availability,  particularly  to 
organisations and persons that come in regular and direct contact with children 
as part of their jobs or vocational activities, in addition to carers and parents. A 
vast majority of the abuse occurs in the circle of trust of the child. At the same 
time,  those  in  regular  and  direct  contact  with  children  should  have  the 
knowledge and tools to ensure that children do not become victims, given their 
proximity to the child. 

•  Prevention efforts to decrease the likelihood that a person offends.  

Research into what motivates individuals to become offenders is scarce and 
fragmented.  This  current  lack  of  research  makes  it  difficult  to  put  in  place 
effective programmes before a person offends for the first time, in the course 
of or after  criminal  proceedings, both  inside and outside prison. As a  result, 
there are currently very few programmes in place114. 

112   A final workshop with Member States’ stakeholders, including NCAs, LEAs, JAs,  CSOs and hotlines 

from 21 Member States, had been held online on 4 November 2022.  

113   The Commission- funded network of Safer Internet Centres is a good example. It raises awareness on 
online safety and provides information, resources and assistance via helplines and hotlines on a wide 
range of digital safety topics including grooming and sexting. 

114   For an overview of prevention programmes in the EU and third countries, see Di Gioia R., Beslay, L. 
(2018) Fighting child sexual abuse: prevention policies for offenders  – Inception Report, EUR 29344 
EN, doi: 10.2760/48791 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
•  Uncoordinated. Multiple types of stakeholders need to take action to enact a preventive 
approach  that  delivers  results.  This  includes  public  authorities,  the  research 
community,  NGOs,  and  providers  of  online  services  used  by  children.  The  various 
types of practitioners in this field do not communicate sufficiently with each other 
and with researchers on the effectiveness of the programmes, lessons learned and best 
practices; language can be a further barrier. Expertise and resources to establish and 
implement  such  initiatives  are  not  evenly  distributed  in  the  EU,  and  successful 
programmes are mostly local endeavours. There are overlapping efforts in some areas, 
e.g.  Member  States  designing  similar  programmes  and  campaigns  in  parallel115, 
whereas other areas, such as reaching out to potential offenders, are not sufficiently 
addressed.  

Unclear effectiveness. The few programmes that exist are rarely evaluated to assess their 
effectiveness  and  usability116.  A  recent  systematic  review  of  the  published  empirical 
literature  on  child  sexual  abuse  perpetration  prevention  interventions  found  only  five 
published evaluation studies, and these were methodologically limited (e.g. four examined 
the  same  intervention  only  on  adults  in  Germany,  and  the  other  one  focused  only  on 
children  aged  5  to  12)117.  The  difficulty  to  assess  the  effectiveness  of  both  prevention 
measures and assistance to victims efforts is compounded by the failure by Member States 
to systematically collection statistics on the trends in the area of child sexual abuse and 
exploitation. This is likely linked to the need felt by Member States to make allocation 
choices  in  relation  to  the  resources  available  to  fight  such  crime.  In  the  absence  of  an 
obligation  to  collect  statistics  in  the  2011  CSA  Directive  (which  the  Commission  had 
proposed at the time but which was refused by Member States) only encourages Member 
States to set up mechanisms to collect trends and statistics, in recital (44)), Member States 
have neither established targeted mechanisms nor devoted sufficient resources to achieve 
this objective.  

Assistance to victims’ efforts 

•  Limited.  Victims  of  CSA  do  not  always  receive  the  tailored  and  comprehensive 
assistance required118, such as support in trying to stop the sharing and distribution 
online of the images and videos depicting their abuse, which perpetuates the harm. 
•  Uncoordinated. Victims of CSA require comprehensive support that brings together all 
relevant sectors, including health, legal, child protection, education and employment. 
Such  coordination  between  relevant  actors  within  and  between  Member  States  is 
lacking.  The  existing  initiatives  do  not  systematically  make  use  of  existing  best 
practices and lessons learned in other Member States or globally. This translates into 
information  gaps  on  help  resources,  gaps  in  specialised  support,  and  overall 
inefficiency of efforts.  

115   Di Gioia, R., Beslay, L., ‘Fighting child sexual abuse-Prevention policies for offenders, 3 October 2018. 
116   Ibid. 
117   Seto,  M.;  Letourneau,  E.;  Overview  of  perpetrator  prevention  evidence  and  existing  programmes, 

October 19, 2021.  

118   Unicef, Action to end Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: A Review of the Evidence 2020, 2020. 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
While the digitalisation of justice has led to positive results in some cases, access to 
justice was not improved for all victims of crime, in particular vulnerable victims.  This 
finding was also echoed in the impact assessment for the recent Commission proposal 
on  digitalisation  of  justice,  which  indicated  that  victims  risk  being  deterred  from 
exercising their rights or being unable to do so due to a lack of digital tools119 or to 
limited accessibility of the IT resources in case victims are persons with disabilities. 
•  Unclear  effectiveness.  There  is  little  data  on  whether  CSA  victims  have  access  to 
appropriate support, and existing research suggests that the level of satisfaction with 
support received is low120.  

Box 8: main sources of evidence on current efforts on prevention and assistance to 
victims 

The  CSA  Directive  requires  Member  States  to  put  in  place  prevention  measures  of 
programmes of the two main types described in section 2.1.1. (i.e. programmes focused on 
children  or  on  possible  offenders),  as  well  as  assistance  to  victims  measures.  The 
Commission has been monitoring the transposition of the CSA Directive since 2013, 
when the deadline for Member States to transpose it expired. One of the main challenges 
for Member States concerns the transposition of the articles concerning prevention and 
assistance to victims121.  

Member  States  have  generally  struggled  to  put  in  place  the  required  prevention 
programmes or measures, in particular those for offenders and for people who fear that 
they  might  offend,  as  well  as  assistance  to  victims  programmes.  In  some  cases,  these 
programmes have not been put in place yet and in others they are in place but they 
do not fully comply with the requirements of the Directive. The Commission organised 
six dedicated workshops in 2018 and 2019 to support Member States in the transposition 
of these and other provisions and better understand the challenges.  

These workshops, together with additional bilateral exchanges between the Commission 
and Member States,  revealed a need for  more structured and continuous support, as 
some aspects of prevention and assistance to victims have not been traditionally an area of 
focus  for  Member  States’  action  in  the  fight  against  CSA.  The  shortcomings  typically 
originate  in  a  lack  of  expertise  in  relevant  areas,  as  well  as  difficulties  in 
communication  and  coordination  between  key  actors,  e.g.  different  ministries.  In 
particular  when  it  comes  to  measures  targeting  (potential)  offenders,  there  remains 
significant room for improvement. 

In addition to the evidence gathered through monitoring the transposition of the Directive 
and  supporting  its  implementation,  the  feedback  from  stakeholders  during  the 
consultation activities, in particular NGOs focused on child’s rights, shows the need for 
improving  awareness  and  education  of  children,  parents,  and  caregivers.  This  feedback 

119   SWD (2021) 392 final, 1.12.2021, p. 14.  
120   For example, a recent study by the Dutch hotline EOKM shows that 81.7% of the boys who had been 

victims of sextortion and were in touch with a counsellor were not satisfied with the support received. 

121   Report from the Commission assessing the extent to which the Member States have taken the necessary 
measures in order to comply with Directive 2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual 
abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, COM(2016) 871 final.  

36 

 
 
 
 
also included the need for improving the availability of effective prevention programmes 
for  offenders  and  persons  who  fear  that  they  might  offend,  as  well  as  the  assistance  to 
victims’ programmes122. 

Stakeholders' views on problem driver 3 (Prevention of child sexual abuse and assistance to victims) 

Regarding CSAE prevention, most respondents (60%, n=27) to the online survey considered that the CSAE 
Directive’s implementation has contributed to preventing repeated offences against children (e.g. stopping 
offenders from holding professional positions that bring them in regular and direct contact with children), at 
least to a moderate, large or very extent.  Yet, 29% (n= 13 out of 45) of respondents still claimed that the 
CSAE Directive’s contribution had little if any contribution in this regard. Although several stakeholders 
(44%, n=17) considered that its contribution was moderate or large, the majority of respondents (50%, n=19 
out of 38) deemed that the CSAE Directive’s implementation only contributed to a small extent, or it did not 
contribute at all, to preventing abuses of children with disabilities. Similarly, most respondents (59%, n=20 
out of 34) considered that the CSAE  Directive’s implementation had contributed to preventing abuses of 
children with specific gender needs (e.g. girls, boys, LGBTQI+) to a small extent, or it did not contribute at 
all. However, according to most respondents, the CSAE Directive has contributed to a moderate, large, and 
very large extent towards the prevention of child abuses in the context of migration (53%, n=17 out of 32), 
the  uploading,  access  to,  and  dissemination  of  CSAM  (71%,  n=30  out  of  42),  and  the  dissemination  of 
material advertising the organisation of travels to commit CSAE (66%, n=23 out of 35). Further, most of 
respondents  (64%,  n=25)  considered  that  the  implementation  of  the  CSAE  Directive  has  contributed  to 
preventing first-time offences against children (e.g. through intervention programmes to persons who fear 
they might offend) to a moderate, large or very large extent. Also Also, some respondents (n=4) highlighted 
that initiatives or measures targeting potential offenders are still insufficient, and that they are often the result 
of  independent  actions  taken  by  the  single  CSO,  rather  than  a  direct  result  of  the  CSAE  Directive 
implementation.  

Most of the survey respondents (77%, n=19 out of 53) considered that the CSAE Directive’s implementation 
has contributed to facilitating access by child victims to assistance and support measures available to them 
(e.g. legal remedies and appropriate specialist protection measures) at least to a moderate, or to a large or 
very  large  extent.  Some  survey  respondents  reported  that  support  services  are  made  available  as  long  as 
necessary (n=8), or that the period is determined on a case-by-case basis (n=2).  Moreover, most of the survey 
respondents (51%, n=27 out of 53) considered that the CSAE Directive’s implementation has contributed to 
ensuring  that  victims  of  CSAE  do  not  suffer  additional  trauma  and  harm  from  participating  in  criminal 
investigations and proceedings from a large to a very large extent.   However, some survey respondents (n=5) 
commented that many of the assistance and protection services available to CSAE victims were already in 
place before the implementation of the CSAE Directive.  Survey respondents (84%, n=49 out of 58) also 
considered that efforts at the EU level against CSAE would benefit from additional EU training for JAs and 
LEAs working with victims of CSAE, from a large to a very large extent.   

Most of the LEAs responding to the online survey confirmed they frequently cooperate with other LEAs 
(92%, n=12 out of 13) and JAs (84%, n=11 out of 13) in their Member State in relation to CSAE cases.  
According  to  respondents,  main  cooperation  mechanisms  facilitating  coordination  of  national  actors 
concerned  with  the  fight  against  CSAE  (e.g.  including,  among  others,  ad-hoc  memorandum,  regular 
exchange  of  information,  ad-hoc  cooperation  agreement)  are  available  in  their  country  to  facilitate 
coordination of national actors concerned with the fight against CSAE. As to cooperation with authorities 
in  other  countries  in  relation  to  CSAE,  it  mainly  occurs  with  LEAs  (39%,  n=20  out  of  51),  competent 
authorities (34%, n=17 out of 52) and JAs (22%, n=11 out of 51).Some respondents (n=5) also pointed to 
the role played by the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE) Network in facilitating cross-
border cooperation with third countries’ hotlines and LEAs. 

122   Targeted online roundtable with NGOs and feedback from open public consultation (see annex 2). 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
With regard to the effectiveness of prevention measures, participants to the targeted interviews pointed to 
education initiatives and awareness-raising activities as the major areas where the CSAE Directive has shown 
a positive contribution. However, one interviewee claimed that national budget and effort are still too much 
focused on the repression side of the fight against CSAE, with limited investments in prevention measures. 
Another  interviewee  emphasised  that,  due  to  insufficient  resources  available  at  the  Member  State  level, 
prevention measures are usually targeted at very specific audiences and lack a comprehensive approach to 
CSAE prevention. For instance, most secondary prevention initiatives are not targeted at the right audience 
(e.g.  mid  65  years  old  men  are  not  usually  considered,  while  they  represent  a  significant  share  of  all 
offenders). Finally, some interviewees pointed to the insufficient offer of initiatives aimed at the prevention 
of online CSAE offences, which, according to the interviewees, is a consequence of the inadequate coverage 
of such offences within the CSAE Directive.  

As  a  result  of  the  four  case  study  interviews  with  national  stakeholders  from  Germany,  Italy,  the 
Netherlands and Romania, the following legislative policy measures related to prevention and assistance 
have been identified:  

•  Require  Member  States  to  ensure  the  protection  of  child  victims  with  special  needs  during 

criminal proceedings.  

•  Require the Member States to establish a formal referral mechanism to ensure prompt referral 

of child victims to the most appropriate services.  

•  Require Member States to ensure adequate prevention of CSAE offences against children with 
special  needs.  More  precisely,  one  CSO  representative  emphasised  that  effective  prevention 
policies against CSAE  should define special measures for children with disabilities as they face 
higher risk of becoming CSAE victims. Another CSO representative pointed out the need for sexual 
education of children with special needs, adding that, in his Member State, it will likely become 
mandatory for schools to deliver, upon parental consent, sexual education programmes for children 
with special needs. 

•  Require the Member States to ensure that hotlines have a clear legal mandate to act as a formal 
body entrusted to receive, view and assess reported CSAM. Two CSOs highlighted that a clear 
legal mandate for national hotlines would improve the effectiveness of their cooperation with LEAs. 
One  CSO  stressed  that  currently  the  national  hotlines  are  subject  to  different  rules  across  the 
Member States, including on the type of CSAM contents that hotlines can view, assess and report. 
This led to fragmentation and discrepancy of data collected by different national hotlines. Therefore, 
in their view, a legal mandate that clearly states the type of data that can be collected by different 
national hotlines across the Member States would allow comparability of data on reported CSAM 
collected by different national hotlines, while contributing towards improved hotlines’ cooperation. 
Finally, another CSO stressed that, at the minimum, hotlines should be legally allowed to proactive 
search for CSAM/CSEM content upon request from child victims. 

•  Require the Member States to establish a National Rapporteur or equivalent mechanism.  Any 
measures aimed at facilitating the collection of national data would be welcome as such measures 
would allow for a comprehensive and comparable overview of the CSAE phenomenon. Moreover, 
a couple of interviews underlined that the independence of the national rapporteurs would allow 
them to better perform their functions, including getting data from all relevant national actors as 
well as strengthening the credibility of reports developed the national rapporteur. One CSO strongly 
supported  this  measure  as  it  would  favour  the  establishment  of  a  centralised  database  including 
granular statistics and data that are currently stored by different institutions. However, one NCA 
stressed that the mandate of national rapporteur should cover all forms of violence against children 
– and not being limited to sexual violence - as this allows comparability of data on the risk factors 
faced by children victims of any forms of violence.   

•  Establish an EU anti-CSAE Coordinator (ACC) Two CSOs stressed that the ACC would be suited 
to coordinate all Member States’ actions and projects concerning CSAE. However, one CSO warned 
against the risk that the role played by ACC may overlap with the role of similar authorities (i.e. 
European  Centre  to  prevent  and  counter  child  sexual  abuse)  that  are  currently  foreseen  in  the 
proposal for a regulation to combat and prevent online child sexual abuse.  In order to avoid this 
risk, two NCAs suggested that the tasks of the  EU ACC could be  assigned to the EU Centre  to 
prevent and counter child sexual abuse when it is established.  

38 

 
 
 
Stakeholders’ views (final workshop) on assistance, support and protection of CSAE victims 

Positive impacts are expected in particular from: 

•  Adequate medical/psychological assistance to CSAE victims;  
•  Measures specifically tailored to children with specific needs during criminal proceedings; 
•  Access to existing schemes of compensation for CSAE victims;  
•  Establishment of a formal referral mechanism aimed at prompt identification of CSAE victims, as 

well as providing them with adequate assistance services. 

Examples  of  good  practices  included:  the  Barnahus  model,  online  reporting  mechanisms  (e.g.  chatbot), 
victims’ funds for compensation, and compensation to victims not dependent on the conviction of offenders; 

Concerns  were  raised  regarding  support  after  the  age  of  majority,  funding  availability  for  compensation 
schemes and support for children in migration.  

Stakeholders’ views (final workshop) on prevention of CSAE offences 

Positive impacts are expected in particular from: 

•  Programmes specifically tailored to children with specific needs, ensuring flexibility in the wording 

and the listing of children with special needs; 

•  Mandatory  measures  to  block  access  to  web  pages  containing  or  disseminating  CSAM/CSEM 
accompanied by removal and take-down processes of CSAM/CSEM (which are currently included 
in the proposal for a Regulation on combating and preventing online CSAE); 

•  Clear legal mandates for national hotlines, with appropriate funding for IT infrastructures needed 

to detect CSAM/CSEM;  

•  Establishment of National Rapporteurs or equivalent mechanisms, however, ensuring that national 

existing coordination mechanisms are appropriately taken into account. 

Most participants, when asked about the expected effectiveness of the establishment of an EU anti-CSAE 
Coordinator (ACC), replied that they did not know and that they were not able to answer. However, some of 
them warned against risks of duplication of tasks and responsibilities at the EU level with other existing EU 
bodies. 

Two Member States (NCA of EE and PT) flagged that it is paramount that any measures do not conflict with 
other  proposed  EC  tools  (i.e.  the  Proposal  for  a  Directive  on  Combating  Violence  Against  Women  and 
Domestic Violence).  

Finally, the large majority (68%, n=26 out of 38) of the stakeholders responded to the public consultation 
acknowledged (and deemed as very high, high or moderate) the contribution of the CSAE Directive regarding 
the support and assistance provided to victims. Also, according to 71% (n=23 out of 32) of respondents, the 
CSAE  Directive  contributed  to  ensuring  that  victims  are  not  punished  for  their  involvement  in  criminal 
activities  that  they  may  have  been  compelled  to  take  part  in,  or  were  involved  in  unknowingly,  from  a 
moderate  to  a  very  large  extent.  Moreover,  76%  of  respondents  (n=19  out  of  25)  agreed  that  the  CSAE 
Directive  contributed  to  ensuring  protection  of  victim's  privacy,  identity  and  image  during  criminal 
proceedings to a moderate, high or very high extent. 

With  regards  to  the  issue  of  child-friendly  and  sensitive  justice,  respondents  supported  a  revision  of  the 
CSAE Directive towards ensuring child-friendly justice systems. This means that children should receive 
information about their rights and their involvement in the proceedings in a format and language that they 
can understand and that is tailored to their specific needs and age. To this end, authorities should, inter alia, 
adopt approaches that take into account the experienced trauma and gender-specific needs of the victims. 

39 

 
 
 
Considering  the prevention of  CSAE,  many  respondents  provided  positive  feedback  (very  high  and  high 
extent)  regarding  the  contribution  of  the  CSAE  Directive  towards  the  removal/blocking  of  webpages 
containing or disseminating CSAM (44%, n=20 out of 45). Positive feedback was also provided regarding 
the  contribution  of  the  CSAE  Directive  towards  the  establishment  of  prevention  programmes  targeted  at 
people who have not committed a crime but fear they may offend against children (41%, n=15 out of 37). 

Many  stakeholders  state  the  need  for  awareness-raising  activities  to  avoid  children  becoming  victims  of 
CSAE (e.g. through social campaigns and workshops) targeting the public and professionals working with 
minors, as well as for education programs in schools across the EU, including on themes such as sexual 
consent,  gender  equality,  and  online  safety.  Prevention  initiatives  targeting  children  should  be  age-
appropriate and take into account gender-specific needs. Likewise, special attention to specific needs should 
be paid when designing prevention programmes for foster children, children in institutional care or living in 
domestic  environments  posing  risks  of  becoming  victims.  Further,  stakeholders  expressed  the  need  for 
mandatory rehabilitation programmes.  

2.3 How likely is the problem to persist if there is no EU level action? 

The problem of CSA is likely to continue worsening in the absence of additional EU level 
action, driven by the issues identified in the problem drivers section.  

In view of the ongoing digital transition of society, both children and offenders will keep 
spending even more time online. As such, we can expect online threats related to CSAE to 
continue to increase and evolve123. 

As  children  will  be  increasingly  exposed  to  predators  online,  prevention  will  play  a 
particularly  important  role.  Parents  and  children  will  need  the  knowledge  and  tools  to 
protect  themselves.  Without  a  solid  and  structured  approach  to  awareness  raising  and 
education to benefit children, parents and caregivers, children will continue to fall victim 
to  sexual  abuse  in  greater  numbers.  This  concerns  both  online  abuse,  which  may  be 
followed by crimes committed offline, but it applies also to purely offline abuse. While 
awareness of the problem is currently on the rise in a number of Member States when it 
comes to abuse in organised sports or other activities targeting children, an effective and 
systematic prevention response is still lacking. Whether sexual abuse takes place offline 
or online, children will therefore often continue to lack information on where to seek help, 
and the adults around them will not be in a position to notice or remedy the problem.  

On the opposite side of the problem, people who are attracted to children will continue 
using  the  online  space  and  related  technological  tools  to  find  victims  and  evade  law 
enforcement. Those who may want to seek support to overcome this attraction will often 
not dare to come forward for fear of legal consequences and social stigma. Instead, they 
will  likely  continue  to  seek  information  online,  and  often  become  drawn  in  by  other 
predators  into  committing  crimes,  rather  than  finding  professional  help.  Therefore, 
initiatives  addressing  more  apparent  aspects  of  prevention,  such  as  awareness  raising 

123   Westlake, B. (2020), The past, present, and future of online child sexual exploitation: Summarizing the 

evolution of production, distribution, and detection. Available at: link.   

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
initiatives, will not be enough to address the entire problem, and the CSA issue is likely to 
continue growing.   

Increased  online  activity  and  consequent  exposure  of  children  to  predators  will 
unavoidably result in  more victims. Victims  will continue having  difficulties to  access 
long-term assistance. Without more developed support systems in all EU Member States, 
the situation of victims will continue to vary. However, even in Member States with more 
advanced support systems, many victims will be left to face the psychological, physical 
and  economic  consequences  of  CSA  without  proper  assistance,  once  the  immediate 
proceedings  around  the  crime  are  closed.  In  cases  where  the  crime  is  never  reported, 
victims and their families may not know where to seek help, or that they should be entitled 
to it.   

Divergences in the criminalisation of offences across the Member States will persist, and 
consulted experts stressed that there are differences in the classification of the offences 
across  Member  States  (i.e.  some  are  considered  misdemeanours  and  not  felonies, 
especially in cases of possession of child sexual abuse material), which may result in lower 
prioritisation of action and restrict the availability of tools for LEAs 124.  

3. WHY SHOULD THE EU ACT? 

3.1 Legal Basis 

The appropriate legal bases are the same ones as for the original CSA Directive: Articles 
82(2) and 83(1) TFEU.  

Article  82(2)  enables  judicial  cooperation  in  criminal  matters,  enabling  Parliament  and 
Council  to  establish  minimum  rules  on,  among  other  aspects,  the  rights  of  victims  of 
crimes. Article 83(1) allows for the adoption of ‘minimum rules concerning the definition 
of criminal offences and sanctions’, including in the area of child sexual exploitation. All 
proposed options envisaged in the present Impact Assessment are based upon these two 
articles. The options address gaps in criminalisation and facilitate the mutual recognition 
of judgments and judicial decisions across Member States by further aligning minimum 
standards  in  relation  to  the  definitions  of  crime  and  offenses,  improving  the  system  of 
transmission  of  information  on  previous  offences  between  Member  States  and  further 
clarifying the minimum rights to be granted to child victims.  

3.2 Subsidiarity: necessity of EU action 

The  EU  should  take  action  in  protecting  children  against  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation only if and in so far as the objective cannot be sufficiently achieved by the 
Member States and can be better achieved by the Union.  

124   Commission  meeting  report  (2019),  Expert  Workshop  on  current  and  future  challenges  in  the  fight 

against child sexual abuse. 

41 

 
 
 
 
As  already  highlighted  by  Council  Framework  Decision  2004/68/JHA  and  Council 
Decision 2000/375/JHA125, a satisfactory improvement as regards the rules applicable to 
countering child sexual abuse and exploitation cannot be sufficiently achieved by Member 
States acting alone or in an uncoordinated way. In the absence of EU action, Member States 
would have to keep adopting individual national laws to respond to current and emerging 
challenges,  with  the  likely  consequence  of  fragmentation  and  diverging  laws  likely  to 
negatively affect the effective fight against child sexual abuse. The inherent cross border 
nature of child sexual abuse offenses is not a novelty: phenomena such as travelling child 
sex offenders, who cross borders to regain contact with children, as well as the spreading 
of online child sexual abuse material, have been known for decades.  

In  conclusion,  Member  States  acting  individually  cannot  effectively  (i)  prevent  the 
commission of child sexual abuse offenses in their territory, (ii) investigate and prosecute 
child sexual abuse crimes with a cross-border dimensions, and (iii) identify and adequately 
provide assistance to victims. 

Stakeholders' views on the necessity of EU action  

The majority of respondents who took part in the online survey conducted as part of the Study confirmed the 
necessity of additional EU intervention to fight against CSAE. Specifically, the three main areas where EU 
intervention is deemed necessary (to a large and very large extent) are the establishment of: (i) additional EU 
funding for the fight against of child sexual abuse and exploitation in the EU (95%, n=56 out of 59), (ii) 
common minimum standards for ICT companies to report cases of online child sexual abuse and exploitation 
(93%, n=51 out of 55), (iii) additional EU trainings for judicial and LEAs working with victims of child 
sexual  abuse  and  exploitation  (85%,  n=49  out  of  58).    Furthermore,  additional  EU  action  is  believed 
necessary to ensuring a common definition of CSAM (n=5) and common rules to fight against CSAM related 
offences (n=11), higher level of harmonisation of procedures and penalties during cross-border investigations 
(n=12) as well as common standards for the use of adequate tools to detect CSAE, including its online format 
(n=4).   

Furthermore,  following  35  individual  interviews  (both  during  the  evaluation  and  the  impact  assessment 
phase)  with  a  broad  range  of  the  stakeholders  (incl.  EU  bodies/agencies,  international  bodies,  EU  and 
international level CSOs, academia, national authorities and industry) opportunities for both legislative and 
non-legislative EU action were raised. As concerns legislative action, interviewees raised the possibility for 
the EU to adopt new EU rules on online dimensions of CSAE to strengthen internet safety for children. Four 
interviews  raised  the  point  that  the  terminology  of  the  CSAE  Directive  should  be  revised  to  ensure  that 
definitions therein are up-do-date. For instance, the term ‘child pornography’ should be replaced with ‘child 
sexual abuse material’. Also, one interview highlighted the need to include in the CSAE Directive specific 
provisions on data collection requirements for the Member States.  

The large majority of respondents (94%, n=45 out of 48) to the public consultation agreed that the fight 
against CSAE continues to require action at the EU level, and it fully respects the subsidiarity principle. 

3.3 Subsidiarity: added value of EU action 

Facilitate investigation and prosecution 
CSA, in particular online offences, frequently involve situations where the victim and the 
abuser are in different jurisdictions, within the EU and beyond. As a result, it can be very 

125   Council Decision of 29 May 2000 to combat child pornography on the Internet, 2000/375/JHA. 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
challenging  for  the  authorities  of  a  single  country  to  have  access  to  all  the  information 
needed to effectively investigate and prosecute offenders, as well as to swiftly identify and 
recue  victims  from  ongoing  abuse.  EU-level  intervention  enables  cooperation  between 
Member  States  notably  by  setting  minimum  standards  and  ensuring  that  the  same 
behaviours are criminalised across Member States.  

Facilitate and support Member States’ action on prevention and assistance to victims  
While Member States are best placed to assess the gaps and needs, and implement action 
in  their local context, they often lack information on what  prevention and assistance to 
victims  programmes  are  available,  how  effective  they  are,  and  how  to  approach  their 
implementation in practice – who needs to be involved, what are the technical and legal 
pre-requisites and estimated costs.  EU level action can provide a forum for exchange of 
necessary information  and expertise to  avoid  duplication of efforts and  blind spots. EU 
action  can  also  help  identify  best  practices  and  lessons  learned  at  national  level  (from 
Member States or third countries) and incorporate them into EU-level initiatives, so that 
other Member States can benefit from them. These best practices can then be incorporated 
as needed into EU law to further facilitate their application across the EU. 

Stakeholders' views on the added value of EU action 

Considering the effectiveness of the EU action in the field of CSAE, the large majority of respondents (88%, 
n=44 out of 50) to the public consultation126 agrees that an EU-wide cooperation framework is necessary to 
effectively  combat  this  crime.  At  the  same  time,  following  35  individual  interviews  (both  during  the 
evaluation  and  the  impact  assessment  phase)  with  a  broad  range  of  the  stakeholders  (incl.  EU 
bodies/agencies, international bodies, EU and international level CSOs, academia, national authorities and 
industry), the following outcomes have been obtained with regards to EU added value. Interviewees agreed 
that the CSAE Directive provided for a legal framework that stimulated the adoption of rules against CSAE 
across the Member States. One interviewee pointed out that the minimum common rules provided by the 
CSAE  Directive  represent  the  necessary  precondition  towards  an  effective  detection,  investigation  and 
prosecution  of  CSAE  offences,  which  have  often  cyber  and  cross-border  elements.  Several  interviewees 
highlighted  that  the  CSAE  Directive  facilitated  cross-border  cooperation  for  the  taking  down  of  CSAM, 
which might not have happened otherwise. 

4. OBJECTIVES: WHAT IS TO BE ACHIEVED? 

4.1 General objective 

The general objective is to improve the identification, protection and support of victims 
of  child  sexual  abuse,  ensure  effective  prevention,  and  facilitate  investigations  and 
prosecution. 

126   In the context of the study, a public consultation in all EU official languages concerning the evaluation 
of the CSAE Directive and a preliminary discussion on the objectives of a policy intervention to review 
it was carried out via the Commission’s tool EU Survey.  It ran between 20 April 2022 and 13 July 2022. 
Overall, 50 responses were received from stakeholders in 23 countries, including 18 Member States (AT, 
BE, CZ, DE, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IT, MT, NL, PT, SE and SI) and five third countries 
(Canada,  Iran,  Thailand,  UK  and  US).  In  addition  to  the  replies  to  the  PC  questionnaire,  20  written 
contributions were received, including eleven contributions from CSOs, three from representatives of 
business organisations, four from ICT companies, one from a legal expert and one from a EU citizen.  

43 

 
 
 
 
 
4.2 Specific objectives 

There are 3 specific objectives that address the problem drivers identified in section 2.2.: 
1.  Ensure the criminalisation of all forms of online child sexual abuse and exploitation.  
This objective is of particular relevance to problem driver 1, as the increased online 
presence of children, as well as the latest technological developments, raise challenges 
for  law  enforcement  while  creating  new  opportunities  for  abuse.  It  is  important  to 
ensure that national rules on investigation and prosecution are efficient in fighting child 
sexual abuse and exploitation.  

2.  Ensure that national rules on investigation and prosecution allow for effective action 
against child sexual abuse and exploitation. The effectiveness should be evaluated  by 
setting up mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of national rules through a series 
of  key  indicators  and  statistics.  This  objective  is  of  particular  relevance  to  problem 
driver 2, as the different legal frameworks in place in the Member States concerning 
investigation  and  prosecution  do  not  always  allow  for  effective  action  against  child 
sexual abuse and exploitation.  

3.  Improve prevention as well as protection, support and assistance to victims, require 
Member States to systematically collect statistics on child sexual abuse, and  ensure an 
increased  coordination  among  different  Member  States  and,  at  the  national  level, 
among all the actors involved. This objective is of relevance to problem driver 3, as 
Member States’ efforts on prevention of CSA and assistance to  victims are limited, 
lack coordination and are of unclear effectiveness. This objective therefore reflects the 
need  to  create  a  framework,  with  comprehensive  and  effective  prevention 
programmes as well as appropriate assessments of the harm suffered by victims, and 
to ensure proper care as needed, taking into account the specific needs of the victim.  

Contribution to relevant SDGs 
The three specific objectives directly contribute to achieving the most relevant SDGs for 
this initiative, 5.2, eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, and 16.2, end 
abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against children. 

Specific objectives 1 and 3 also directly contribute to achieving other SDGs of relevance, 
such as SDG 1 on poverty and SDG 3 on health, by reducing the proliferation and effects 
of CSA and ensuring support to victims where it is currently missing.  

Specific objective 3 helps achieve SDG 4 on education (e.g. through the awareness raising 
campaigns or the exchange of related best practices on offender prevention including on 
offenders who are children).  

5  WHAT ARE THE AVAILABLE POLICY OPTIONS? 

5.1 What is the baseline from which options are assessed? 

In  the  baseline  scenario  no  further  EU  policy  action  is  taken.  The  following  section 
assesses  how,  in  the  absence  of  the  initiative,  the  existing  and  already  planned  policy 
instruments would address the problems and objectives identified in SDG 4. It is important 
to note that the baseline scenario might differ depending on whether the proposed CSA 
regulation is adopted and enacted as proposed by the Commission or not.  

44 

 
 
 
 
The objectives of the Recast are aligned with, and complementary to, those of the proposed 
CSA  online  regulation.  Both  instruments  aim  to  effectively  prevent  and  combat  child 
sexual abuse in the EU, in line with the 2020 Strategy. They do so by acting, respectively, 
on two complementary dimensions of child sexual abuse. 

The  proposed  regulation  governs  the  conduct  of  private  actors,  whose  services  are 
increasingly  used  by  perpetrators  on  the  digital  single  market.  It  aims  at  ensuring  that 
providers of online services take responsibility for keeping children safe on their platforms, 
by  assessing  the  risk  of  misuse  of  their  services  for  the  purpose  of  child  sexual  abuse, 
taking mitigating measures, reporting, removing, and blocking online CSA, as well as by 
detecting it proactively, where needed and if ordered to do so by a judge or independent 
administrative authority.  

The  proposed  Recast  of  the  CSA  Directive  aims  at  setting  the  appropriate  legislative 
framework  for  the  action  of  national  authorities  in  the  field  of  criminal  law.  The  CSA 
Directive sets the standards of what is illegal, which then in turn apply also in the context 
of actions and obligations of private actors as outlined in the CSA online Regulation. In 
addition,  Member  States  are  responsible  for  the  adoption  of  prevention  programmes 
covering all aspects of the problem both offline and online, for effective investigation and 
prosecution of child sexual abuse cases, for the criminalisation of related conducts, as well 
as for the adoption of assistance and support measures for victims.  

The need for close cooperation between economic actors and national authorities, as well 
as the close link between online and offline  child sexual  abuse (most CSA cases today 
contain an online component)127 make the two legislative interventions equally necessary 
and complementary. It is clear that, for example, for public authorities to be able to act and 
assist the victim, the crime has to be detected and reported. Reporting from online service 
providers is crucial in this respect (already today, in some Member States, up to 80% of 
investigations  are  only  launched  due  to  reports  from  service  providers)128  and  it  may 
prevent future crimes from happening (e.g. if the offender is arrested and granted access to 
a prevention programme). 

Finally, the creation of an EU Agency (the EU Centre) that will act as a knowledge hub on 
child sexual  abuse under the proposal,  support the work of the prevention network and 
ensure coordination among member states, as envisaged in the proposed CSA regulation, 
can only make the implementation of the Recast Directive more effective. 

Because of the close link and complementarity between the proposed CSA Regulation and 
the proposed Recast Directive, the uncertainty concerning the outcome of the negotiations 
of the CSA proposal affects the baseline from with the options presented in this initiative 
are assessed: such a baseline will vary depending on whether the proposed CSA regulation 
will be adopted as proposed by the Commission.  

127   Targeted survey of law enforcement authorities, ‘Fighting child sexual abuse: detection, removal and 
reporting of illegal content online’ (2021): Two thirds of law enforcement authorities surveyed indicate 
that over 70% of child sexual abuse cases have an online component.   
128   Targeted survey of law enforcement authorities (see annex 2, section 1). 

45 

 
 
 
 
Regardless  of  the  outcome  of  the  negotiations  concerning  the  CSA  proposal,  the 
criminalisation of CSAE offences perpetrated using new and emerging technologies will 
continue to be insufficient if no action is taken. Emerging trends, such as livestreaming of 
child sexual abuse and abuse in virtual reality settings, will not be covered by EU criminal 
law and Member States can be expected to continue to take a divergent approach on their 
criminalisation, as well as on the definition of CSAM and its circulation in the dark web.  

Moreover, there will continue to be variance in national definitions of the age of sexual 
consent, in statutes of limitation for CSAE-related offences, as well as with respect to the 
investigative  tools  allowed  in  the  fight  against  CSAM  and  the  rules  on  disqualification 
arising from convictions. Finally, Member States are expected to continue to face issues in 
using ECRIS to share requests for information during background checks. These issues 
will result in persisting legal uncertainties and coordination challenges during cross-border 
cases due to different prosecution systems in place across the Member States.  

National  authorities  will  likely  continue  to  suffer  from  divergent  resources  and  limited 
expertise, which in turn prevent them from adequately detecting CSAE. If the proposed 
CSA regulation is adopted as proposed, the problem of underreporting in the area of CSAE 
will  be  partially  addressed  as  a  result  of  the  obligations  imposed  on  online  service 
providers. However, high rates of underreporting by victims are expected to persist if no 
action is taken to ensure that statutes of limitations do not start running before the victim 
becomes of age and that reporting channels are not only available and child friendly, but 
also suitable for victims with special needs (e.g. children with disabilities).  

These considerations about the shortcomings of the current framework are supported by 
the feedback provided by stakeholders during the various consultations. More than 80% of 
respondents to a public consultation questionnaire agreed that a potential revision of the 
CSAE Directive should aim to address specific new and emerging challenges that are not 
and should be covered at the EU level, such as the monetisation of CSAM and novel ways 
to  carry  out  child  sex  tourism  including  live-streaming  of  abuse,  the  threats  posed  by 
ongoing technological developments including deep fakes and AI-child sex robots, and the 
metaverse, as well as the increasing online dimension of CSAE. 

Moreover, 86% of stakeholders support the creation of a national authority in charge of 
coordinating the effort against CSAE at the national level. 73% called for harmonisation 
of  the  age  of  sexual  consent,  and  more  than  90%  asked  for  harmonisation  of  the 
investigative tools and techniques allowed to combat CSAE.129 

1.  Legislation 

Existing and upcoming EU legislation is not likely to effectively address challenges.  The 
2011 Directive is not able to capture the new specificities of the online environment, and 
the  proliferation  of  CSA  is  expected  to  continue  in  line  with  future  technological 
developments.  In  addition,  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  has  shown  that 
coordination among Member States is still suboptimal and that not all Member States make 

129 Annex 2 section 4.2, p. 18. 

46 

 
 
 
 
use  of  all  effective  investigation  techniques  allowed  by  the  legislation.  The  Proposed 
Regulation  to  Prevent  and  Counter  Child  Sexual  Abuse  would  address  several  issues 
concerning the proliferation of online child sexual abuse, yet, as its definitions of online 
child sexual abuse rely entirely on the 2011 Directive, the protection of children will not 
be  fully  ensured  without  potential  changes  to  such  a  Directive.  In  other  words,  the 
definition  of  child  sexual  abuse  material  and  solicitation  enshrined  in  the  Directive 
constitutes the foundation of all the obligations imposed on online service providers (i.e. 
the obligation to assess and mitigate the risk of online child sexual abuse on their services, 
to report it and, if ordered to do so, to detect it, as well as to remove child sexual abuse 
material or block access to it). If the Directive is not updated to ensure that current trends 
in  the  field  of  child  sexual  abuse  are  covered,  providers  will  not  be  obliged  to  protect 
children from these new manifestations of online child sexual abuse under the proposed 
regulation.  

In  addition,  if  there  is  no  change  to  the  2011  Directive,  incoherence  will  emerge  with 
upcoming  legal  texts  in  related  areas,  for  example  the  Directive  on  violence  against 
women,  which  adopts  specific  provisions  on  offenses  and  level  of  penalties  for  certain 
types of violence against women and girls and provides that  the statutes of limitations for 
certain  offences  committed  against  girls  commence  at  the  earliest  once  the  victim  has 
reached the age of majority.  

Finally, the challenges that emerged in relation to the implementation of the 2011 Directive 
have  shown  that  coordination  between  public  authorities  among  and  within  Member 
States, as well as prevention and protection, support and assistance to victims measures, 
are likely to remain suboptimal in the absence of a legislative intervention further detailing 
the current minimum standards and enhancing the obligations imposed on Member States 
to the extent possible under the Treaties. If the CSA regulation is adopted as proposed, the 
exchange of information on the online trends and prevalence of this crime, as well as on 
the prosecution of cases launched thanks to reporting by online service providers, will be 
facilitated by the reporting requirements enshrined in Articles 83 and 84 of the proposal. 
However, the information collected in accordance with those Articles will cover only part 
of the picture, as  it will  be limited to  the activities conducted under the  proposed CSA 
regulation  itself,  and  to  criminal  investigations  and  proceedings  linked  to  reporting  by 
online providers in accordance with such a proposal.  

Analogously, if the CSA regulation is adopted as proposed, the establishment of the EU 
Centre and of national Coordinating Authorities will facilitate the exchange of information 
and the coordination among Member States in relation to any activity carried out under the 
proposed CSA regulation itself. However, the mandate of these authorities is limited by 
the scope and objectives of the proposed CSA regulation. 

For  reasons  linked  to  its  internal  market  legal  basis,  the  proposed  CSA  regulation  is 
addressed mostly to online service providers and does not contain obligations for Member 
States to adopt measures on protection, prevention or assistance and support to victims. 
Victims  are  only  attributed  the  right  to  seek  the  support  of  the  EU  Centre  in  obtaining 
information on the online dissemination child sexual abuse material concerning them and 
in seeking its removal. Hence, the need to strengthen the prevention, protection, support 
and  assistance  to  victims’  mechanisms  enshrined  in  the  Directive  will  persist 

47 

 
 
 
independently  of  the  adoption  of  the  CSA  regulation.  Provisions  on  prevention 
programmes, as well as measures on assistance and support to victims to be adopted by 
Member  States,  are  enshrined  in  the  Directive  –  and  will  be  strengthened  in  its  recast. 
Hence, it will be for the national contact points established under such a recast to collect 
information and facilitate coordination and exchanges of best practices in these areas. If 
the  proposed  CSA  regulation  is  adopted  as  proposed,  Member  States  might  chose  to 
appoint  the  same  authority  as  national  contact  point  under  the  recast  Directive  and  
Coordinating Authorities under the CSA regulation.   

More in detail, the added value (i.e. what they can achieve in preventing and combatting 
CSA)  and  the  limitations  of  the  existing  and  upcoming  EU  legal  instruments  are  the 
following: 

Proposed horizontal instruments 

The  main  proposed  horizontal  instruments  in  this  regard  (such  as  the  Victims  Right 
Directive) address some of the problems and challenges but, given the specific challenges 
of CSA, can only provide limited and partial solutions.  

The Victims’ Rights Directive and its Revision 
•  What it can achieve in the fight against CSA: as a horizontal instrument, the Victims’ 
Rights Directive covers the assistance, support and protection to all victims of crime. 
The upcoming revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive is expected to further improve 
victims’ access to information, to support and protection in accordance with victims’ 
needs, victims’ participation in criminal procedure and access to compensation from 
the offender.  

•  Limitations:  Nonetheless,  the  current  or  planned  legislation  will  not  provide  for 
specific measures that respond more directly to the specific needs of CSA victims.The 
Victims’ Rights Directive contains complementary solutions, in particular in relation 
to special support and protection of the most vulnerable victims, such as child victims 
of sexual abuse, it refers to the need to cooperate with other Member States to improve 
the access of victims to the rights set out in the Directive but it does not contain specific 
mechanisms to do so. This Directive does not address only CSA victims, for which 
dedicated  mechanisms  to  facilitate  the  exchange  of  best  practices,  which  take  into 
account their specific needs, may be required. 

Sector-specific legislation, proposed and existing 

The sectoral instruments (the Proposed Regulation to Counter Child Sexual Abuse, the 
Human  Trafficking  Directive  and  its  Revision,  the  Proposal  for  a  Directive  on 
combating violence against women and domestic violence, the Europol Regulation and 
its Revision) focus on  particular  aspects  of the problem  such as online  child sexual 
abuse, which are not a full component of child sexual abuse to provide a comprehensive 
EU-level solution. 

The Proposed Regulation to Counter Child Sexual Abuse 
•  What it can achieve in the fight against CSA: the Proposed Regulation focuses on 
online  child  sexual  abuse,  which  is  just  one  component  of  the  various  forms  of 

48 

 
 
 
 
child  sexual  abuse.  It  creates  obligations  for  service  providers  to  detect,  report, 
block and remove child sexual abuse material, and establishes the creation of a new 
EU Centre which would facilitate the process and can also act as a hub of expertise 
regarding combating CSA, including with respect to prevention and assistance to 
victims.  

•  Limitations: the Proposed Regulation is not a criminal law instrument, and does 
not define the role of Member States and their public authorities in preventing and 
combating child sexual abuse, or strategies to prevent abuse and to assist victims.  

    The Human Trafficking Directive and Its Revision 

•  What it can achieve in the fight against CSA: The Human Trafficking Directive 
has protection measures such as providing for the appointment of a guardian or a 
representative as well as for safe accommodation and material assistance, as well as 
necessary  medical  treatment  including  psychological  assistance,  counselling  and 
information, and translation and interpretation services 

•  Limitations: Although the Human Trafficking Directive and its ongoing  Review 
contains  certain  complementary  elements  to  the  CSAE  Directive  and  other 
additional  measures,  it  focuses  merely  on  human  trafficking  and  not  the 
phenomenon of child sexual abuse in its entirety. 

Proposal for a Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence 

•  What it can achieve in the fight against CSA: The Proposal requires the Member 
States to provide that the statutes of limitations for offences committed against a 
child covered by its text commences at the earliest once the child victim has reached 
the age of majority. This is not only necessary to align with the VAW proposal, as 
explained above, but also crucial in light of the data emerging from research in this 
area. Children very rarely report their abuse shortly after its occurrence, because of 
a series of factors, including trauma, shame and the lack of trusted adults in the 
immediate  environment.  Recent  data  by  the  Australian  Royal  Commission130 
indicate that most victims of child sexual abuse only report the abuse more than 30 
years after its occurrence. Hence, statutes of limitation that would expire shortly 
after the victim has reached the age of majority are not effective in ensuring that 
prosecution, investigation and victims’ support can be provided. 

Hence, if adopted, the Proposal is expected to lead to clear improvements regarding 
both  domestic  and  cross-border  investigations  against  CSAE,  notably  due  to 
strengthened and more harmonised rules concerning statute of limitations for those 
offences committed against a child covered by the Proposal. 

130 Final report of the Australian Royal Commission on Identifying and disclosing child sexual abuse, 2017 
(https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-
_volume_4_identifying_and_disclosing_child_sexual_abuse.pdf) .  

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
As for assistance to, and support and protection of CSA victims, the Proposal for a 
Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence provides 
for some measures not included in the CSAE Directive. These include guidelines 
for law enforcement and judicial authorities concerning how to treat children in a 
child  sensitive-manner,  a  targeted  support  for  victims  with  specific  needs  and 
groups at risk, and a strong role of national bodies to carry out assistance to victims.  

The Proposal is complementary in this respect, since it provides for new measures 
and  standards  that  enhance  the  rights  of  victims  of  gender-based  violence, 
including gender-based victims of CSAE.  

•  Limitations: It does not encompass the full aspect of fighting against child sexual 
abuse and exploitation, and focuses on more generic elements related to violence, 
with  a  specific  focus  on  adult  women.  The  positive  effects  expected  from  the 
implementation of the Proposal will concern only a specific group of CSAE victim, 
namely those that are in the scope of the Proposal (i.e. victims of violence against 
women  and  domestic  violence).  This  difference  in  scope  also  addresses  the 
concerns  flagged  by  two  Member  States  about  possible  overlaps  between  the 
frameworks. 

The Europol Regulation and its revision  

•  What it can achieve: Europol is able to receive personal data from private parties, 
inform  such  private  parties  of  missing  information,  and  ask  Member  States  to 
request  other  private  parties  to  share  further  additional  information.  These  rules 
would also introduce the possibility for Europol to act as a technical channel for 
exchanges between Member States and private parties. Such a development would 
contribute to increasing the level of cooperation between the three aforementioned 
stakeholders, potentially improving the effectiveness of CSA investigations. 
•  Limitations: in and of itself, the revised mandate of Europol  will not provide a 
comprehensive  solution  to  address  CSA  online,  which  requires  a  multi-faceted 
approach. Enabling a more efficient exchange of personal data between Europol 
and private parties is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for achieving this 
objective.  

2.  Coordination 

The sharing of best  practices and expertise between Member States is  minimal and 
unsystematic. The current level of ambition and of collaboration between the various 
public and private stakeholders results in ad-hoc and temporary solutions and is rarely 
effective in addressing CSA. As a result, Member States have been facing difficulties 
in fulfilling some of their obligations under the CSA Directive, which ultimately means 
that prevention measures are not sufficient to protect children and stop offenders from 
committing crimes, and victims do not receive appropriate support.   

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The points down below outline the current limitations that are being faced in terms of 
EU level cooperation on investigations, prevention, and multi-stakeholder cooperation. 

EU level cooperation in investigations  
•  What it can achieve in the fight against CSA: the existing EU level cooperation 
in investigations has produced significant successes in the fight against CSA131 and 
will  likely  continue  to  do  so.    If  the  proposal  is  successful,  the  EU  Centre  will 
facilitate the process of detection, reporting and removing online child sexual abuse 
across Member States. 

•  Limitations:  the  ability  of  Europol  and  law  enforcement  agencies  in  the  EU  to 
cooperate in investigations is limited by the resources that they can allocate to this 
crime area. For example, Europol has only been able to examine 20% of the 50 
million unique CSAM images and videos in its database132.  

EU level cooperation in prevention 
•  Limitations:  currently,  the  Commission  services  themselves  are  supporting  the 
work  of  the  prevention  network  by  coordinating  it  and  providing  a  secretariat. 
However, there are limits to the level of support that can be provided, in particular 
as  the  network  expands.  The  activities  of  the  network  could  therefore  be 
constrained to a level that would not allow it to reach its full potential of support to 
Member States. As for the EU Centre, in addition to its main tasks of facilitating 
detection, reporting, blocking and removing CSA in accordance with the proposed 
Regulation, it is foreseen to have a supporting role in coordinating research work, 
exchanging  information  and  bringing  together  stakeholders,  including  for 
prevention purposes. However, the proposed Regulation is still under discussion 
and the EU Centre will not be fully operational for several years.   

Multi-stakeholder cooperation at EU and global level  
•  Limitations: at EU level, the focus of the EU Internet Forum is to faciliate targeted 
exchanges between public authorities and online service providers. The Forum is 
not  designed  for  discussions  with  a  wider  variety  of  stakeholders,  including 
practitioners. Moreover, participation is voluntary and there are no legally binding 
obligations.  

3.  Funding 

Action using EU funding is mostly project-based, and the uptake of EU funding is 
not optimal. For example, some Member States do not always make use of the funds 
available to them to tackle CSA (e.g. through the Internal Security Fund national 
programmes), possibly due to lack of knowledge on what funding is available and 

132   European  Parliament  Intergroup  on  Children’s  Rights  expert  meeting  on  EU  legislation  on  the  fight 

against child sex abuse online, 15 October 2020  

51 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
where it could be applied. Projects that take place, either national or cross-border, 
run the risk of replicating what has already been done due to lack of coordination 

•  What it can achieve in the fight against CSA: action using EU funding is likely to 
continue in the current project-based form, both as calls for proposals as well as 
research  projects.  EU-funded  projects  will  continue  to  facilitate  development  of 
e.g. relevant IT tools for law enforcement and interventions aimed at preventing 
CSA and helping victims. 

•  Limitations:  the  current  project-based  efforts  would  be  extended  from  grant  to 
grant  without  long-term  sustainability.  Such  long-term  perspective  may  be 
supported by individual Member States with a national focus, but a comprehensive 
EU-wide approach and reinforced framework will continue to be lacking. The risk 
of projects duplicating existing efforts, will still be high; moreover, the update of 
successful projects will likely remain limited to participating countries.  

Baseline costs 

In  the  baseline  scenario,  the  inefficiencies  in  the  prevention,  investigation  and 
assistance to victims of child sexual abuse are expected to have a negative economic 
impact on society. A higher number of victims will experience a diminished quality of 
life,  likely  resulting  also  in  productivity  loss,  and  will  require  significant  support, 
putting a strain on public services.  

The economic impact on public authorities will depend upon the level of action taken 
by service providers, which will dictate the number of CSAM and grooming reports 
received  by  those  authorities.  The  existing 
legal  fragmentation  and  lack 
coordination would remain and could act as a barrier to efficiently fight against CSA. 
In the absence of reforms addressing existing gaps in the legislation and technological 
developments, the issues would continue, driving up the economic costs for individual 
Member State entities.  

As seen in boxes 4 and 14, the impact of CSA on its victims generates significant costs. 
Assuming similar costs and prevalence of CSA in the US as in the EU, adjusting for 
the larger population in the EU, the overall estimated annual CSA costs in the EU at 
present amount to EUR 13.8 billion133. 

5.2 Description of the policy options 

The 3 Policy Options described are of an incremental character. They range from Policy 
Option A, to Policy Option C. All the Policy Options considered aim to solve and tackle 
the 3 main problem drivers: 

133   Includes direct costs (victims’ assistance) and lifelong loss of potential earnings and productivity  

52 

 
 
 
 
 
 
•  The increased online presence of children, and the latest technological developments, 
raise challenges for law enforcement while creating new opportunities for abuse 

•  The different legal frameworks in place in the Member States concerning investigation 
and  prosecution  do  not  allow  for  an  effective  fight  against  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation 

•  Member States’ efforts to prevent child sexual abuse and to assist victims are limited, 

lack coordination and are of unclear effectiveness. 

Both  Options  A  and  B  aim  to  tackle  most  of  the  identified  problems  through  gradual 
changes. Considering the specificities of child sexual abuse, which is considered to have a 
significant  long-term  impact  on  particularly  vulnerable  victims,  Option  C  includes 
measures that are expected to have the necessary positive impact in terms of investigating 
and prosecuting offenders, matching  the scale of  the threat  concerning the cross-border 
nature of child sexual abuse. 

 5.2.1 Option A:  legislation 1) Targeted legislative adjustments clarifying ambiguities of 
current framework; 2) ensuring coherence with new instruments; 3) improving quantity 
and quality of available information. 

The first  policy option would be  to  issue  certain targeted legislative adjustments  which 
clarify the ambiguities of the current framework, ensuring coherence with new instruments 
such  as  the  Proposed  Regulation  to  Counter  Child  Sexual  Abuse,  and  the  Proposed 
Directive on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, and improving 
the quantity and quality of available information. In addition, Member States would have 
to compile and keep up to date a statistical database on child sexual abuse-related offences 
among the total number of police reports/investigations and court cases. 

Legislative adjustments clarifying ambiguities 

Member States would have to effectuate punctual amendments to their criminal codes or 
codes  of  criminal  procedure,  based  on  the  following  legislative  adjustments  which  the 
Directive would incorporate: 

On pornography depicting a child 

•  Rules  on  offences  concerning  CSAM  apply  also  when  CSAM  depicts  a  person 
appearing to be a child whose age cannot be determined, thereby encompassing both 
a prevention and countering CSAM aspect, as persons who might actually be children 
can therefore be better protected against CSAM. 

On exemptions from criminalisation 

Persons who become aware of the abuse should be able to report it without having to fear 
sanctions for breaches of professional rules on confidentiality, as for the reasons mentioned 
before, the child itself may not be in a position to denounce the crime. Also, victims should 
not be criminalised in any situation. The following elements are proposed: 

53 

 
 
 
•  providing  for  an  exemption  from  criminalisation  when  CSAM  is  accessed  or 
downloaded for the purpose of reporting it to law enforcement when this is established 
beyond any reasonable doubt; 

•  clarifying that Member States can elect not to criminalise the consensual acquisition, 
possession  or production of CSAM by children over the age of consent  only  if the 
material is destined for the private use of those children and those children alone; 
•  clarifying that victims should not be criminalised for possession of materials depicting 

their abuse. 

On compensation claims 

• 

•  As also highlighted in the stakeholder consultation134, there is a need to better specify 
the content of the victims’ right to compensation in the context of child sexual abuse 
and ensuring that compensation takes due account of the damages related to the re-
victimisation process arising from the circulation of online CSAM.  
It should also be ensured that victims of child sexual abuse offenses have access to 
national compensation schemes for the victims of crimes. These targeted amendments 
would go beyond the content of Article 16 of the Victims’ rights Directive, which for 
the moment only entitles the victim to ‘a decision on compensation by the offender’, 
without  specifying  what  aspects  should  be  taken  account  in  the  calculation  of 
compensation and whether the victims should be compensated by the state when the 
offender cannot comply. 

On transmission of information on convictions  

•  Clarify that the transmission of information on convictions between Member States is 
possible  even  when  there  is  no  consent  of  the  person  concerned,  if  the  law  of  the 
transmitting states allow it. This would encompass both a prevention and countering 
CSAM aspect, as potential offenders might already be noticed, thereby preventing any 
future abuse. 

On statute of limitations 

• 

It is important that charges can be brought by the victim once he or she has recovered 
from  the  trauma  of  suffering  the  abuse,  which  can  take  years  after  it  happens, 
particularly given the vulnerable situation of children.   

•  Clarifying  that  the  time-limit  for  prosecution  of  CSA  related  offenses  cannot  start 

running before the victim reaches the age of 18. 

Coherence with new instruments  

The Proposal for a Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence 
proved  to  be  complementary  in  this  respect,  since  it  provides  for  new  measures  and 
standards that enhance the rights of victims of gender-based violence, including gender-

134 Annex 2, section 4.3, p. 18. 

54 

 
 
 
 
based  victims  of  CSA.  Nevertheless,  there  are  amendments  to  be  made  to  the  CSA 
Directive in order to ensure a full coherence with new legislation when adopted. 

On definitions 

•  Describing  cyber  violence  as  any  act  of  violence  covered  by  this  Directive  that  is 
committed,  assisted  or  aggravated  in  part  or  fully  by  the  use  of  information  and 
communication technologies.  

•  Defining information and communication technologies as all technological tools and 
resources used to digitally store, create, share or exchange information, including smart 
phones, computers, social networking and other media applications and services. 

• 

 Also, Article 45 of the Proposal for a Directive on combating violence against women 
and domestic violence introduces the notion of non-consensual act,135 specifying that 
consent can be withdrawn at any moment during the act and that the absence of consent 
cannot be refuted exclusively by the child’s silence, verbal or physical non-resistance 
or past sexual conduct. This definition should be further specified in the CSA Directive, 
also considering that clarifications around the topic of consent would be welcomed by 
stakeholders, as outlined by stakeholders in the contractor’s study136. 

On levels of penalties 

•  The  Proposal  for  a  Directive  on  combating  violence  against  women  and  domestic 
violence broadens the scope of Article 3 of the CSA Directive. Precisely, Article 45 
adds engaging with a child – or causing a child to engage with another person – in any 
act of vaginal, anal or oral penetration of a sexual nature, with any bodily part or object 
to  the  offences  amounting  to  sexual  abuse,  establishing  a  maximum  term  of 
imprisonment of at least 12 years as a punishment for such offences to child below the 
age of sexual consent and 10 years for the ones above the age of sexual consent. 
•  Therefore,  this  level  of  penalty  should  be  increased  in  the  CSA  Directive,  also 
considering  that  the  contractor’s  study137  reported  that  some  experts  suggested  that 

135  European Commission (2022), Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 
on  combating  violence  against  women  and  domestic  violence.    Article  45  “A  non-consensual  act  is 
understood as an act which is performed without the child’s consent given voluntarily, or where the child 
is unable to form a free will due to the presence of circumstances referred to in paragraph 5, including 
the child’s physical or mental condition such as a state of unconsciousness, intoxication, sleep, illness 
or bodily injury”.  

136   Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the EU Directive 2011/93 of 13th December 
2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and the 
impact assessment of the possible options for its amendment (Finalised on 30 November 2022), The EU 
dimension of the problem, p. 24 & Figure 8 – To what extent do you think that the efforts at the EU level 
against child sexual abuse and exploitation would benefit from a common definition of the “age of sexual 
consent"? , pp. 29-30 

137   Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the EU Directive 2011/93 of 13th December 
2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and the 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
penalty levels for some crimes, such as possession of child sexual abuse material might 
be too low to act as a deterrent for perpetrators. 

On assistance to victims 

The  Directive  should  add  that  assistance  should  be  accessible  to  victims  with 
disabilities138, free of charge and available state-wide, all day long, every day of the 
week. The service can also be provided online and must ensure confidentiality of the 
users. 

5.2.2 Option B: Option A + Legislative amendments modifying definitions of crimes to take 

into account current trends and expected technological developments. 

The 2nd policy option would be for implementing the measures provided for in Option A, 
and  in  addition  propose  actual  legislative  amendments  which  modify  the  definitions  of 
crimes, to take into account current and expected technological developments. 

New  trends  and  phenomena  concerning  serious  forms  of  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation are currently not covered by EU legislation. This was also highlighted as a 
point to address by more than 80% of respondents to the public consultation.139 Therefore, 
with  Option  B,  Member  States  would  have  to  effectuate  punctual  amendments  to  their 
criminal  codes  or  codes  of  criminal  procedure,  based  on  the  following  legislative 
amendments which the Directive would incorporate: 

Legislative amendments modifying definitions of crimes 

This would encompass both a prevention and countering CSAM aspect, as offenders would 
have less scope to perform crimes if, exploring the following points, they would not have 
access  to  physical  reproductions  of  CSA,  to  deep  fakes,  to  paedophile  handbooks. 
Criminalising new trends such as sexual chatting with children or live streaming of child 
sexual abuse as a stand-alone offence would cause concern for potential offenders, who 
might therefore be more reticent in engaging in similar activities. Enabling investigations 
in  the  darkweb  would  have  a  both  preventive  and  investigation-supporting  aspect,  as 
potential  offenders  might  be  noticed  more  quickly  and  easily,  thereby  preventing  any 
future abuse. 

impact assessment of the possible options for its amendment (Finalised on 30 November 2022), Driver 
1.1:  Inadequate  criminalisation  of  some  CSAE  offences  negatively  affects  related  investigation  and 
prosecution, p. 26-27 

138   Improving access to justice and legal protection for persons with disabilities is among the objectives set 
the  Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabilities  2021-2030.  See: 

out 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=23707&langId=en 

the  Strategy 

for 

in 

139 Annex 2, section 4.2, p. 18. 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
 
On virtual reality 

Some Member States in their implementation  have broadened the original  scope of the 
Directive with  regard to  the definition of child pornography, to  cover not only  realistic 
images but also fictitious material such as drawings, deep fake images or novels. In other 
instances,  national  criminal  law  was  proposed  to  criminalise  the  production  and 
distribution of child sex dolls going beyond the categories of criminalised acts set out in 
the Directive. Therefore, it would be important for the Directive to focus on: 

•  Ensuring that the language and definitions on CSA related crimes are future proof with 

regards to potentially new technological developments; 

•  Adapting  the  definition  of  offenses  to  include  those  committed  in  virtual  reality 

environment; 

•  Adapt  to  language  evolution  by  criminalising  deep  fakes,  sex  dolls,  paedophile 

handbooks; 

•  Criminalise production, possession and access to physical reproductions of CSA (child 

sex dolls, child AI robots). 

On new trends 

• 

 Include adults over the age of sexual consent engaging in sexual chatting with children 
under the age of sexual consent; 

•  Criminalising sexual live streaming of children as a stand-alone offence. 

On investigations in the dark web 

•  Enabling  investigative  units  to  perform  takeovers  of  platforms  in  the  dark 

web/distribute CSAM for the purpose of investigations. 

5.2.3 Option C (legislative): Option B + Legislative amendments to ensure more effective 
prevention,  investigation  and  prosecution,  taking  into  account  the  cross-border 
dimension of the phenomenon.  

The 3rd policy option would include adopting the measures provided for in Option B, and 
in addition issuing legislative amendments which will ensure more effective prevention, 
investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse, taking into account the cross-border 
nature of the phenomenon.  

A  number  of  provisions  would  be  introduced  to  assist  with  investigating  offences  and 
bringing charges. Especially on child pornography, sex offender networks are difficult to 
investigate by law enforcement authorities, as they often require sex offender newcomers 
to provide new child abuse images as a way of vetting them, something that traditional 
rules  regulating  enquiry  activities  by  the  police  may  forbid.  EU  harmonisation  of 

57 

 
 
 
 
investigative tools and techniques to combat CSAE was also supported by more than 90% 
of the respondents to the Commission’s public consultation.140  

Legislative amendments 

Member States would have to effect punctual amendments to their criminal codes or codes 
of criminal procedure, based on the following legislative amendments which the Directive 
would incorporate: 

On prevention 

Amendments  would  be  introduced  to  help  prevent  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation 
offences,  through  a  number  of  actions.  Some  would  concentrate  more  specifically  on  
offenders and people who fear that they might offend, as Member States’ action  in this 
area  has  proven  suboptimal  under  the  current  Directive,  showing  that  the  relevant 
provisions need strengthening. In particular, amendments should achieve the following:  

• 
identifying clear benchmarks to assess the effectiveness of prevention programmes; 
•  ensuring the existence of dedicated prevention programmes for offenders both inside 

and outside of prison; 

•  ensuring the existence of dedicated prevention programmes for persons who fear that 

they might commit child sexual abuse related offenses 

•  ensuring  that  Member  States  can  introduce  cross-border  disqualifications  for  sex 

offenders from certain types of jobs involving children.  

•  encouraging  the  harmonisation  of  national  law  on  transmission  of  information  on 

previous offenses without consent of the offenders concerned 

Another important initiative related to prevention would be encouraging the creation of a 
national Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinator. The creation of this post would ensure a 
named individual who would coordinate national efforts and serve as a voice for prevention 
and for victims.  This would allow for  a significant  improvement in  cooperation among 
public  authorities  within  each  Member  States  and  between  different  Member  States, 
addressing the challenges identified in this respect as one of the major obstacle to effective 
prevention and fight against child sexual abuse under the current legal framework.  

The proposed measure is consistent with the creation of a national focal point to advocate 
on behalf of victims and survivors, to raise awareness and remove the stigma that prevents 
victims  from  coming  forward  to  report  child  abuse,  and  equally  to  address  the  societal 
stigma associated with treating offenders and reaching out to persons who fear they might 
offend. Taking account of the complex and interwoven coordination needs, this proposed 
measure is consistent with the need of a national focal point to promote an objective and 
systematic approach to the identification of knowledge gaps and gaps in service provision 
across multiple and diverse stakeholders, and how these gaps can be addressed by sharing 
best practice across Member States. 

140 Annex 2, section 4.2, p.18. 

58 

 
 
 
 
On investigation and prosecution 

A large margin of discretion left by the CSA Directive regarding the operations of these 
systems leads to a series of self or co-regulatory measures that vary considerably in scope, 
methodology, and legal certainty.141 The optional nature of Article 25 (2) has meant that 
its implementation by Member States has been inconsistent and varied. Challenges persist, 
particularly when cooperating with third countries to tackle online CSAE. The proposed 
initiatives include: 

•  enabling the use of undercover agents for investigative purposes; 
•  ensuring  that  existing  tools,  notably  the  European  Criminal  Records  Information 
System (ECRIS) and the Schengen Information System (SIS), are fully leveraged and 
used more effectively in this area in the future, by engaging informally with Member 
States through the competent Commission services and assessing, in cooperation with 
the  competent  Commission  Services,  whether  the  issuance  of  guidelines  or 
dissemination of best practices could be useful 

There  is  a  lack  of  coordination  between  the  judicial  system  and  health  sectors,  which 
hampers victims’ access to these services.  In addition, psychological assistance for child 
victims is not always ensured. With regard to CSAE cases occurring within the victim’s 
family, evidence suggests that there is limited ad hoc legislation to deal with these cases. 
Evidence reviewed reveals that it remains unclear how the specific and individual needs 
are assessed across Member States. The suggested measures in this policy option would 
entail: 

• 

Identifying  clear  benchmarks  to  assess  the  effectiveness  of  assistance  to  victim 
programmes; 

•  Having Member States collect statistics on child sexual abuse, and have them collect 

• 

disaggregated data available for groups considered to be vulnerable; 
Introduce  stricter  requirements  to  address  issues  related  to  the  lack  of  training  of 
professionals, judges and educators dealing with child abuse cases.  

5.4 Conclusion on Policy Options 

Summary on Policy Options 

All Options proposed were genuinely destined to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation 
in  all  its  forms,  and  the  Policy  Options  were  considered  in  an  exponentially  increasing 
manner, with each one adding in further measures which would combat this cross-border 
phenomenon.  

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  following  table  demonstrates  how  each  Policy  Option  aims  to  solve  each  of  the 
problem  drivers,  thereby  proving  that  all  Options  proposed  were  genuinely  destined  to 
tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation in all its forms, and that the Policy Options were 
considered  in  an  exponentially  increasing  manner,  with  each  one  adding  in  further 
measures which would combat this cross-border phenomenon. 

Problem 
Driver 

Problem 
Driver 1: 
Technology 

Policy Option A 

Policy Option B 

Policy Option C 

-Undercover agents for 
investigations 

-Define cyber 
violence 

-Define information 
and communication 
technologies 

-Criminalize new 
developments 
(paedophile handbooks, 
deepfakes, sex dolls) 

-Ensuring future proof 
language on new 
technology 

Problem 
Driver 2: 
Different 
Legal 
Frameworks 

-Clarify ambiguities 
(exemption from 
criminalization) 

-Ensure coherence 
with new EU law  

-Criminalize sexual 
chatting with children 

-Enable investigative 
units to perform dark 
web takeovers 

-Allow cross border 
disqualifications for sex 
offenders 

-Increase use of 
ECRIS+SIS 

Problem 
Driver 3: 
Programmes 
on 
prevention 
and 
assistance to 
victims 

-Improve 
information 
available 

-Ensure 
compensation 
claims 

-Clarify statute of 
limitations 

(Carry Over from 
Policy Option A) 

Create national CSA 
rapporteurs 

-Prevention 
programmes in and out 

-Trainings for 
professionals 

5.5 Options discarded at an early stage 

The process of building the retained options started with scoping the widest spectrum of 
measures and discarding a number of them along the way, which included notably: 

•  Repeal of the Directive in favour of a new Directive, i.e. completely redrafting the 
2011  Directive.  However,  from  the  evaluation  it  has  become  clear  that  the  main 

60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
elements and structure of the Directive are still fit for purpose142. The issues identified 
as problematic did not justify a complete overhaul of the Directive, and could more 
easily  be  addressed  through  targeted  amendments.  A  complete  overhaul  would  not 
have  been  efficient  from  a  point  of  view  of  implementation  at  Member  State  level 
either. 

•  Integration of new elements in a new piece of legislation:  the option to  integrate 
certain specific measures on countering child abuse into other existing and proposed 
legislations  such  as  the  Victims  Right  Directive  or  the  proposed  Directive  on 
combating violence against women and domestic violence was considered, but then 
discarded  as  the  data  and  research  shows  that  the  problem  has  to  be  addressed 
specifically and from a holistic perspective, due to its scale and specificities. 

•  Including  a  non  legislative  Option  among  the  Policy  Options  for  this  Impact 
Assessment:  As  the  majority  of  the  issues  identified  in  the  problems  and  problem 
drivers  are  directly  linked  to  vague  definitions  in  the  current  Directive,  legislative 
options are necessary to address the issues surrounding the Directive. If non-legislative 
measures were  chosen, this  would mean that there would be remaining divergences 
with other legal texts, including recent ones, such as the Directive on Violence against 
Women.   

6  WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF THE POLICY OPTIONS? 

None  of  the  policy  options  are  expected  to  have  an  environmental  impact,  as  already 
underlined in the Evaluation Roadmap/ Impact Assessment. Therefore, this criteria is not 
addressed in the analysis below.  

6.1 Qualitative assessment  

Summary table: costs and benefits 

Costs (-) /Benefits (+) 

Policy 
Option 

Security 
Impact 

Social 
Impact 

Economic 
Impact 

Fundamental 
Rights Impact 

UN SDG 
Impact 

Policy 
Option A 

Policy 
Option B 

+ 

++ 

++ 

++ 

-/+ 

-/+ 

+ 

++ 

+ 

+ 

142 Evaluation of Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 
on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation of  children  and  child pornography,  and  replacing 
Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, Chapter 5, Conclusions and Lessons learned, p. 32 

61 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Policy 
option C 

+++ 

++ 

+ 

+++ 

+ 

6.1.1  Security impact 

Option A would ensure a high level of harmonisation of the criminal law against child 
sexual abuse in Member States and thus, a higher level of security for citizens. Moreover, 
the legislative clarifications related to exemptions from criminalisation, specifications on 
compensation claims, and clarifications on statute of limitations would  facilitate a more 
effective law enforcement and judicial response.  

The legislative definitions related to the criminalisation of pornography depicting children, 
the criminalisation of offences committed in virtual reality, the criminalisation of physical 
reproductions of CSA, the criminalisation of sexual chatting with children under the age 
of  consent,  the  creation  of  live-streaming  as  a  stand-alone  offence  among  the  other 
novelties listed in Option B would adapt criminalisation to encompass behaviours that are 
on the same level of harm as those already criminalised but are currently not evenly treated 
across Member States.  

Option C is considered to have the highest impact on security as it would combine the 
separate impacts on security of Options A and Option B with regards to harmonisation of 
criminal law, and also expand definitions related to crime as outlined in Option C. While 
strengthening the criminal  law response to  countering  child sexual  abuse is  essential to 
reduce the crime, this needs to be accompanied by policy measures outlined in Option C 
related to cross-border cooperation, all of which aim at enhancing coordination among law 
enforcement and judicial authorities and between them and the private sector.  

In  addition,  initiatives  to  create  EU-wide  expert  networks  on  prevention  and  victim 
assistance  and  legislative  initiatives  specifically  targeting  electronic  service  providers 
demonstrate the cross-border, cross-sectoral and multi-agency nature of this crime area. 
These  developments  highlight  the  high  degree  of  coordination  required  to  support  a 
comprehensive  response  to  preventing  and  combating  child  sexual  abuse,  online  and 
offline. A more wide-ranging coordination challenge, domestically and at EU level, has 
been ensuring alignment across related national arrangements associated with addressing 
online child protection needs. These initiatives include the 2022 Digital Services Act, the 
2018 Audio-visual media Directive, and the 2022 Better Internet for Kids strategy.  

Therefore,  coordination  must  take  account  of  potentially  overlapping  and  duplicate 
responsibilities with national arrangements in the form of Digital Service Coordinators and 
Safer  Internet  Centres.  The  creation  of  Anti  Child  Sexual  Abuse  Coordinators,  as 
highlighted in Option C, will strengthen coordination within national arrangements.  

This  broader  context  also  illustrates  how  the  increasingly  administrative  nature  of  such 
regulatory measures go beyond traditional understandings of law enforcement, and where 
coordination requires a different degree of impartiality and objectivity, which is why the 
need for national coordinators is becoming a constant in many EU legislations. An obvious 

62 

 
 
 
 
point  of  comparison  is  the  setting  up,  under  the  2011  Directive  on  preventing  and 
combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, of national rapporteurs 
or equivalent mechanisms to inform and assess policies, and the establishment of an EU 
Anti-Trafficking Coordinator to consolidate coordination and cooperation at EU level. 

6.1.2  Social impact 

Measures  which improve efficiency in fighting child sexual abuse  are expected to have 
positive social impacts such as an increase in security, as well as a lesser need for parental 
or self-protecting measures, and contribute to trust in authorities. 

Option A and B would have a positive social impact, as they would contribute to ensuring 
a  higher  level  of  safety  of  citizens  against  crime  and  reduce  impunity  of  criminals,  as 
provisions  would  be  encoded  in  law.  However,  it  would  not  be  sufficient  in  itself  to 
harmonise practices across Member States.  

Option C would be expected to have the most significant impact on society, as it would 
also entail benefits both on the prevention and the assistance to victims’ side. In particular, 
the creation of clear benchmarks to assess the effectiveness of programmes can be expected 
to  allow  Member  States  to  select  the  most  impactful  programmes  for  the  benefit  of 
children.  On  the  prevention  side,  the  Option  would  introduce  stricter  requirements  to 
address issues related to professionals, judges and educators dealing with child abuse cases.  

Member States would have to set up an independent national institution to promote and 
protect children’s rights: they would create an Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinator. As 
has been shown also in the context of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators and is evident where 
national coordinators against child sexual abuse have already been appointed, this helps 
harmonise existing structures and processes, enhance prevention and victim support, and 
provide relevant stakeholders with more consistent data and information. 

In addition, and underpinning the identification, evaluation and sharing of good practice, 
the Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinator element is consistent with the development of 
comparable evidence bases across Member States in order to support policy making and 
evaluation nationally and at EU level. A national focal point is best positioned to not only 
bridging the practitioner-researcher gap to better inform the policy making and evaluation, 
but also to ensure that evidence-based policy recommendations are taken forward and acted 
upon.  

This need is highlighted by the finding that most Member States are not collecting statistics 
on offenders for research purposes, for example where most of Member States have yet to 
establish  a  comprehensive  national  database  that  includes  statistics  on  identified  CSAE 
victims.  The  need  of  comparable  data  on  CSA  investigations  and  prosecutions  is 
highlighted in view of the administrative statistics  to be generated per Article 83 of the 
proposed CSA Regulation, and how such information will bring added depth to addressing 
knowledge gaps and understanding policy needs. 

63 

 
 
 
 
Impartiality  is  required  to  ensure  communications  across  diverse  stakeholders  both  in 
terms of the provision of information and the subsequent assessment for the evaluation of 
prevention  and  victim  assistance  programmes,  which  has  been  identified  as  rarely 
undertaken by Member States. The creation of benchmarks at EU level is essential to a 
process  of  evaluation  to  assist  Member  States  to  select  impactful  programmes.    The 
development of such benchmarks is in turn necessary to avoid the risk of fragmentation 
where national legislatures may otherwise respond on case-by-case basis to current  and 
emerging challenges such as those reflected in the problem drivers. 

6.1.3  Economic impact 

As  detailed  in  the  impact  assessment  on  Directive  2011/93,  in  the  long  term,  negative 
economic consequences of child sexual abuse include inefficient State intervention due to 
lack of trust in public authorities, inefficient use of resources due to the need to adopt (more 
or less effective) self-protecting measures at the individual level, decreased productivity 
linked to trauma suffered by victims, and unfair distribution of wealth as criminals profit 
from their activities. While Directive 2011/93 and its implementation have contributed to 
improvements  in  this  area,  further  efforts  are  required.  In  the  case  of  child  sexual 
exploitation  and  abuse,  this  is  exacerbated  by  the  economic  cost  of  the  psychological 
distress of victims and their increased health risks, and the cost of processing offenders. 

It is difficult to put an exact price on child sexual abuse, and even more so on changes to 
be  made  to  the  criminal  law  framework  governing  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation. 
Therefore, the present assessment has to rely on a number of assumptions, generalisations, 
and extrapolations. Calculations made in 1998 estimated that the economic cost of child 
sexual  abuse crimes range  between EUR 100 000 and EUR 250 000 per offence.143 20 
years later, calculations range in the billions and have drastically increased up to EUR 13.8 
billion,  as  detailed  in  the  following  section.  As  a  contrast,  measures  which  improve 
efficiency  in  fighting  crime  are  expected  to  produce  a  general  pattern  of  net  positive 
economic  impact.  Even  though  in  the  short  term  there  may  be  a  moderate  increase  in 
administrative costs due to greater demands on the public system of criminal law, in the 
medium  and long  term, a more efficient system  to  fight and prevent  crime deters more 
criminals and their rehabilitation leads to fewer offences. 

None  of  the  policy  options  analysed  would  have  a  negative  impact  on  businesses  and 
companies  and  citizens.  Option  C  would  probably  have  the  highest  impact,  as  the 
combination  of  legislative  measures  would  further  improve  the  capacity  of  law 
enforcement and judicial authorities to deprive any criminals from exploiting child sexual 
abuse for financial purposes, and to prevent child sexual exploitation from infiltrating the 
legal economy. Moreover, improving the fight against child sexual abuse would reduce 
costs,  which  are  incurred  by  the  crime  for  the  society,  in  terms  of  coordination  of 

143   Calculations made on the basis of 1998 estimates based on the situation in Australia for reoffending in 
child  sexual  abuse  crime,  taking  account  of  victim-related  costs  (tangible:  direct  cost  per  victim  / 
intangible: economic value of pain and suffering) and offender-related costs (incarceration); taken from 
Shanahan,  M.,  and  Donato,  R.,  ‘Counting  the  cost:  estimating  the  economic  benefit  of  paedophile 
treatment programs’, in Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol. 25, Issue 4, 2001. 

64 

 
 
 
 
investigations, prevention, specialised services, as well as law enforcement, health services 
and social protection.  

6.1.4  Fundamental rights 

All policy options are expected to have a positive impact on fundamental rights, as they 
all contribute to preventing and fighting child sexual abuse, and to protecting the victims 
of  the  crime,  which  is  prohibited  by  the  EU Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights.  They  also 
strengthen  the  protection  of  other  fundamental  rights  enshrined  in  the  EU  Charter, 
including  the right  to  human dignity  (Article 1),  the right  to  the integrity of the person 
(Article 3), the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 4), 
and the rights of the child (Article 24).  

Options A and B would have a solid impact, due to the fact that they are legally binding 
and impose further obligations on the Member States  in  criminalising  certain  conducts, 
which  are  particularly  harmful  for  the  victims.  In  this  respect,  it  could  be  argued  that 
stricter  measures,  e.g.  to  increase  the  level  of  penalties  for  certain  crimes  such  as 
possession of child sexual abuse material (Option A) or to criminalise as many forms of 
exploitation as possible (Option B), or to increase the efficiency of investigations (Option 
C)  would  be  most  beneficial  when  it  comes  to  the  safeguarding  of  fundamental  rights. 
While an expansion of investigative possibilities has an impact on fundamental rights of 
persons suspected of crime, the option considered here would not constitute an introduction 
of an investigative possibility that was previously not available but would rather provide 
for clarity on its applicability also in child sexual abuse cases. Its use would take place in 
the strict framework already provided for under EU and national law, which ensures that 
more invasive investigative tools are deployed only where necessary and that the impact 
stays proportionate in light of the gravity of the offense at hand and other considerations. 

Therefore, Option C is considered to be the best option as it would combine the positive 
impact of Option A and Option B, all while being accompanied by substantive measures 
on  the  prevention  and  assistance  to  victims’  side  which  will  ensure  a  solid  mixture  of 
legislation and coordination throughout human rights protection.  

6.1.5  UN SDGs impact 

Options A to C would in the long term all be expected to contribute to a reduction of the 
prevalence of CSA and consequently a reduction of violence against and exploitation of 
women and girls (SDG 5.2), and the sexual exploitation of children in general (SDG 16.2).  

With stronger prevention and assistance to victim measures embedded in law, the Options 
would also address to some extent SDG 3 on health and well-being, and in particular would 
contribute to SDG 4 on education. The Options would also contribute to SDG 9 (industry, 
innovation  and  infrastructure),  supporting  Member  States’  efforts  in  countering  new 
developments to fight CSA in its various new technological forms.  

Option C would have a positive impact on the same SDGs as Options B and C, but that 
impact  is  expected  to  be  stronger  as  it  would  encompass  more  phenomena  as  well  as 
coordination of investigations across Member States. The obligation to detect is expected 

65 

 
 
 
to  significantly  reduce  the  phenomenon  of  sex  tourism,  which  would  lead  to  a  more 
positive impact on all SGDs, in particular SDG 5.2, and SDG 16.2.  

The new obligations related to investigations in Option C would have positive effects on 
preventing imminent crimes (and stopping ongoing ones) and would therefore lower the 
prevalence of CSA, positively impacting all SGDs.  

6.2 Quantitative assessment  

The quantification of the costs and benefits of the policy measures/policy options is limited 
by the lack of data, in particular on the level of the type of abuse in question. Given these 
limitations, the estimates in this section provide an idea of the order of magnitude of costs 
and benefits and therefore should not be taken as exact forecasts. 

6.2.1 Costs  

All the policy options under consideration would result in costs for public authorities for 
Member States, rather than costs to EU citizens and business. It is important to note here 
that these costs would mostly be generated by an expansion of existing frameworks and 
efforts, rather than by the creation of new activities. Each policy option includes measures 
relating  to  prevention,  assistance  to  victims,  and  investigation  and  prosecution  of  child 
sexual  abuse.  Under  Options  A  to  C,  Member  States  would  also  have  to  proceed  with 
amendments to their criminal codes and codes of criminal procedure in order to comply 
with legislative adjustments related to new definitions and penalties which will be present 
in the Directive. 

The prosecution and investigation of CSA would entail administrative costs for Member 
States  under  all  options.  These  relate  to  the  expenses  for  Member  States  to  exchange 
information  on  prosecuting  offenders  and  new  offences,  setting  up  joint  investigative 
teams and judicial coordination for investigation purposes, Options B and C would have 
investigative units able to perform takeovers of platforms in the dark web for the purpose 
of investigations, which will entail costs for Member States where this type of investigative 
tools are not yet used. 

With this in mind, it is important to note that baseline costs of prosecution and investigation 
will vary depending on whether the proposed CSA regulation will have been adopted or 
not. If the proposed regulation were to be adopted, online platforms would face stronger 
obligations to protect children on their platforms, which should eventually result in a lower 
incidence of child solicitation or “grooming”. Likewise, platforms are expected by law to 
take  steps  to  mitigate  any  significant  risk  of  exchange  of  child  sexual  abuse  materials 
(images or videos). Should they fail to mitigate a significant risk, national coordinating 
authorities can issue risk-based detection orders for specific content. These reports, which 
are currently submitted on a voluntary basis, are expected to improve in quality due to new 
reporting standards. Both changes should ideally lead to a reduction in overall workload 
of law enforcement. At the same time, the trend over the past decade has seen a continued 
increase in  child sexual  abuse and  exploitation  online, therefore, an overall decrease of 
administrative cost is not to be expected. 

66 

 
 
 
 
A large portion of the prevention-related initiatives will focus on having Member States 
exchange  information  and  best  practices,  and  on  introducing  a  closer  monitoring  on 
prevention programmes by creating focal points for observation. As detailed in Option C, 
Member  States  would  have  to  deal  with  the  administrative  and  budgetary  burden  of 
establishing Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinators. Even in this case, the financial burden 
of setting up these entities would vary significantly depending on whether the proposed 
CSA  regulation  will  have  already  been  enacted.  As  the  function  of  national  Anti-Child 
Sexual Abuse Coordinator might well be attributed to national Coordinating Authorities 
established under the CSA proposal (depending on the individual choice of each Member 
State), the pre-existence of such Coordinating Authorities under the proposed regulation 
would  significantly  reduce  the  costs  needed  to  establish  Anti-Child  Sexual  Abuse 
Coordinators under this initiative.  

Finally, it should be noted that, under Options A to C, certain financial costs in the area of 
assistance  to  victims  would  be  similarly  borne  by  both  the  Commission  and  Member 
States,  relating  to  compensation  claims  by  victims  and  the  psychological  and  medical 
support they would need.  

The complexity of these elements  of cost  (and their partial  dependence on a legislative 
instrument – the CSA proposal – which is not yet in force) makes it difficult to produce 
clear estimations. That said,  

(i) 

(ii) 

the costs related to the administrative burden of setting up new authorities (the 
Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinators) capable of collecting statistics on child 
sexual  abuse at  the national  level  can be calculated by proxy, looking at the 
average  costs  of  permanent  staff  members  in  national  administrations.  As 
mentioned,  these  costs  might  be  lower  if  the  function  of  Anti-Child  Sexual 
Abuse  Coordinators  is  attributed  to  pre-existing  authorities,  e.g.  (possibly) 
Coordinating Authorities under the proposed CSA.  
the  costs  of  conducting  investigations  in  relation  to  an  increased  number  of 
offenses can be calculated based on the average cost of a child sexual abuse 
investigation and trial. The difficulty in this calculation resides in the difficulty 
to estimate the increase in the number of investigations and prosecutions that 
will arise as a direct consequent of this initiative. In particular, this increase is 
likely  to  be  higher  if  the  obligation  to  report  online  child  sexual  abuse  for 
providers is enacted before the entry into force of the recast of the Directive 
and lower if it is not.   

Box 14: Costs of Child Abuse 

No studies that have estimated the total costs of CSA in the EU, or in a Member State are 
known to be published144.  

144   The lack of EU-specific studies is an important gap in knowledge in the fight against CSA in the EU. 
Such  research  would  be  facilitated  through  the  prevention and  assistance  to  victims  functions  of  the 
Centre. 

67 

 
 
 
 
Letourneau  et  al.  estimated  the  total  annual  costs  of  CSA  in  the  US,  adjusted  to  the 
reference year 2015, in a paper that appeared in 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Child 
Abuse  &  Neglect145.  The  paper  estimated  total  costs  including  health  care  costs, 
productivity losses, child welfare costs, violence/crime costs, and special education costs, 
based  on  secondary  data  drawn  from  papers  published  in  peer-reviewed  journals.  The 
paper indicates that its estimates of annual losses of USD 11 billion are conservative and 
minimum, since they could not include the economic impact of nonfatal CSA on male 
victims due to lack of data, and they relied on cases reported to child protection agencies, 
whereas it is widely recognised that a substantial proportion of CSA cases never comes to 
attention of child protection agencies146.  

For comparison, the other known study147 on CSA costs in  the US  (not peer-reviewed) 
estimated the annual costs in USD 23 billion. And the only other known peer-reviewed 
paper (in addition to Letourneau et al’s) on CSA costs estimated the annual costs in Canada 
in approximately CAN $3.70 billion148, with a population less than 10% that of the EU.         

Although Letorneau et al’s paper concerns the US, studies on the economic cost of violence 
against children (including child sexual abuse) suggest that costs are comparable among 
high-income  countries149. Therefore,  the  conservative  estimates  provided  in  the  above-
mentioned paper are assumed to be applicable in the EU context, when adjusted to take 
account of the larger population in the EU in 2021 compared to that of the US, the inflation 
rate 2015-2021 and the exchange rate USD-EUR in April 2021, resulting in a total of EUR 
13.8 billion of annual CSA costs in the EU. 

The outcomes of the study conducted by Letorneau et al are comparable with the outcomes 
of a study by Radakin et al150, conducted across 2018-2019 which captured the lifetime 
economic and social cost of contact child sexual abuse. The study looks at the cohort of 
113,144 child victims who experienced contact sexual abuse in England and Wales in the 
year ending 31 March 2019. It estimates that the cost of i) the cohort being victimised in 
previous and future years, ii) lifelong consequences of the abuse are estimated to be at least 
£10.1  billion  (EUR  11.8  billion).  The  study  breaks  down  the  costs  per  victim  into 
measures anticipating child sexual abuse (e.g. prevention and awareness raising measures-
£70), costs as a conseuqnce of the abuse (physical and emotional harms, lost economic 
output-  £59,300)  and  the  response  (police,  criminal  justice  and  safeguarding  costs- 
£29,240). It shows that the cost of prevention presented to society and the economy is far 
cheaper than the costs that need to be borne as a consequence and response to the abuse.  

145   Letourneau et al., The economic burden of child sexual abuse in the United States, May 2018 
146   IOM, NRC, Child maltreatment research, policy, and practice for the next decade: Workshop summary, 

The National Academies Press, Washington, DC (2012). 

147   T.R. Miller, M.A. Cohen, B. Wiersema, Victim costs and consequences: a new look, 1996. 
148   O. Hankivsky, D.A. Draker, The economic costs of child sexual abuse in Canada: a preliminary analysis, 

Journal of Health & Social Policy, 17 (2) (2003), pp. 1-33. 

149   See,  for  example  Ferrara,  P.  et  al.,  The  Economic  Burden  of  Child  Maltreatment  in  High  Income 

Countries, December 2015. 

150   Radakin, F., Scholes, A., Soloman, K., Thomas-Lacroix, C., & Davies, A., The economic and social cost 

of contact child sexual abuse, 13 December 2021 

68 

 
 
 
 
Prior  to  leaving  the  European  Union,  the  UK  fully  implemented  the  provisions  of  the 
Directive 2011/93,  making these figures  a closer  comparison  to  the scenario across EU 
Member States. It must be noted that the figures do not cover the cost of non-contact and 
online abuse and as such must be treated as a minimum estimate.  

6.2.2 Benefits 

The main quantitative benefits of the initiative derive from savings as a result of reduction 
of CSA associated costs. It is estimated that at a global level, productivity losses due to 
sexual, physical and psychological violence against children are equivalent to between 3% 
and 8% of world GDP.151 The World Health Organisation analysed community surveys 
from Europe, which confirmed the extent of abuse: they show a prevalence rate of 9.6% 
for  sexual  abuse  (13.4%  in  girls  and  5.7%  in  boys).  Applying  these  figures  to  the 
population  of  children  in  Europe  suggests  that  18  million  children  suffer  from  sexual 
abuse.152  All  this  considering  that  many  estimates  are  conservative,  and  that  the 
consequences of child sexual abuse have different nature and consequences.  

The  United  Nations  states  that  the  direct  costs  of  violence  against  children  are  more 
immediate and easily measurable (health care system costs, social welfare costs, criminal 
justice costs), while the indirect future costs arising from the impact of the violence on the 
children are more difficult to determine and entail an overall productivity loss to society 
(psychological and behavioural problems, disruption from education and schooling, toxic 
stress with impacts on brain development, potential depression and death).153 

Indeed, financial compensation allocated to survivors “can include general damages for 
the pain, suffering and loss of amenity (that is, the impact the injury has had on the quality 
of life) and special damages for past and future financial losses, such as earnings and the 

151   Child Fund Alliance Report. (2014) “The costs and economic impact of violence against children”. This 
figure is calculated by estimating the prevalence of violence against children and the wage differential 
between workers who complete school and those who do not, and calculating productivity/income losses 
due to loss of schooling as a result of having experienced violence as a child. The range (between 3% 
and  8%)  is  determined  through  confidence  intervals    which  result  from  correlations  between  the 
estimated cost of violence against children on the one hand, and related variables such as primary school 
drop-out rates, output per worker, percentage of children who experience violence and percentage of 
children at work on the other hand. 
Full  report  available  at:  https://www.childfund.org/uploadedFiles/public_site/media/ODI  Report    The 
cost and economic impact of violence against children.pdf.  

152   WHO (2013). “European Report on Preventing Child Mistreatment. Report available at:  e96928 
(who.int)  A  varied  set  of  assumptions  was  made  when  making  these  estimations.  Violence  against 
children  has  several  costs,  such  as  health  costs  and  social  services  and  judicial  expenditures,  among 
others. Nonetheless, since such administrative records are not available for most countries, and as there 
are  few  variables  at  hand, for  estimating  the  costs  are  related  to  productivity  and  income-generation 
activities, a varied set of assumptions approach was required. 

153   The economic costs of violence against children | UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General 

on Violence Against Children. 
Available at: https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/economic_costs_of_vac_viewpoint  

69 

 
 
 
 
 
costs of care and therapy”. In 2019, the High Court awarded over £1 million to a victim 
who had been sexually abused by his teacher at a school. 154  

Strengthening Prevention 

The  strengthening  of  prevention  measures  on  the  side  of  both  victims  and  perpetrators 
would lead to savings relating to offenders (e.g. investigations, criminal proceedings and 
subsequent  detention),  savings  relating  to  victims  (short  and  long-term  assistance),  and 
savings relating to society at large (productivity losses linked to the trauma of child sexual 
abuse).  

As a general rule, the logic of prevention programmes having a strong economic rationale 
is reflected in box 14 and by various research studies, including by analyses of correlations 
and  confidence  intervals  by  the  Child  Fund  Alliance:  “scaling  up  violence  prevention 
programmes  is  not  only  desirable  from  a  child  welfare  perspective,  but  also  cost-
effective.”155  

Criminalisation of New Trends 

The criminalisation of new trends in the field of child sexual abuse will lead to the rescuing 
and identifications of more victims, with the relevant societal benefits. A number of law 
enforcement agencies have  highlighted  the need  for more comprehensive definitions of 
criminal actions in this space, including efforts that prepare the abuse such as paedphile 
handbooks, as well as more clarity on new trends, such as the livestreaming of CSA as 
well as CSAM generated by synthetic means using artificial intelligence-based tools156.  
LEAs  also  having  require  access  to  the  right  investigative  tools  and  capabilities  to 
investigate specific new criminal trends (e.g. AI-generated CSAM, investigations in the 
darkweb) and legal certainty allowing exploitation of such tools157. This will reduce the 
time needed for each investigation and to lead to better results in terms of identification of 
victims and prosecution of perpetrators, reinforcing all the benefits indicated above.  

Reducing  the  number  of  overall  reports  received,  and  improving  the  quality  of  those 
provided to LEAs by the Centre will also result in a reduction in the LEAs’ administrative 
burden. Over the long run, when the Centre is fully functional, the number of criminally 
relevant provider reports (actionable by law enforcement) is envisaged to reduce as a result 
of  the  Centre  assuming  responsibility  to  ‘filter  out’  non-relevant  reports,  and  ‘enrich’ 
relevant reports 

Support and Assistance to Victims 

154   Ibid  
155   Ibid 
156   Conclusions of an expert workshop on the current and future challenges in the fight against child sexual 
abuse, organised on 6 September 2019. 24 EU Member States were represented together with Europol, 
and other key stakeholders.  

157   Input from EU law enforcement agencies to a targeted survey rurvey on the review of the EU Directive 

2011/93. 

70 

 
 
 
 
The strengthening of support and assistance to victims would itself produce savings in the 
latter  respect,  reducing  the  long-term  consequences  of  the  abuse  on  the  victim.  The 
establishment of the EU Centre as a knowledge hub, supporting the associated EU Strategy 
initiatives of victim assistance and crime prevention expert networks, is envisaged to drive 
improvements  in  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  member  state  criminal  justice 
interventions in this area. 

These benefits will be amplified considerably if the CSA regulation is adopted as proposed 
by  the  Commission,  as  the  increased  number  of  reports  of  CSAE  would  lead  to  the 
identification of a significantly higher number of victims (that would then access support 
and assistance and suffer less trauma) and perpetrators (that would themselves be granted 
access to assistance with a view to ensure that they do not commit repeated offenses).  

Statistical Collections 

To estimate the overall benefits, the first step is therefore to determine the total CSA costs 
in the EU.  However, it is difficult to deliver a precise number on the actual benefits of 
intervening on prevention, assistance to victims, and investigation and prosecution. The 
lack of prevalence data on violence against children causes difficulties in calculations of 
precise  costs  of  child  sexual  abuse.  Many  countries  lack  precise  systems  to  collect 
administrative  data  and  surveys  on  violence  against  children,  though  methodologies  by 
researchers have been refined over the years.  

Many  prevalence  data  across  Member  States  does  not  distinguish  between  child  sexual 
abuse within the family setting and that which is committed by perpetrators outside the 
family.158 This is also why Policy Option 3 would ensure the creation of clear benchmarks 
and statistics on reporting as well as the Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinators, to further 
ensure solid reporting on specific points 

Country Studies 

The Commission would overcome the statistical difficulties  by using country studies as 
proxies for similar countries, considering middle-level incomes to be the norm.  

The annual  cost  of CSA in  the EU  was estimated as  being  EUR 13.8 billion in  the IA 
report accompanying the proposed CSA regulation, assuming similar costs and prevalence 
of  CSA  in  the  US  as  in  the  EU  and  adjusting  for  the  larger  population  in  the  EU  (and 
without taking the possible entry into force of the proposed CSA regulation into account). 
In addition, it is to be noted that all published studies on the costs of VAC acknowledge 
that figures are very likely to be underestimates of the true figure.159 

158   The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. October 2022. Available at:  IICSA: 

report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

159  “For  example,  the  impact  of  the  long-term  neglect  of  children  that  impedes  their  development  is  not 
manifest until much later in adult life. Projecting these costs into the future requires many assumptions 
and as each study will make different assumptions estimates are highly variable.” The economic costs 

71 

 
 
 
 
 
This estimation is in line with data coming from Spain160 (conservatively assessing the cost 
of child sexual abuse in Spain as 979 million a year in 2015, which would account for 
around  1/10  of  the  cost  in  the  EU  based  on  the  proportion  between  Spanish  and  EU 
population).  

In addition, this estimation is extremely conservative if compared to a study conducted in 
Germany which estimates the costs of child sexual abuse and neglect in 2012 Germany 
alone to be at least 11 billion a year.161  

In the study, the  prevalence rate of at least one form of child abuse or neglect classified as 
‘severe/extreme’ was estimated to be 14.5%. When estimated as a share of the German 
population  aged  between  15  and  64  years,  the  age  range  considered  for  the  prevalence 
analysis, there would be 7.8 million people in Germany affected by child abuse or neglect. 
According to the methodology utilised, only 21% of the 7.8 million individuals affected 
by ‘severe/extreme’  child abuse or neglect  was included in  the cost  calculation. This  is 
equivalent  to  1.6  million  (or  3.0%  of  the  population  of  a  Member  State  aged  15-64 
years).162 

A recent Italian study found that as for every known case there are at least nine submerged 
cases that will never be followed or treated163, if we project this data on adults today the 
figure of 9.5 abused children/adults assisted by Social Services of the Municipalities out 
of 1000 minors and that of nine cases submerged for each case known, the result is a total 
of nearly six million abused between adults and children (5.7 million), or slightly less than 
10% of the national population.164 The estimate was that the cost of child violence is 
about 13.056 billion Euros per year, equivalent to 0.84% of National GDP. Direct costs 
amount to 338.6 million Euros, while indirect costs amount to 12.7 billion Euros. 

Separately, on the UK side the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse stated that there 
were  3.1  million  victims  of  child  sexual  abuse  in  England  and  Wales:  (7.5%  of  the 
population  between  18 and  75)  according  to  the  2019  Crime  Survey  for  England  and 
Wales.165 The estimated number of victims of child sexual abuse in 2020/21 according to 

of violence against children | UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against 
Children. Available at: https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/economic_costs_of_vac_viewpoint.  
160   Dubin et al., ‘Los costes de la violencia contra la infancia Impacto económico y social’, Educo 2018.  
161   Habetha et al., ‘A prevalence-based approach to societal costs occurring in consequence of child abuse 

and neglect’, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2012, 6:35 5 

162   According to this prevalence figure and authors’ estimates, the average costs for the age range of 15-64 
years are a total of €335,421 (mean value) in the moderate scenario and up to €904,375 (mean value) in 
the worst-case scenario. The resulting average annual costs, related to a period of 50 years, amount to 
€6,708  per  unit  victim  in  the  moderate  scenario  and  to  €18,087  in  the  worst-case  scenario,  with  a 
resulting total annual costs of €11.1 billion incurred as follow-up costs of child abuse and neglect for 
German society. In the pessimistic scenario, the figure goes up to €29.8 billion (2008 figures). This is 
between 0.45% and 1.20% of German GDP for 2008. 

163   https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=98668#ref11. 
164   Savarese, G. , Carpinelli, L. , Villani, R. , D’Elia, D. and Romei, M. (2020) Data on Children Involved 
and the Social Costs Related to the Phenomenon of Maltreatment and Ill-Treatment towards Children in 
Italy. Open Journal of Social Sciences. Data on Children Involved and the Social Costs Related to the 
Phenomenon of Maltreatment and Ill-Treatment towards Children in Italy (scirp.org) 
165   Child sexual abuse in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) 

72 

 
 
 
 
the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse. The administrative burden was high: 325 
days of public hearings and 2.5 million pages of evidence processed. 

The  study  conducted  in  the  UK166,  on  estimating  the  financial  and  non-financial  costs 
relating  to  all  children  who  began  or  continued  to  experiece    contact  sexual  abuse  in 
England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2019, provides more robust figures. The 
study sets out the total number of victims as 113,144 based on prevalence estimates that 
take into consideration a number of data sources. The total cost of £10.1 billion (EUR 11.8 
billion) is broken down into 3 main cost brackets: anticipatory costs covering education, 
training  and  prevention,  costs  as  a  consequence  of  abuse  looking  at  physical  and 
emotional harm, healthcare, loss of output and victim services as well as costs in response 
to these crimes, that extend to police court, prison and safeguarding costs. The total lifetime 
cost per victim is £89,240. This is not an in-year cost, and it does not include victims of 
online and non-contact abuse, however it provides a clear and detailed overview of societal 
and economic costs per victim. 

In particular it underpins the importance of effective prevention initiatives which are not 
only far cheaper in economic terms that the burden of costs coming from the consequences 
of and response to abuse, but also have a direct impact on reducing the prevalence of abuse.  

According  to  the  relevant  IA  report,  the  entry  into  force  of  the  CSA  regulation  would 
reduce this cost by at least 25% (conservative estimation) and more likely 50%, mostly by 
virtue of the early identification of victims and perpetrators and consequent provision of 
timely assistance. Hence, the baseline victims cost  would be 10,3 million  (reduction of 
25%) or 6,9 million (reduction of 50%) if the proposed CSA regulation was adopted before 
the proposed Recast. It is important to note that the precise impact of the Regulation cannot 
be estimated at this point as it is still being discussed by the co-legislators and significant 
changes have been proposed. As a result, these assumptions on the potential reduction of 
the costs cannot be considered as a sufficiently reliable basis and are not taken into account 
for the purposes of the present impact assessment. 

Connection to the Proposed Regulation 

As detailed in the Impact Assessment of the CSA regulation, thanks to the benefits of the 
CSA regulation, if adopted in the form proposed by the Commission, over the medium-
term, there would be an increase in the number of reports received to the EU Centre from 
service providers. This will provide an interplay with the proposed Options A, B and C 
both on the prevention side, assistance to victims, and investigations and prosecutions. The 
stronger  prosecution  and  investigation  measures  which  are  envisaged  increasingly 
spanning from Options A and C would contribute to a decrease in child sexual abuse.  

If  adopted  as  proposed,  the  CSA  Regulation  would  strengthen  the  efficiency  of  reports 
from service providers, as there would be an increase in actionable reports provided to law 
enforcement by the EU Centre. In turn, this would lead to the beginning and conclusion of 

166   Radakin, F., Scholes, A., Soloman, K., Thomas-Lacroix, C., & Davies, A., The economic and social cost 

of contact child sexual abuse, 13 December 2021. 

73 

 
 
 
 
more  investigations  and  prosecutions  on  the  Directive  side,  thereby  contributing  to  a 
stronger accountability of child sexual abuse, as at the moment certain perpetrators manage 
to avoid prosecution.    

Therefore, there would be a long-run assumption is an overall reduction in the prevalence 
of  online  child  sexual  abuse  due  to  impact  of  the  CSA  proposal’s  service  provider 
obligations in terms of: 

•  better risk assessment and risk mitigation; 
• 
•  better coordination at the national and EU level. 

improved proactive/preventive detection capabilities; 

Each of these points would be a task for an evaluation of the CSA Regulation 5 years after 
its entry into force. 

Finally, as proposed increasingly ranging from Options A to Options C there is a need of 
EU-specific  research  to:  a)  assess  the  economic  burden  of  CSA  across  the  EU;  and  b) 
ascertain the financial cost of CSA for criminal justice systems across the EU. On the CSA 
Regulation side, the EU Centre becoming a de facto knowledge and information hub for 
the region, would contribute significantly to these transparency and legislative evaluation 
needs. 

Summary of Benefits 

Box 15: Benefits of the Proposal 

The quantitative benefits originate mainly from two sources:  
•  Savings from CSA crimes prevented: The prosecuted offenders would have (improved) 
access  to  prevention  programmes  during  and  after  criminal  proceedings  (including 
during and after prison), which contributes to decreased reoffending. Persons who fear 
they might offend must also benefit from the possibility of access to support measures 
which  may  succeed  in  preventing  offences.  Moreover,  the  increase  in  reports  could 
also  have  a  deterrence  effect,  disrupting  possible  ongoing  abuse  and  preventing 
additional offences.  

•  Savings  from  better  coordination  across  Member  States:  The  incorporation  of  new 
definitions of child abuse, and the use of undercover agents detailed in Option C will 
allow for an increase in reports in child sexual abuse, and as a consequence prosecuting 
offenders and preventing them from re-offending as well as better assisting victims of 
child sexual abuse.  

•  Savings from better assistance to victims: These would result from better mitigation of 
the negative effects of these crimes on victims in the longer term, e.g. by facilitating 
Member States’ action in this area through the exchange of best practices and research, 
and supporting the victims throughout compensation and psychological and medical 
assistance, as described in Option A. 

74 

 
 
 
 
 
It is not possible to determine exactly what would be the benefits caused by each of these 
two  categories  or  each  policy  measure.  In  addition,  it  is  not  possible  to  forecast  with 
certitude  what  would  be  the  exact  benefits  of  each  policy  measure.  For  example,  the 
reduction of CSA due to prevention would depend to large extent on the investments and 
efforts  from  Member  States  and  the  EU,  which  the  policy  options  considered  in  this 
initiative could only help facilitate.  

Therefore, overall all options are expected to reduce the cost of violence on an incremental 
basis, by inducing a reduction in the prevalence of child sexual abuse in the EU through 
prevention, protection, support, investigation, prosecution.  

Table 2 – Summary of costs and benefits for the policy options 

Options  Costs 

Benefits 

P.O.1 

Up to EUR 2,4 mil in one 
year to compile and make 
statistics  relating  to  child 
sexual abuse offences 

Improved implementation of existing EU legal and policy 
framework by clarifying ambiguities of the current 
framework including:  
- ensuring coherence with new instruments  
- improving the quantity and quality of available information 
through compilation and upkeep of statistical databases by 
Member States on child sexual abuse-related offences.  

P.O.2 

N/A 

P.O.3 

Approximately  EUR  2,4 
mil  yearly  to  gather  the 
statistical  data,  including 
data 
disaggregated 
groups 
available 
considered 
be 
vulnerable to child sexual 
abuse   

for 

to 

Yearly  costs  of  EUR  60 
000  for  national  contact 
points  on  child  sexual 
abuse167.  

Strengthening  of 
legislative 
amendments  that  modify  definitions  of  crimes  to  take  into 
account current and expected technological developments  

framework 

through 

legal 

Broader strengthening of legal framework through legislative 
amendments to ensure more effective prevention, assistance 
to victims and investigation, and prosecution, taking into 
account the cross-border dimension of the phenomenon. This 
includes: 

- 

- 

Setting out clear benchmarks to assess effectiveness 
of prevention programmes and effectiveness of 
assistance to victims programmes 
Introduction of cross-border disqualification for sex 
offenders from jobs involving children  

-  Creation of a national Anti-Child Sexual Abuse 

contact point in each EU MS. 

-  Broader collection of statistical data on child sexual 

abuse by EU Member States to include disaggregated 
data available for groups considered to be vulnerable 
to child sexual abuse 

167   Cost estimated on the official salary scales of an administrator at Grade 8 and the average hourly labour 

costs for public administrators set out by Eurostat for 2021. 

75 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stakeholders' views on the costs and burdens associated with the implementation of the Directive 

Following an online survey168 which took as part of the Study to inform the work on the possible revision of 
the  CSA Directive,  most respondents reported no remarkable increase  in the costs entailed by the CSAE 
Directive, either with respect to investigation and prosecution of CSAE offences, or to CSAE prevention or 
to the provision of assistance and protection to CSAE victims. Similarly, respondents identified no change 
in the costs related to the training of professionals working with victims of CSAE in their country.  Yet, 
respondents reported a significant increase in the provision of and participation in trainings following the 
implementation of the CSAE Directive in their country. According to the majority of survey respondents, 
the CSAE Directive has contributed to at least a 3%  increase in the number of participants taking part in 
trainings, including member of the judiciary (56%, n=), police officers (58%, n=14 out of 24), and teachers 
(50%, n=6 out of 12). Conversely, most consulted stakeholders believed that the CSAE Directive limitedly 
contributed (less than 3%) to increasing the training offer for front-line police officers (55%, n=16 out of 
29), professionals in charge of interviewing children during criminal proceedings (56%, n=15 out of 27), and 
the judiciary adjudicating cases of CSAE (63%, n=12 out of 19).   

With  regards  to  the replies  received  as  part  of  the  targeted  interviews169  conducted  as part  of  the  Study 
mentioned above, on whether the implementation of the Directive has entailed an increase in costs linked to 
child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation,  interviewees  agreed  that,  overall,  the  costs  incurred  to  reach  the 
objectives of the CSAE Directive are balanced by the overall benefits in terms of higher criminalisation and 
prevention of CSAE offences. However, there are areas where the benefits can still be increased, hence 
increasing overall cost-effectiveness. For instance, hotlines are expensive to maintain (hardware, software, 
human time, and training) but are not widely used. Interviewees emphasised that prevention initiatives are 
highly cost-effective as prevention is always less costly than repression. Safety-by-design was raised as an 
efficient approach to fight against online CSAE. However, such a principle is not widely implemented due 
to claims of perceived constraints on technological innovation and violations of privacy. 

6.3 Conclusion on Assessments  

The main policy choices and trade-offs are between, on the one hand, the level of impact 
on countering child sexual abuse and the ability to prosecute such activities effectively, 
and the potential interference with fundamental rights and Member States’ administrative 
burdens on the other.  

While Policy Option A would aim to tackle Problem Driver 1 by providing definitions of 
technologies, Policy Option B would instead further criminalize new developments and 
ensure  future  proof  language  on  new  technology.  This  would  extend  the  range  of  EU 
intervention, and would create a higher administrative burden for Member States, with the 
positive effects being a stronger protection of children due to a stricter approach against 
this Problem Driver. Policy Option C would instead allow undercover agents to conduct 
investigations, with the tradeoff being potential privacy issues balanced with an even more 
efficient approach to counter child sexual abuse.  

The Policy Options should not therefore be seen as ranging from low efficiency to high 
efficiency against Problem Driver 1, as Policy Option A is encompassed in Policy Option 

168   In total 67 responses were received to the online survey: 18 from NCA, 15 from CSOs, 13 from LEAs, 

11 from JAs, 10 from hotlines 

169   35 individual interviews were conducted during both the evaluation and the impact assessment phases 

of the study.  

76 

 
 
 
 
 
B and so forth. The main differences between these Policy Options is merely the fact that 
the more one ranges towards Option C, the more there is a higher risk of privacy issues, 
administrative burdens, and EU law’s role in Member States, outweighed by the benefits 
of protecting children and ensuring that new technologies do not outsmart EU law again. 

In a similar spirit, Problem Driver 2 concerns different legal frameworks developing across 
time. While Policy Option A would aim to clarify ambiguities and ensure coherence with 
EU  law  thereby  “setting  the  record  straight”  without  engaging  in  high  administrative 
burdens or privacy issues or intervention  in  Member State law, Policy Option  B would 
actually  provide  new  criminalization  of  certain  activities,  in  order  to  ensure  the  legal 
landscape as a whole is more harmonized. The trade-offs being proportionally the same 
but growing exponentially, Policy Option C would harmonize the legal frameworks even 
more by allowing cross-border disqualifications for sex offenders, and increasing the use 
of platforms such as ECRIS and SIS. Therefore, the trade-offs and the reasoning behind 
them  is  the  same,  with  merely  an  exponential  growth  of  the  protection  vs  trade-off 
paradigm.  

More  far  reaching  measures  foreseen  under  Option  C  entail  a  higher  risk  of  affecting 
interference  with  fundamental  rights  and  Member  States’  administrative  burdens, 
considering  that  cross-border  disqualifications  for  sex  offenders  have  to  be  carefully 
managed in order to respect offenders’ rights, as should an increase in the use of platforms 
ECRIS and SIS, as should allowing undercover agents to perform investigations. 

Problem  Driver 3 concerns  prevention  and  assistance to  victim programmes, which  are 
deemed to be national. Option C is of a more global nature when compared to Options A 
and  B,  which  instead  are  both  fully  sufficient  both  with  regards  to  prevention  and 
assistance  to  victims.  Due  to  the  clarification  of  ambiguities  and  the  criminalization  of 
wider  types  of  crimes,  Options  A  and  B  have  also  however  proven  their  worth  on  the 
prosecution  and  investigative  side.  Measures  under  Options  A  and  B  alone  would  stay 
short  of  the  required  major  impact,  in  particular  because  they  would  not  foresee 
investigation  and  prosecution  measures  which  consider  the  cross-border  dimension  of 
child sexual abuse, which is instead an additional consideration that goes beyond the wider 
picture of child sexual abuse. The creation of national anti-child sexual abuse coordinators 
are entailed in the Option C measures that are regarded as being the most effective, yet that 
will also  entail  a higher  degree of interference with Member States’ administrative and 
budgetary burdens.  

In  conclusion,  in  terms  of  fundamental  rights,  the  policy  choice  must  be  guided  by  a 
balancing of interests, weighing the threats of not countering child sexual abuse effectively  
against  potential  interferences  with  for  instance  privacy  concerns.  The  costs  of 
implementation are weighed against the expected benefits: for those measures included in 
the  preferred  option  and  which  are  considered  as  particularly  effective,  our  appraisal 
concluded that the costs will be outweighed by the expected benefits.  

77 

 
 
 
 
7  HOW DO THE OPTIONS COMPARE? 

Criteria have different weights, which indicate the relative importance of the criteria vis-
à-vis  each  other:  effectiveness  =  4;  efficiency  =  4;  necessity  =  4;  coherence  =  3; 
subsidiarity and proportionality = 3. The higher the number, the more weight the criterion 
has. The assessment is made in comparison to the baseline scenario as a benchmark. 

The following table compares the policy options and summarises their rating as compared 
to the weight of each criteria. 

Table 3 – Comparison of policy options 

Criteria and type of 
impacts 

Direction  Weight 

Policy 
Option A 

Rating 

Policy 
Option B 

Policy 
Option C 

Criteria 

Effectiveness 

Efficiency 

Necessity 

Coherence 

Subsidiarity and 
proportionality 

7.1 Effectiveness 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

+ 

4 

4 

4 

3 

3 

2 

2.5 

2 

2 

3 

2.5 

3 

2.5 

3 

3 

3.5 

3.5 

3 

3 

3 

The effectiveness of each policy option is assessed against each of the specific objectives 
of this initiative.  

7.1.1  Ensuring effective prevention of child sexual abuse 

Policy Option A and Policy Option B would be effective due to the legal obligations they 
would include related to an increase in penalties, which might deter certain offenders from 
offending, and due to stricter and more precise definitions on child sexual abuse which will 
encompass a wider range of the crime. In Policy Option C, the statistical requirements on 
CSA data collection and the creation of national coordinator would increase knowledge 
about all forms of child sexual abuse, both with EU citizens, professionals and children 
themselves.  

Notably, in Policy Option C, there will be a further harmonisation of national law on the 
requesting of information on previous offenses of the person concerned where necessary, 
which would turn the possibility for organisers of activities involving regular contact with 
children to request a potential employee's or volunteer’s criminal record into an obligation. 
This would go a long way in ensuring  that they do not bring persons with a criminal record 
in this area into contact with children. It will also alert national authorities and prevent any 
future offenders from offending in another Member State. One of the main elements of this 
Policy Option  is  that prevention programmes  for  offenders would exist both  inside and 
outside of prison, and to strengthen the use and efficiency of ECRIS and the SIS, which 

78 

 
 
 
 
 
will  therefore  increase  the  likelihood  of  successfully  preventing  any  child  sexual  abuse 
offences from being committed abroad.   

7.1.2  Facilitating investigations and prosecution 

Policy Option A would reinforce the criminal justice response to child sexual abuse, as 
Member States would have to amend their criminal codes or codes of criminal procedure. 
The evaluation found170 that certain aspects of the criminal justice response to the crime 
are not sufficiently and/or adequately addressed in the Directive. Policy Option A would 
aim at addressing these gaps, in particular when it comes to creating rules on pornography 
depicting children, clarifying exemptions from criminalisation which will thereby allow 
CSAM to be reported or accessed for the purpose of reporting it to law enforcement when 
this is established beyond any reasonable doubt, and clarifying the time-limit for status of 
limitations.  

With respect to the criminalisation of additional forms of exploitation, Option B would 
contribute to a stronger response to the crime as it broadens the scope of the Directive to 
include deep fake images certain fictitious material and child sex dolls as has already been 
implemented by certain Member States and it would criminalise live-streaming of children 
as  a  stand-alone-offence.  This  will  ensure  prosecution  and  facilitate  international 
cooperation  in  trans-border  cases,  thereby  reflecting  the  most  pressing  concerns  which 
have been highlighted by stakeholders as described in the Evaluation Study171. The list of 
the forms of child sexual abuse would remain non-exhaustive, which means that Member 
States would still have the option to include more purposes of child sexual abuse than those 
explicitly mentioned in the Directive.  

Moreover,  with  a  stricter  approach  to  the  sanctions  against  offenders  on  a  cross-border 
dimension,  Policy  option  C  would  increase  the  criminal  justice  response.  Therefore, 
Option C would go further than Option B in holding offenders accountable for trafficking 
offences,  encompassing  requirements  to  ensure  that  existing  tools  lead  to  an  efficient 
exchange of information, and establishing national coordinators on child sexual abuse who 
will analyse best practices.  

7.1.3 

Improving protection and support of victims of child sexual abuse  

Policy Options A and B would ensure that criminal proceedings should continue even if 
a victim has withdrawn his or her statements, thereby ensuring better victim protection. 
These Policy Options would protect all types of victims with a particular focus on children 
with disabilities. They would ensure that victim services can actually be provided online 

170   Evaluation of Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and 
replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, pp. 2-3  

171   Evaluation of Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and 
replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, 4.1.1 Effectiveness, p. 15 

79 

 
 
 
 
and can be available all day long and throughout any day of the week. The victim services 
will be accessible for children with disabilities and reasonable accommodation provided. 

Yet, Policy Option C would be more effective in ensuring that victims receive adequate 
assistance,  support  and  protection  across  the  Member  States  including  collecting 
disaggregated data on categories, as the harmonisation of practices and procedures for the 
identification and referral of the victims would be considerably limited if Member States 
do not have a possibility to coordinate at the EU level that would provide them with support 
in its application at the national level.  

7.2 Efficiency 

The Policy Options would not incur any costs on businesses and companies, or on citizens.  

Support  to  the  knowledge  and  expertise  of  national  authorities  on  fighting  child  sexual 
abuse will already be provided by the EU Centre, under the Proposed Regulation to Fight 
Child Sexual Abuse.   

Under Option C, the work of the national coordinators would require limited additional 
financial and human resources, which would be  mainly  revolve among  national  figures 
already  experts  on  child  protection  in  national  ministries.  While  some  of  the  targeted 
legislative amendments under Option A and Option B may already be to a certain extent 
covered in some national legal systems, this does not detract from the overall impact of 
harmonisation and EU standard setting.  

Moreover, while certain new crimes described in Option B such as live-streaming already 
fall within the scope of the Directive in some respects, its explicit addition to the definition 
and as a stand-alone offence is expected to further encourage national authorities to step 
up  their  efforts  in  fighting  this  growing  trend,  and  to  reduce  impunity.  Adapting  the 
definition of offences to include those committed in the virtual reality environment will 
further strengthen national authorities’ strategies to counter them, encompassing a wide 
range of efforts such as research strategies to prevent this emerging phenomenon, close 
coordination with  civil  society and professionals  such as child psychologists to  support 
victim  assistance,  and  developing  new  technological  tools  to  investigate  and  fight  this 
growing trend.  

With  Option  C, national  authorities would have to  identify clear benchmarks to  assess 
prevention programmes and assistance to victims’ strategies, which will include a wider 
data collection strategy and a more detailed qualitative analysis of the efficiency of such 
programmes and strategies.  The overall increase in efficiency connected with Option C 
allows to consider it as a preferred option despite its higher administrative burdens. 

80 

 
 
 
7.3 Coherence 

The evaluation found172 that the Directive risks not being coherent with upcoming relevant 
EU  legislative  instruments  which  were  able  to  take  into  account  recent  societal  and 
technological developments, such as the proposed Directive on combating violence against 
women  and  domestic  violence  and  the  Proposed  Regulation  to  Counter  Child  Sexual 
Abuse. The three policy options are expected to restore the coherence with these initiatives, 
as described in Section 5.3. 

Policy Options A to C would be coherent with the Proposal for a Directive on combating 
Violence Against Women, as they would introduce a higher level of penalties and sanctions 
for  certain  crimes  which  would  correspond  to  the  level  of  penalties  and  sanctions 
introduced in the Proposal for a Violence Against Women Directive, and as they would 
incorporate  new  definitions  of  child  sexual  abuse,  including  in  its  online  dimension, 
thereby rendering both legal instruments more effective in light with changing realities in 
this criminal field.  

7.4 Necessity and Relevance 

The necessity of EU action in the area of fighting child sexual abuse is demonstrated in 
Section  3.2.1  and  in  the  evaluation.  All  the  policy  options  are  considered  to  be 
proportionate actions that would enhance the response to fighting child sexual abuse within 
the EU.   

Policy Option  A and B aim at  addressing the gaps identified in  the evaluation173, also 
through legislative changes in the EU framework. Policy Option C would combine all the 
above options, thereby ensuring a stronger response to countering child sexual abuse in 
light of the developing challenges and phenomena encompassing it.  

7.5 Subsidiarity and Proportionality  

Section  5.3  of  the  Impact  Assessment  already  explains  how  this  initiative  meets  the 
principles  of  subsidiarity  and  proportionality.  As  the  legislative  measures  under  Policy 
Options A to C only consist in targeted amendments to the Directive, limited to the areas 
where EU action has added value and Member States action has proven insufficient, the 
principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are respected.  

172   Evaluation of Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and 
replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, 4.1.3. Coherence, p. 23 

173   Evaluation of Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and 
replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, 5.2. Lessons learned, p. 34 

81 

 
 
 
 
 
8  PREFERRED OPTION 

8.1 Summary of the preferred option 

The preferred option is Option C, which includes targeted amendments to the Directive in 
line with the EU Strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse. Member 
States would have to adapt their criminal codes and codes of criminal procedure. Table 3 
presents the preferred legislative measures among the list of legislative options in Section 
5.2.2 and objectives to which they contribute to. 

Table 4 – Summary of the preferred option (Option C) 

Objectives 

Horizontal 
Objective-Ensuring 
effective  prevention 
of child sexual abuse  

Description of the preferred 
options 
(legislative 
measures) 

Identifying clear benchmarks 
to assess the effectiveness of 
prevention programmes  

Why is it a preferred option? 

This  option  would  further  harmonise 
processes related to identifying efficient 
prevention programmes on child sexual 
abuse  are  in  the  EU.  Option  C  would 
also  allow  to  clarify  some  aspects  of 
prevention programmes. The  anti-child 
sexual 
coordinators  would 
coordinate  matters  at  a  national  level 
with regards to prevention programmes 
for offenders, and educational strategies 
for children. 

abuse 

Option  C  would increase  the 
availability  and  effectiveness 
of  prevention  programmes 
both in and outside of prison. 

of 

care 

respecting 

Intervention  programmes  and  different 
types of treatment are proving effective, 
and  best  practices  should  be  assessed 
and  shared  among  Member  States, 
taking 
the 
fundamental rights of offenders. Having 
specific 
effective  prevention 
programme  available  in  all  Member 
States,  for  offenders  in  and  outside  of 
prison  as  well  as  for  people  who  fear 
that  they  might  commit  child  sexual 
abuse and exploitation offenders would 
entail  significant  positive  effects  on 
prevention. 

and 

Horizontal 
Objective-           
Facilitating 
investigations 
prosecution 

and 

This option would strengthen 
of 
interoperability 
communications 
on 
convictions,  and  ensure  the 
full  use  of  existing  tools  to 
prevent  sex  offenders  from 
committing crimes abroad. 

Option C is preferred to Option B, as the 
cross-border  nature  of  child  abuse 
already  (implicitly)  falls  within  the 
scope of child abuse in its many forms, 
including the so-called phenomenon of 
sex-tourism  which 
becoming 
increasingly  difficult  to  prevent.  This 
option  will  therefore  allow  to  increase 

is 

82 

 
 
 
 
the  possibility  of  avoiding  that  the  sex 
to  commit 
offenders 
travel  abroad 
crimes,  considering 
third 
country  may  not  be  able  or  willing  to 
take  a  firm  stand  against  child  sexual 
exploitation. 

that 

the 

new 

effective, 

proportionate 

future  proof  with 

As this Option incorporates Option B as 
well, it would ensure that the language 
and  definitions  on  CSA  related  crimes 
to 
regards 
are 
technological 
potentially 
developments.  This  option 
is  also 
preferred as it would increase the range 
and 
of 
dissuasive  sanctions  to  which  legal 
persons  are  subject  to  for  committing 
child  sexual  abuse.  Although  Member 
States  will  be  burdened  by  the  initial 
cost  of  administrative  matters  and 
having to adapt their criminal codes, the 
long-term positive effects of this option 
would outweigh the burdens. This will 
also  ensure  coherence  with  new 
legislative 
the 
Proposal  for  a  Directive  on  combating 
violence  against  women,  which  will 
therefore  reduce  any  future  legal  and 
administrative  costs  of  adapting  to  it  a 
posteriori.  This  Option  would  not 
preclude  Member  States  to  criminalise 
the  other 
exploitation 
forms  of 
identified in the Evaluation and Impact 
Assessment, as the list in the Directive 
would remain non-exhaustive. 

instruments  such  as 

This  option  would  allow  to  explicitly 
address one of the challenges in fighting 
child  sexual  abuse,  which  is  offenders 
building  solid  networks,  both  in  an 
offline  dimension  and  in  an  online 
dimension by using the dark web.  

Specific Objective- 

Ensuring 
the 
criminalisation of all 
forms of online child 
sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation. 

This  option  would  introduce 
new  crimes  and  penalties  as 
part of the definition of child 
sexual  abuse,  both  in  the 
definition  of  crimes  and  in 
certain  cases  as  a  standalone 
offence. 

to 

Undercover  agents  will  be 
for 
be 
able 
investigative  purposes  in  all 
Member States.  

used 

Specific  Objective-                 
that 
Ensuring 
national  rules  on 
and 
investigation 
prosecution 
allow 
for an effective fight 
against  child  sexual 
abuse 
and 
exploitation 

83 

 
 
 
 
 
Horizontal 
Objective-Improving 
protection,  support 
and  assistance  of 
child 
of 
victims 
sexual abused 

victim 

allow 
This  Option  will 
Member  States  to  identify 
clear  benchmarks  to  assess 
the effectiveness of assistance 
programmes. 
to 
Member  States  will  have  to 
collect  data  and  statistics  on 
certain  categories  of  what 
they consider to be vulnerable 
children. 

an 

ensure 

increased 
This  will 
coordination  of  Member  States  and 
national  actors,  including  civil  society, 
when assisting victims. Member States 
do  not  currently  have  harmonised 
medical  and  psychosocial 
support 
services,  and  this  would  be  difficult to 
establish. However, thanks to Option C, 
Member  States  can  at  least  share  best 
practices  with 
to  victim 
assistance  programmes,  and  ensure the 
adequate  support  which  will  re-insert 
them as active measures of society.  

regards 

identify 

It might be complicated to have Member 
States 
specific  cases  of 
vulnerable  children,  as  each  Member 
States  has  their  own  national  and 
cultural  specificities  when  it  comes  to 
definitions 
to  vulnerability. 
Option  C  will  entail  slightly  more 
administrative  and  research  costs  for 
Member  States  in  order  to  have  them 
collect statistics and disaggregated data 
available for vulnerable groups. 

related 

requirements 

This  Option  will 
lead 
Member  States  to  introduce 
stricter 
to 
address  issues  related  to  the 
of 
lack 
and 
professionals, 
educators  dealing  with  child 
abuse cases.  

training 
judges 

of 

This  Option  will  allow  Member  States 
to  address  the  inefficiencies  which  are 
currently  present  in  their  system  with 
regards  to  professionals,  judges  and 
educators who are not yet fully aware of 
child  sexual  abuse  and  especially  new 
phenomena. A difficulty for this Option 
would be that the trainings will impose 
an  administrative  burden  on  Member 
States,  and  it  will  be  rare  that  all 
Member  States  can  use 
the  same 
trainings due to national specificities.  

8.2 REFIT (simplification and improved efficiency) 

In compliance with  the  Commission’s Regulatory Fitness  and Performance Programme 
(REFIT), all initiatives aimed at revising existing EU legislation should seek to simplify 
and  reduce  administrative  burden  on  Member  States.  The  impact  assessment  concludes 
that the preferred option would have an administrative burden which would be offset by 
the positive impact of the measures on the prevention and fight against child abuse, and 
protection of the victims of this crime.  

84 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The targeted amendments to the Directive are aimed at improving Member States’ capacity 
to  fight  the  crime  efficiently,  in  relation  to  threats  and  trends  that  have  emerged  and 
evolved  within  the  past  years  and  with  new  technological  developments.  New  rules 
applicable to the Member States are expected to enhance cross-border cooperation, both in 
terms of investigations and prosecutions, as well as victims’ assistance and support.  

The initiative will further clarify the legal landscape addressing fighting child sexual abuse 
across the Member States. The regulatory burden related to the preferred option would be 
of limited scope, as it mostly consists in improving existing provisions rather than creating 
completely  new  obligations.  Member  States  already  investigate,  prosecute  and  punish 
offences related to child sexual abuse as they stand, and Option C would merely introduce 
a few more definitions and stand-alone offences related to child sexual abuse, which will 
have  a  very  significant  impact  on  countering  the  crime.  Most  of  the  regulatory  and 
administrative burden on Member States would stem from coordination obligations, the 
identification of clear benchmarks, and data collection modifications.  

The prevention and assistance to victims measures envisaged in Option C are not entirely 
new obligations, as under the current text of the Directive, Member States already had to 
establish prevention mechanisms and support victims. With Option C, they will have to 
identify clear benchmarks to assess the effectiveness of prevention and victim assistance 
programmes, which might require more coordination and administrative burdens.  

All Member States already collect data on child abuse, and Option C would merely ensure 
better collection methods coupled with more transparency and better reporting. Therefore, 
introducing a requirement for Member States to collect data on specific indicators and on 
a regular basis as part of Option C, would not trigger significant additional burden. This 
legislative change is expected to simplify the work of the National Statistical Authorities 
and  generally  improve  the  quality  and  availability  of  the  statistics.  Moreover,  the 
developing of guidelines, in  close  cooperation with  relevant  national  authorities, would 
reduce the regulatory and administrative burden on national authorities.    

8.3 APPLICATION OF THE ‘ONE IN, ONE OUT’ APPROACH 

The ‘one in, one out’ approach refers to the principle whereby each legislative proposal 
creating new burdens should relieve people and businesses of an equivalent existing burden 
at EU level in the same policy area. 

As explained in the previous sections, this initiative would not entail administrative costs 
for the private sector, and, as to administrative and adjustment costs and savings, it would 
mainly concern public authorities.  

The preferred option creates administrative and adjustment costs for administrations. 
These  are  costs  that  result  of  administrative  activities  performed  to  comply  with  the 
obligations included in the proposed initiatives, which Member States will have to adjust 
to.  They  concern  costs  for  setting  up  efficient  prevention  programmes,  providing  and 
sharing  detailed  information,  adjusting  to  have  a  stronger  victim  support  network.  The 
preferred option will also generate direct adjustment costs for law enforcement, due to the 
increased workload to deal with cross-border investigations and partnerships.  

85 

 
 
 
On  the  other  hand,  the  proposed  initiatives  will  support  emerging  legislative 
instruments: the Proposed Directive on combating violence against women and domestic 
violence and the Proposed Regulation to Counter Child Sexual Abuse. This would generate 
savings on administrative costs for public authorities, in particular through the anticipated 
compliance with harmonised law across Member States. 

Furthermore,  the  initiative  is  expected,  in  the  longer  term,  to  generate  significant  cost 
savings to society, derived from a reduction in child sexual abuse crimes (e.g. reduction 
in productivity losses, see section 6.2.2).  

9  HOW WILL ACTUAL IMPACTS BE MONITORED AND EVALUATED? 

The actual impacts of the preferred option, i.e. the actual progress in the fight against child 
sexual abuse offline and online, will be monitored and evaluated against the three specific 
objectives.  The  indicators  would  build  on  those  of  the  2011  Directive  to  minimise 
disruption and costs.  

The specific objectives basically aim to strengthen the prosecution, prevention of abuse, 
and  support  to  victims.  The  specific  objectives  have  corresponding  operational 
objectives,  which  would  be  monitored  using  various  data  sources  through  indicators, 
which both Member States and the Commission would be responsible for collecting and 
sharing.  

The table below identifies an indicative and non-exhaustive list of operational objectives 
and corresponding monitoring indicators for the measures identified under the preferred 
option.

86 

 
 
 
 
General 
objective 

Improve 
identification, 
protection and 
support of 
victims of child 
sexual abuse, 
ensure effective 
prevention, and 
facilitate 
investigations 
and 
prosecution. 

Specific objectives 

Operational objectives 

Indicators - data sources 

Ensure the 
criminalisation of 
all forms of child 
sexual abuse and 
exploitation, and 
that national rules 
on investigation 
and prosecution 
allow for an 
effective fight 
against child sexual 
abuse and 
exploitation 

Ensure effective 
prevention 
programmes 

• 

• 

Introduce criminalisation of new 
forms of crime in light of new 
technological developments 
Impose effective, proportionate 
and dissuasive criminal penalties 
on offenders  

•  Facilitate the investigation and 
coordination of criminal 
proceedings 

•  Prosecute and prevent abuse or 
exploitation committed abroad 

•  Promote access to intervention 
programmes and measures 
•  Ensure that appropriate measures 

are taken with regard to 
offenders who continue to be 
dangerous after release 
•  Ensure that prevention 

programmes are effectively 
implemented throughout the EU  

Improve protection, 
support and 
assistance to 
victims and ensure 
an increased 
coordination 
among different 
member states and, 
at the national level, 

•  Encourage victims to report 
harm to law enforcement 
authorities  

•  Facilitate access by victims to 
legal remedies and ensure 
compensation 

•  Ensure that victims suffer no 
harm after participating in 
criminal investigations 

•  New definitions of forms of child sexual abuse crimes 
• 

 Number of offenders being sentenced for different forms of 
child sexual abuse 
•  Severity of penalties 
•  Lists of behaviours constituting child sexual abuse and 

exploitation where no sanctions are imposed 
 Number of investigations opened and closed 

• 
•  Number of criminal proceedings concluded with and without 

convictions 

•  Estimated number of persons travelling abroad who commit 

child sexual abuse 

•  Number of offenders being sentenced abroad and in third 

countries 

•  Severity of penalties imposed for child sexual abuse and 

exploitation committed abroad 

•  Number of persons without a criminal record of child abuse 

having followed an intervention programme 

•  Recidivism rate for child sexual offenders 
•  % of offenders having undergone a risk assessment before 

• 

release 
 Number of offenders being subject to special measures to 
reduce risk of re-offending after their release 

•  Qualitative auditing of mechanisms to exchange information 

on security measures among Member States 

•  Number of children reporting sexual abuse 
•  Number of children participating in legal proceedings 
•  Qualitative assessment of the trauma suffered by children 

• 

participating in legal proceedings 
Interviews conducted to child victims after legal proceedings, 
on how their experience with professionals was 

•  Specific collection of data on vulnerable children 

Who is responsible for 
collection - output 

Member States 
– internal report to the 
Commission once every 3 years 

Commission 
- 

implementation report 
every 3 years  
evaluation every 6 years, 

- 
-  annual data collection 
published on Eurostat 
using as sources the annual 
reports from the EU Centre and 
from providers, among others 

Europol and Eurojust 
- 

reporting from Europol and 
Eurojust 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
among all the actors 
involved 

Create harmonised 
national 
mechanisms 

•  Measure the extent of the 

crime 

•  Monitor the effectiveness of 

•  Availability of the indicators 
•  Availability of other information 

policy  

 
 
ANNEX 1: PROCEDURAL INFORMATION ...................................................... 2 

Annexes 

ANNEX 2: STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION ................................................. 6 

ANNEX 3: WHO IS AFFECTED AND HOW? ................................................... 24 

ANNEX 4: ANALYTICAL METHODS .............................................................. 39 

ANNEX 5: EVALUATION OF DIRECTIVE 2011/93/EU OF THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT  AND  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  13  DECEMBER  2011  ON 
COMBATING  THE  SEXUAL  ABUSE  AND  SEXUAL  EXPLOITATION 
OF  CHILDREN  AND  CHILD  PORNOGRAPHY,  AND  REPLACING 
2004/68/JHARELEVANT 
COUNCIL 
LEGISLATION AND POLICIES ................................................................. 53 

FRAMEWORK  DECISION 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX 1: PROCEDURAL INFORMATION 

1. Lead DG, Decide Planning/CWP references 

This  Staff  Working  Paper  was  prepared  by  the  Directorate-General  for  Migration  and 
Home  Affairs  (HOME).  HOME  is  the  lead  DG  for  the  evaluation  and  the  impact 
assessment of the Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and 
child pornography. 

The Decide reference of this initiative is PLAN/2021/10693. 
This  initiative  appears  in  the  2020  EU Strategy  for  a  more  effective  fight  against  child 
sexual abuse under pillar I, ‘Implement and develop the right legal framework to protect 
children’. 

2. ORGANISATION AND TIMING 

Organisation  

The Terms of Reference for carrying out an external study to support the evaluation of the 
Directive on combating child sexual abuse and exploitation and child pornography and an 
impact assessment for a proposal for a Directive (Recast) on the topic were launched on 2 
July 2021 with a deadline on 9 August 2021. An evaluation committee consisting of staff 
from DG HOME and DG JUST selected an external contractor to conduct the study on 30 
September 2021174. In light of other commitments, the start of the study was postponed to 
1 December 2021 and the kick-off meeting of the contract for the study took place on 12 
December 2021. The contract had a duration of 12 months and was finalised in November 
2022.  

The combined evaluation roadmap and inception impact assessment for the initiative was 
published by DG HOME on the Commission’s “Have your say” webpage on 28 September 
2021 until 26 October 2021. The Commission carried out a public consultation from 20 
April 2022 to 13 July 2022, which was also published on “Have your say” webpage.  

The Inter-Service Group (ISG) on Child Sexual  Abuse and Exploitation, which already 
existed, was  composed  of  several  Directorate-Generals  within the Commission175. The 

174  The  call  for  service  was  issued  via  framework  contract  HOME/2019/ISFP/FW/EVA2/0068.  Three 
contractors submitted an offer to carry out an evaluation and impact assessment study. The evaluation 
committee  considered  a  number  of  criteria,  namely:  compliance  with  the  technical  specifications 
described in the Terms of Reference; demonstrated understanding of the objectives and tasks; the quality 
of  the  preliminary  assessment  of  difficulties  and  expected  results;  the  quality  of  the  proposed 
methodology;  and  the  quality  of  the  project  management  and  team  organisation.  The  Commission 
awarded the contract to EY/RAND. 

175   DG EMPL (DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), DG GROW (DG Internal Market, Industry, 
Entrepreneurship and SME), DG RTD (DG Research and Innovation), SJ (Legal Service), DG SANTE 
(DG for Health and Food Safety), DG TRADE, DG CNECT (DG Communications Networks, Content 
and Technology); DG EAC (DG Education and Culture); DG JUST (DG Justice and Consumers); DG 
NEAR  (DG  Neighbourhood and  Enlargement  Negotiations);  DG  ECHO  (DG  Humanitarian  Aid  and 
Civil Protection); DG ENER (DG Energy); DG ENV (DG Environment); JRC (Joint Research Centre) 
and DG BUDG (DG Budget). It also included the EEAS (European External Action Service). 

2 

 
 
 
meetings  of  the  ISG  were  chaired  by  DG  HOME.  The  steering  group  was  regularly 
consulted over the  course of the evaluation  and impact  assessment, in  particular on the 
draft reports of the contractor responsible for carrying out the external study. The following 
list provides an overview of the work of the ISG:  

•  The  ISG  was  consulted  in  June  2021  in  order  to  provide  feedback  on  the  draft 

Terms of Reference for the external study.  

•  The ISG was invited to provide feedback on the combined evaluation and inception 

impact assessment in July 2021 

•  On 12 December 2021, the ISG was invited to the kick-off meeting of the external 

study with the contractor.  

• 

In January 2022, the ISG was consulted on the consultation strategy and the public 
consultation questionnaire and the inception report from the study supporting the 
evaluation and impact assessment of the Directive.   

•  On 13 July 2022, the ISG was invited to participate in the meeting to discuss the 
initial submission of the interim report of the study, drafted by the contractor. The 
report  was  subsequently  accepted  after  revisions  were  made  to  reflect  the 
comments of the ISG. 

•  The ISG, as well as DG HOME relevant units, were consulted in writing throughout 
the evaluation and impact assessment process and their comments to the external 
study were duly taken into account.    

•  On 16 September 2022, DG HOME shared with the ISG the final version of the 
interim report supporting the back-to-back evaluation and impact assessment of the 
EU Directive on combating child sexual abuse.  

•  On  30  November  2022,  the  final  report  of  the  study  was  re-submitted  by  the 

contractor to DG HOME for revisions and subsequently accepted. 

•  A (written) informal consultation with the ISG on the Staff Working Documents 
on the Evaluation and Impact Assessment took place between 24 October and 17 
November 2022.  

The last meeting of the ISG, chaired by DG HOME, was held on 17 November 2022.  The 
Regulatory Scrutiny Board received the impact assessment report on 13 December 2022.  
On 20 January 2023 the RSB issued a positive opinion with reservations. 

 Timeline and chronology of the IA 

This initiative was first announced in the July 2020 EU strategy for a more effective fight 
against child sexual abuse1, where the Commission notably committed to:  

Identify legislative gaps, best practices and priority actions at EU level in the fight against 
child sexual abuse online and offline, and assess whether the Child Sexual Abuse Directive 
needs to be updated.  

3 

 
 
 
•  On  28  September  2021,  the  Commission  published  the  Inception  Impact 
Assessment for 4 weeks, until 26 October 2021; 17 feedbacks were received. DG 
HOME has analysed the reactions to the IIA and taken them into account for the 
purposes of the Impact Assessment.   

•  The impact assessment itself is based on an evaluation of the Child Sexual Abuse 
Directive, which was  carried out  in  2022 back-to-back and was  supported  by a 
study.  

•  On 20 April 2022, the public consultation was launched. The consultation lasted 

until 13 July 2022; 49 replies were received. 

•  Targeted  consultations  and  interviews  took  place  in  Q2-Q3  2022,  with  Member 

State experts and stakeholders. 

•  The final meeting of the ISG, chaired by DG HOME, was held on 17 November 

2022.   

3. CONSULTATION OF THE RSB 

The Regulatory Scrutiny  Board received the impact  assessment report on 13 December 
2022. The RSB meeting on the Impact Assessment took place on the 18 January 2023.  

On 20 January 2023 the RSB issued a positive opinion with reservations, stating that DG 
HOME  had  to  take  the  RSB’s  recommendations  into  account  before  launching  the 
interservice consultation once more, which is currently planned for November 2023. 

The main modifications made in light of the RSB’s comments are detailed in the following 
table down below. 

Feedback provided by the RSB 

Modifications introduced  

The  dynamic  baseline 
should 
include all measures relevant to this 
initiative,  in  particular  the  CSA 
the 
Regulation.  Given 
close 
interlinkage  between 
the  CSA 
Directive  and CSA Regulation, the 
report  should  clearly  set  out  how 
the expected effects from the CSA 
Regulation  proposal  have  been 
reflected  in  the  dynamic  baseline 
scenario  (and  under  which  time 
frame)  and  factor  them  into  the 
assessment  of  impacts.  It  should 
clarify  how  the  estimated  annual 
baseline victim costs of  EUR 13.8 
billion 
the 
improvements  expected  from  the 
CSA  Regulation  proposal.  The 
should  be  done  when 
same 

into  account 

take 

The dynamic baseline and costs and benefits 
sections have been substantially integrated, 
with  a  clearer  overview  of  the  interplay 
between  costs  and  benefits  linked  to  the 
proposed  CSA 
regulation,  costs  and 
benefits linked to the Directive’s recast and 
the interplay between the two. 

In particular,  

• 

to 

the  IA  now  explains  that  the  IA 
attached 
the  proposed  CSA 
regulation estimated a 25% to 50% 
reduction of the annual cost of CSA 
(13.8%)    as  a  consequence  of  the 
entry  into  force  of  this  regulation. 
Hence,  the  baseline  victims  cost 
would  be  10,3  billion(reduction  of 
25%)  or  6,9  billion(reduction  of 
50%)  if  the  proposal  was  adopted 

4 

 
 
 
estimating 
options. 

the  benefits  of 

the 

methodology 

The  report  should  provide  more 
details  on  the  analytical  methods 
and  underlying  assumptions.  In 
particular, it should further explain 
the 
the 
extrapolation  of non-EU data to the 
the 
EU 
assumption of the 25% (and 50% in 
the  long  run)  reduction  of  the 
current costs of CSA as a result of 
this initiative. 

justify 

better 

and 

of 

if 

the 

from 

lower 

benefits 

before  the  proposed  recast.  Given 
the  current  uncertainty  about  the 
scope  and 
the  CSA 
timing  of 
Regulation,  it  is  not  possible  to 
estimate  more  precisely  how  the 
Regulation  in  its  final  form  would 
affect 
IA 
the  status  quo; 
therefore does not take into account 
possible 
the 
Regulation as it is uncertain whether 
positive impacts would accrue. 
•  The IA now explains that the cost of 
setting up national rapporteur would 
be 
the  Coordinating 
Authorities were already in place, as 
MSs  would  be  free  to  designate 
those as national rapporteur, without 
the need to set up new offices. 
•  By  strengthening  prevention,  the 
recast  Directive  would  reduce  the 
prevalence  of  CSA  and,  therefore, 
the 
and 
prosecuting it as assessed in the IA 
accompanying the CSA regulation. 
The  description  and  analysis  of 
the 
analytical  methods  and  assumptions  have 
been  significantly  revised  to  take  into 
account the comments of the RSB, notably 
in paragraph 6.2.1 and 6.2.2 which clarify 
the  assumptions  on  the  costs,  subject  to 
further research which was conducted and a 
consultation survey with law enforcement. 

reporting 

costs 

of 

institutions 

The  report  should  provide  more 
detail  on  the  proposed  measure  of 
“independent 
to 
promote  children  rights”  and  also 
explain the difference between this 
and  the  creation  of  “Anti-Child 
Sexual  Abuse  Coordinators”.  It 
should better argue the necessity of 
and 
independent 
explain  how  this  measure  would 
the  principle  of 
comply  with 

institutions 

We  have  added  several  explanations  to 
explain  the  importance  of  the  creation  of 
independent  institutions  to  counter  child 
sexual abuse activities more precisely on a 
national level: 

•  Comments  in 5.2.3 which focus on 
how  the  anti-child  sexual  abuse 
coordinators  would  advocate  on 
behalf  of  victims  and  survivors,  to 
raise  awareness  and  remove  the 

5 

 
 
 
 
subsidiarity. 
assessment 
This 
should set out clearly the views of 
Member  States  regarding  the  need 
for 
this  harmonisation  element, 
given  the  diversity  of  situations 
across Member States. 

set 

that 

they 

have 

clearly 

The  report  should  clearly  explain 
the logic of the policy options and 
specify 
an 
incremental  character,  while  also 
explaining their individual limits. It 
should 
the 
out 
underlying trade-offs that frame the 
context  for  the  policy  options.  An 
overview  of  the  policy  options  in 
function  of  each  specific  policy 
should  be  provided. 
objective 
Furthermore, 
the  report  should 
clarify  whether  Policy  options  A 
and B are genuine alternatives and 
how their measures are to improve 
prevention.  More  generally, 
the 
options  should  consider  synergies 
and  take  advantage  of  measures 
introduced  in  the  CSA  Regulation 
proposal. 

stigma  that  prevents  victims  from 
coming  forward  to  report  child 
abuse, 

•  Comments  in  section  6.1.1  on  the 
importance  of  coordination  of  this 
initiative  with  other 
legislative 
instruments. 

•  Comments  in  section  6.1.2  which 
explain  the  fact  that  the  anti-child 
sexual  abuse  coordinator  will  be 
consistent  with  the  development  of 
comparable  evidence  bases  across 
Member  States.  Comments 
that 
detail the finding that most Member 
States are not collecting statistics on 
offenders for research purposes 

We  have  added  more  explanations  on  the 
logic  of  the  policy  options  and  their 
incremental character and trade offs. 

•  Comments  in  Section  5.2.1  which 
describes  Option  A  and  in  Section 
5.2.2  which  describes  Option  B,  in 
order to highlight the value that the 
Options  have  in  the  prevention 
sphere. 

• 

 An  introduction  in  Section  5.2 
description  of  the  policy  options, 
which  outlines  their  incremental 
value  and  their  need  based  on 
specific problem drives. 

the  policy  options 

•  A  conclusion  in  Section  5.4  which 
describes 
in 
detail,  as well as  the required table 
which highlights each policy option 
in  function  of  each  specific  policy 
objective 

•  A conclusion to Section 6 impact of 
the policy options, which describes 
in more detail the trade-offs of each 
a 
policy  option, 

from  both 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
should 

Member 

The views of different  stakeholder 
those  of 
categories, 
including 
States 
competent 
authorities, 
be 
systematically  reported  throughout 
the  report  and  account  taken  of 
consultation feedback and targeted 
should 
interviews.  The 
clarify 
expressed 
preferences  on  the  policy  options 
including dissenting views. 

stakeholders’ 

report 

qualitative 
quantitative 
and 
perspective:  Section 6.3 conclusion 
on assessments. 

have 

better 

clarified 

various 
We 
stakeholders’ preferences thorough the text 
and, where possible (i.e. where data was not 
collected anonymously and aggregately) we 
stakeholders’ 
relative 
included 
categories, 
and 
minority views. In particular:  

dissenting 

including 

the 

•   Incorporated 

stakeholders’ 
the 
views throughout the content of the 
impact assessment.   

•  Tried 

to  more 

systematically 
differentiate  between  preferences 
expressed  by  competent  public 
authorities  in  the  Member  States 
and other stakeholders. 

•   Details 

regarding 

for 
evidence  can  now  be  found  also 
under Annex II (point. 4.1). 

the  call 

•   The methodological Annex (Annex 
4,  1.5.  List  of  sources)  has  been 
updated  based  on  the  available 
sources from the IA. 

 4. EVIDENCE, SOURCES AND QUALITY 

The main source of evidence for the present Impact Assessment is the evaluation of the 
Child Sexual Abuse Directive, which was accompanied by a public consultation (20 April 
to 13 July 2022) and an external support study176. 

The  CSAE  Directive  has  inspired  the  organisation  of  six  expert  workshops  (from  17 
January 2018 to 6 September 2019) by the Commission, which were held to gather info on 
challenges and emerging issues on the implementation of some aspects of the Directive. 
The workshops offered an arena to discuss key issues regarding the implementation of the 
CSAE Directive as well as its relevance in light of new and emerging issues that affect the 
intra-EU effort to fight against CSAE.  

176   The study provides a qualitative (and to the extent possible quantitative) assessment of the likely impacts 

of the identified policy options vis-à-vis the baseline scenario of no EU action. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In addition, the Commission, represented by the Joint Research Centre and the Directorate- 
General Home Affairs and Migration’s Security for the Digital Age unit, organised a series 
of  Thematic  Workshops  involving  experts  to  support  the  identification  of  criteria  for 
classifying 4 and for evaluating prevention programmes covered by Articles 22 and 24 of 
the CSAE Directive. These steps support EU Member States and other countries in putting 
effective  prevention  initiatives  in  place  for  persons  who  fear  they  might  offend  against 
children177. 

Additional  external  expertise  was  gathered  through  the  following  stakeholder 
consultation  methods:  scoping 
interviews,  desk  research,  online  survey,  public 
consultation, targeted interviews, case study interviews, and workshops, as explained in 
detail in Annex 2. 

177 Di Gioia R., Beslay L. (2023) Help seeker and Perpetrator Prevention Initiatives - Child Sexual Abuse 
and Exploitation, ISBN 978-92-76-60601-7, doi:10.2760/600662, JRC131323 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX 2: STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION (SYNOPSIS REPORT) 

1. CONSULTATION STRATEGY  

The consultation strategy was built upon the information already collected as part of the 
evaluation of the Child Sexual Abuse Directive, notably with a view to consider further 
non-legislative  measures  and  legislative  adjustments.  More  precisely,  the  consultation 
strategy in the framework of the Impact Assessment aimed at identifying and assessing 
possible  policy  options  and  assist  in  the  calculation  of  their  costs  and  benefits.  In  this 
context,  the  views  of  stakeholders  on  elements  to  be  included  (or  not)  in  a  legislative 
proposal were collected in order to enable the Commission to table a good proposal.  

The objective of the consultations in the context of the impact assessment on the revision 
of the child sexual abuse and exploitation acquis was therefore twofold:  

1.  to  collect  the  views  of  stakeholders  about  possible  options  to  tackle  the  problems 
identified in the evaluation, including by seeking feedback on the recommendations that 
emerged as a result of the evaluation exercise; 

2. to gather information about possible additional problems that were not covered by the 
evaluation of the Child Sexual Abuse Directive. 

2. CONSULTED STAKEHOLDERS  

The following key stakeholder categories have been identified for the consultation in the 
framework of the revision of the Child Sexual Abuse Directive:  

•  Member States’ national authorities involved in the implementation of the Directive 
and in furthering its transposition (e.g. law enforcement agencies, prison, detention 
and  parole  services,  administrative,  child  protection,  and  judicial  authorities)  and 
regional and local authorities 

•  Relevant agencies (including Europol, Eurojust & the Fundamental Rights Agency 

(FRA)) 

•  Relevant  organisations  in  third  countries,  including  the  US  National  Center  for 
Missing  and  Exploited  Children  (NCMEC),  and  the  Canadian  Centre  for  Child 
Protection (C3P) 

•  Relevant international organisations, including the Council of Europe 
•  Relevant industry stakeholders 
•  Hotlines,  including  the  EU  funded  INHOPE  network,  and  other  child  protection, 

child rights, prevention  and privacy focused civil society organisations, 

•  Relevant researchers and academics 
•  The general public 

Short description of the methodology and tools used to process the data 

The  consultation  activities  focused  on  online  surveys,  targeted  interviews,  virtual 
study visit interviews, online questionnaire focused on the costs of identified policy 
options,  case  study  interviews  focused  on  the  costs/impacts  of  identified  policy 
options, and workshops. 

9 

 
 
The following actions were carried out in the framework of the consultation:  

•  The Commission launched an internet-based public consultation in all 24 official 
EU  languages.  The  consultation  was  questionnaire-based.  The  consultation  period 
was  twelve  weeks.  The  outcome  of  the  public  consultation  was  analysed  by  an 
external contractor. 

•  Data collection process:  

o  Desktop research: The study team has performed extensive desk research 
activities to carry out the analyses included in this report. A comprehensive 
and systematic literature review was performed to inform the analysis of the 
scale, scope and key features of CSAE (Chapter 3) and the assessment of the 
Directive in accordance with the five evaluation criteria (Chapter 0 provides 
the  evaluation  results  for  the  evaluation  criteria;  relevance,  effectiveness, 
efficiency,  coherence  and  EU  added  value).  The  most  relevant  EU  and 
international initiatives to the fight against CSAE have been examined to draw 
the policy context relevant to the EU efforts to fight against CSAE. Moreover, 
a detailed review of the criminal codes (CC) and other relevant national laws 
transposing the Directive has been carried out assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the  necessary  measures  to  comply  with  the 
Directive. Finally, database searches have supported the collection of statistics 
and  data  informing  the  magnitude  of  CSAE,  as  well  as  the  analysis  of  the 
efficiency of the CSAE Directive. 

o  Field research:    The Commission  organised field  research activities (open 
surveys  and  targeted  consultations)  with  MS  experts,  EMPACT,  EU 
bodies/agencies,  international  bodies,  civil  society  organisations,  prison, 
detention  and  restorative  justice  specialists,  education  institutions  and 
teachers,  representatives  from  ICT  private  companies,  government-led 
authorities  (including  ministries),  judicial  authorities,  law  enforcement 
authorities,  and  hotlines.  An  overview  of  the  progress  made  in  engaging 
stakeholders  through  the  online  survey  and  targeted  interviews  is  available 
below. 

3. TARGETED CONSULTATIONS  

The  following  targeted  consultations  were  carried  out  in  the  framework  of  the  impact 
assessment: 

Stakeholder 

Survey (n. of respondents) 

EMPACT 
EU bodies/agencies 

n.a. 
n.a. 

10 

Interviews (evaluation 
and impact assessment 
phase) 
1 
6 

 
 
 
 
International bodies 
Civil Society 
Organisations 
Academia  
Prison, detention and 
restorative justice 
specialists 
Education institutions and 
teachers 
Representatives from ICT 
private companies 
Government-led 
authorities (including 
ministries) 
Judicial authorities 
Law Enforcement 
Authorities 
Hotlines 
Third-country 
organisations 
Total 

Date 
28 September 2021 –  
26 October 2021 
20 April  - 13 July 2022 
13 May – 1 June 
April- September 2022 

4 November 2022 

11 November 2022 

n.a. 

15 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

18 

11 

13 

10 

n.a. 

67 

4 

12 

2 

3 

2 

1 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

4 

35 

Consultation 

Call for evidence 

Public consultation 
Online survey  
Targeted Interviews with key stakeholders 
Workshop to support the evaluation and impact 
assessment of the Directive 
Meeting with the EU Prevention Network 

4. OUTCOMES OF THE CONSULTATIONS  

4.1 Inception impact assessment 

In total, 17 replies were submitted: 10 by non-governmental organisations, 2 by companies 
and business organisations, 2 by EU citizens, 2 by EU citizens, 2 by other entities and 1 
business  associations.  Interested  stakeholders  could  provide  feedback  to  the  Inception 
Impact Assessment from 28 September to 26 October 2021.  

This combined evaluation roadmap/Inception Impact Assessment aims to inform citizens 
and stakeholders about the Commission's work in order to allow them to provide feedback 
on  the  intended  initiative  and  to  participate  effectively  in  future  consultation  activities. 
Citizens and stakeholders are in particular, invited to provide views on the Commission's 
understanding  of  the  current  situation,  problem  and  possible  solutions  and  to  make 

11 

 
 
 
 
available any relevant information that they may have, including on possible impacts of 
the different options.  The Roadmap published by the Commission to inform the possible 
revision of the CSAE Directive, includes four different types of intervention:   

•  Policy option 1: baseline scenario. This option would imply no further action from 
the EU. The European Commission would continue to support Member States to 
fully implement the provisions of Directive 2011/93/EU; 

•  Policy option 2: Complementing existing legislation with non-legislative measures. 
This  option  would  consist  in  additional  financial  support,  and  coordination 
activities  aimed  at  enhancing  Member  States’  efforts  in  the  area  of  prevention, 
investigations and prosecution as well as support to victims. 

•  Policy option 3: New legislation on prosecuting offenders, protecting victims and 
preventing offences. This option would set out a new legislative framework that 
would  build  on  the  existing  CSAE  Directive.  The  intervention  would  take  into 
account  advances  in  technology,  new  terminology,  categories  of  criminal  acts, 
ensure effective prevention initiatives, protection and support to victims, and other 
challenges that have arisen since the adoption of the CSAE Directive in 2011.  
•  Policy option 4: New legislation on prosecuting offenders, protecting victims and 
preventing offences plus non-legislative measures. This option entails legislative 
amendments to the CSAE Directive as proposed in policy option 3 as well as the 
introduction of the non-legislative measures as provided in policy option 2.  
Eleven  of  the  stakeholders  replying  to  the  Roadmap  consultation  advocated  for  policy 
option 4, two stakeholders supported policy option 3 whilst another stakeholder supported 
policy option 2. 

Respondents further included suggestions on policy measures with regards to:  

•  Threats posed by the online environment 

Respondents were in favour of new rules concerning the emerging risks of abuse posed by 
the technological developments (e.g. the Metaverse and decentralised networks) and the 
increasing  use  of  technologies  by  both  children  and  perpetrators.  Besides  new  rules 
towards  more  efficient  criminalisation  of  emerging  CSAE-related  offences  (e.g.  online 
grooming, live-streaming, self-generated CSAM circulating online, revenge porn, AI-child 
sex  robots,  and  deep  fakes),  respondents  pointed  out  that  the  concept  of  ‘child 
pornography’ shall be replaced with “child sexual abuse material” (CSAM), in line with 
the ECPAT’s Luxembourg Guidelines.  This new definition shall cover all forms of CSAE 
happening online and offline, including virtual CSAM in the form of cartoons, mangas, 
drawings and fantasy descriptions. Finally, it is suggested that new rules are future-proof 
with respect to the way technology and tech-enabled crimes are regulated. Adding ‘in any 
form and by any means whatsoever’ to the definition of criminalised acts would render the 
measures easily adaptable to future technological developments and tech-enabled crimes.  

•  Child-friendly and sensitive justice 

Respondents supported a revision of the CSAE Directive towards ensuring child-friendly 
justice systems. This means that children should receive information about their rights and 
their involvement in the proceedings in a format and language that they can understand 
and that is tailored to their specific needs and age. To this end, authorities should, inter 

12 

 
 
alia, adopt approaches that take into account the experienced trauma and gender-specific 
needs of the victims. 

•  Prevention initiatives  

Many  stakeholders  state  the  need  for  awareness-raising  activities  to  avoid  children 
becoming victims of CSAE (e.g. through social campaigns and workshops) targeting the 
public and professionals working with minors, as well as for education programs in schools 
across the EU, including on themes such as sexual consent, gender equality, and online 
safety.  Prevention  initiatives  targeting  children  should  be  age-appropriate  and  take  into 
account gender-specific needs. Likewise, special attention to specific needs should be paid 
when designing prevention programmes for foster children, children in institutional care 
or living in domestic environments posing risks of becoming victims. Further, stakeholders 
expressed the need for mandatory rehabilitation programmes for CSAE-convicted felons 
and alternatives to imprisonment to avoid offenders’ recidivism.  

•  Removal and blocking of CSAM online  

Internet  Service  Providers  (ISPs)  need  clear  and  mandatory  rules  on  the  detection, 
reporting  blocking  and  removal  of  CSAM  in  their  services,  which  should  also  be  held 
accountable for failure to act. To render such procedures effective, cooperation between 
ISPs and LEAs authorities should be strengthened. 

•  Creation of an EU centre 

Respondents supported the creation of a European Centre dedicated to the fight against 
online CSAE, as outlined in the Proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent 
and combat child sexual abuse.  The Centre will facilitate CSAE prevention and enhance 
cooperation in delivering justice not only within the EU but also working with jurisdictions 
outside of the EU. Stakeholders raised that the operational activities and methods of the 
European  Centre  remain  unclear  and  should  be  defined.  To  this  end,  the  Centre  would 
benefit from an EU-wide set of updated terminology and definitions.   

[Add. info: One respondent further suggested the creation of an innovation hub within the 
proposed  EU  centre  to  prevent  and  counter  child  sexual  abuse  online  that  encourages 
collaboration amongst the tech industry as well as Member States, civic society and law 
enforcement, with a view to building best practice in response to the current and emerging 
challenges in preventing online child abuse and exploitation.]. 

4.2 Public consultation 

The Commission carried out an open public consultation targeting the general public with 
the aim of collecting information, evidence, and views on the issues at stake and to feed 
into the evaluation questions. In the context of the study, a PC in all EU official languages 
concerning  the  evaluation  of  the  CSAE  Directive  and  a  preliminary  discussion  on  the 
objectives of a policy intervention to review it was carried out via the Commission’s tool 
EU  Survey178  which  remained  open  from  20  April  2022  to  13  July  2022.  Overall,  49 

178 Public Consultation “Combating child sexual abuse - review of EU rules”. Available at: link.  

13 

 
 
 
 
responses were received from stakeholders in 23 countries, including 18 Member States 
(AT, BE, CZ, DE, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IT, MT, NL, PT, SE and SI) and five 
third countries (Canada, Iran, Thailand, UK and US).  

In addition to the replies to the PC questionnaire, 21 written contributions were received, 
from 
including  eleven  contributions 
representatives  of  business  organisations,  four  from  ICT  companies,  one  from  a 
representative from a national ministry of justice, one from a legal expert and one from a 
EU citizen.  

from  Civil  Society  Organisations, 

three 

Regarding the profile of the respondents, 20 answered the survey as individuals (19 EU 
citizens and one non-EU citizen), while the remaining 30 respondents answered on behalf 
of  an  organisation 
two  business  association,  one 
company/business organisation, 20 non-governmental organisations - NGOs). The size of 
the  concerned  organisations  was  the  following:  seven  large  (250  or  more  employees), 
seven medium (50 to 249 employees), six small (10 to 49 employees) and 10 micro (1 to 
9 employees) organisation. (Table 1) 

(seven  public  authorities, 

  Table 1: Public consultation responses by type of respondent 

Stakeholder type 
EU citizen 
Non-governmental organisation 
Public authority 
Business association 
Company/business organisation 
Non-EU citizen 

Number of replies 
19 
20 
6 
2 
1 
1 

Among the 49 replies, 2 were from victims of child sexual abuse and 2 from friends or 
relatives  of  victims  of  child  sexual  abuse.  A  total  of  17  replies  came  from  non-
governmental support services for victims of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, 
and 2 from  governmental  support services for victims  of child sexual  abuse and sexual 
exploitation. 

14 

 
 
 
8 responses came from France (16.3%). The second largest number of contributions came 
from Germany (14.29 %, n=7), followed by Netherlands (8.16%, n=4) and Spain (6.12%, 
n=3). This was followed by Belgium (4.08%, n=2), Czechia (4.08%, n=2), Greece (4.08%, 
n=2),  Italy  (4.08%,  n=2),  Malta  (4.08%,  n=2),  Portugal  (4.08%,  n=2),  Sweden  (4.08%, 
n=2), and Thailand (4.08%, n=2).10 countries had one contribution (Table 2).    

  Table 2: Responses to public consultation by country 

Austria 
Belgium 
Canada 
Croatia 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 

1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
8 
7 
2 
2 

Iran 
Italy 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Portugal 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
Thailand 
United Kingdom 
United States  

1 
2 
2 
4 
2 
1 
3 
2 
2 
1 
1 

A  summary  of  the  key  findings  from  the  public  consultation,  grouped  by  evaluation 
criterion, is provided below. It should be noted that this summary is not exhaustive and 
rather presents some of the key results of the public consultation. 

Replies to the PC questionnaire  

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
This section presents the main points that emerged from the responses to the PC. For each 
key finding, the share of respondents confirming the finding is provided, out of the total 
number of respondents to the question (both in percentage and in absolute numbers).  

To what extent was the intervention successful and why? 

Effectiveness 

Considering the effectiveness of the EU action in the field of CSAE, the large majority of 
respondents  (88%,  n=44  out  of  50)  agrees  that  an  EU-wide  cooperation  framework  is 
necessary to effectively combat this crime. 

More  in  details,  in  terms  of  crime  investigation  and  prosecution,  the  majority  of 
stakeholders stated that the CSAE Directive contributed to successful criminal proceedings 
to a moderate or high extent (78%, n=28 out of 36), and that the penalties foreseen by the 
CSAE Directive have a proportionate and dissuasive effect  to  a moderate, high  or very 
high extent (66%, n=23 out of 35). Also, the extension of the statute of limitation after the 
victim has reached the majority was mentioned as the key provision of the CSAE Directive 
that  contributed  the  most  to  increasing  reporting  of  CSAE  cases  (60%,  n=24  out  of  40 
respondents answering very high or high extent). The possibility to continue investigation 
and  prosecution  of  CSAE  offences  even  if  the  victim’s  statement  was  withdrawn  was 
mentioned among the key measures that contributed to improving the investigation and 
prosecution of offenders (50%, n=9 out  of 18 respondents  answering very high  or high 
extent). 

Regarding the support and assistance provided to victims, the contribution of the CSAE 
Directive  was  deemed  as  very  high,  high  or  moderate  extent  by  the  large  majority  of 
stakeholders  (68%,  n=26  out  of  38).  Also,  according  to  71%  (n=23  out  of  32)  of 
respondents, the CSAE Directive contributed to ensuring that victims are not punished for 
their involvement in criminal activities that they may have been compelled to take part in, 
or were involved in unknowingly, from a moderate to a very large extent. Moreover, 76% 
of respondents (n=19 out of 25) agreed that the CSAE Directive contributed to ensuring 
protection  of  victim's  privacy,  identity  and  image  during  criminal  proceedings  to  a 
moderate, high or very high extent. 

Considering  the  prevention  of  CSAE,  many  respondents  provided  a  positive  feedback 
(very high and high extent) regarding the contribution of the CSAE Directive towards the 
removal/blocking of webpages containing or disseminating CSAM (44%, n=20 out of 45). 
Positive  feedback  was  also  provided  regarding  the  contribution  of  the  CSAE  Directive 
towards  the  establishment  of  prevention  programmes  targeted  at  people  who  have  not 
committed a crime but fear they may offend against children (41%, n=15 out of 37). 

Finally,  the  large  majority  of  stakeholders  (70%,  n=14  out  of  20)  confirmed  that 
harmonised  monitoring  mechanisms  aimed  at  measuring  the  extent  of  CSAE  crimes 
currently exist in their countries. 

16 

 
 
Efficiency 

Considering  the  efficiency  of  the  CSAE  Directive,  the  large  majority  of  respondents 
considered  that  the  positive  effects  of  the  Directive  were  achieved  at  a  reasonable  cost 
(88%, n=7 out of 8) and that its implementation did not cause unnecessary administrative 
burden (86%, n=12 out of 14). 

Coherence 

In terms of the coherence of the CSAE Directive with other relevant EU legislation, all 
respondents agreed that it is coherent with the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive (100%, n=17 
out of 17). Also, according to the large majority of respondents, the CSAE Directive is 
coherent with Regulation 2021/1232 (82%, n=14 out of 17) and with the Victims’ Rights 
Directive (95%, n= 20 out of 21). Similarly, the CSAE Directive is considered coherent 
with international instruments and standards such as the Council of Europe Convention on 
protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (95%, n=21 out of 22), 
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (92%, n=22 out of 24) and the 
Sustainable Development Goals (93%, n=13 out of 14). 

How did the EU intervention make a difference and to whom? 

EU added value 

According to the large majority of respondents (92%, n=34 out of 37), the CSAE Directive 
made  it  easier  for  the  Member  States  to  tackle  CSAE  and  CSAM.  More  in  details,  the 
CSAE Directive contributed to reducing the occurrence of CSAE to a very high, high or 
moderate extent in particular in relation to child sex tourism (63%, n=12 out of 19), the 
prostitution of minors (61%, n=11 out of 18), the prevalence of offending (both contact 
offences and otherwise) (55%, n=11 out of 20) and online sexual abuse and exploitation 
(55%, n=12 out of 22). 

Is the intervention still relevant?  

Relevance 

Regarding  the  relevance  of  the  CSAE  Directive,  respondents  agreed  that  the  CSAE 
Directive contributed to a very high, high or moderate extent to: 

Equipping children with the right knowledge and skills needed to support healthy sexual 
development  whilst  staying  safe  online,  including  by  identifying  and  reacting 
appropriately to risky situations (58% (n=26 out of 45)); 

Addressing issues caused by the development of new technologies including use of peer-
to-peer networks, end-to-end encryption and crypto-currency to facilitate this crime, 
artificial intelligence and use of deep-fakes (48% (n=21 out of 44)); 

Addressing  the  increasing  online  dimension  of  this  crime  including  e.g.  the  online 
production and distribution of CSAM, live streaming of abuse, hosting of this material 
in bulletproof online spaces etc. (54% (n=25 out of 46)). 

17 

 
 
Revision of the CSAE Directive 

Subsidiarity 

The  large  majority  of  respondents  (94%,  n=45  out  of  48)  agreed  that  the  fight  against 
CSAE  continues  to  require  action  at  the  EU  level,  and  it  fully  respects  the  subsidiarity 
principle. 

Specific objectives 

The majority of respondents agreed that a potential revision of the CSAE Directive should 
aim to address specific new and emerging challenges that are not and should be covered at 
the EU level, such as the monetisation of CSAM and novel ways to carry out child sex 
tourism  including  live-streaming  of  abuse  (86%,  n=36  out  of  42),  the  threats  posed  by 
ongoing technological developments including deep fakes and AI-child sex robots, and the 
metaverse  (85%, n=34 out  of 40), as well as the increasing  online dimension  of CSAE 
(83%, n=35 out of 42). 

Moreover,  many  stakeholders  (83%,  n=38  out  of  46)  agreed  that  the  CSAE  Directive 
should be revised in order to require the Member States to nominate a national authority 
in charge of coordinating the effort against CSAE at the national level. Also, a recast CSAE 
Directive should include legal harmonisation regarding: the age of sexual consent (73%, 
n=16 out of 22), civil damages awarded to victims (65%, n=15 out of 23), the definition of 
the effectiveness of prevention programmes (82%, n=18 out of 22), the investigative tools 
and techniques allowed to combat CSAE (91%, n=21 out of 23), self-generated material 
(88%, n=21 out of 24) and the start of the limitation period (67%, n=14 out of 21). 

Finally,  the  majority  of  respondents  stated  that  the  CSAE  Directive  should  more 
prominently  articulate  the  gender  dimension,  in  particular  the  protection  of  girls  (63%, 
n=26 out of 41), and the situation of groups of children particularly exposed to the risk of 
becoming  victims,  including  children  from  a  disadvantaged  background  and  at  risk  of 
social exclusion, Roma children, children with disabilities, LGBTQI+ (76%, n=32 out of 
42). 

Written contributions  

4.3 Online survey 

As  indicated  above,  in  total  67  responses  were  received  to  the  online  survey:  18  from 
National Competent Authorities, 15 from CSOs, 13 from law enforcement authorities, 11 
from judicial authorities, 10 from hotlines. 

This section presents the main points that emerged from the responses to the online survey.  

Child sexual abuse and exploitation in the EU 

Considering main trends relevant to CSAE, most respondents claimed that the number of 
offences prosecuted related to child pornography (69%, n=22 out of 32), offline CSAE 

18 

 
 
 
(46%, n=12 out of 26), and online CSAE (66%, n=19 out of 29) increased (by more than 
5%) over the past ten years,179 though the increase appears to be most significant for crimes 
related  to  online  CSAE  and  child  pornography.  It  is  unclear  the  extent  to  which  the 
CSAE  Directive  has  contributed  to  such  an  increase.  Some  respondents  (n=4) 
mentioned  that  the  increase  in  the  number  of  prosecutions  went  hand  in  hand  with  the 
ongoing increase in the number of online CSAE offences, which has led to an increase in 
resources  dedicated  to  prosecution.  Other  respondents  (n=5)  suggested  that  the  CSAE 
Directive’s implementation has contributed towards raising awareness about CSAE, which 
resulted  in  improved  detection  of  CSAE  offences,  also  due  to  an  increase  in  related 
reporting.180 

To what extent was the intervention successful and why? 

Effectiveness  

Regarding investigation and prosecution of CSAE offences, survey respondents confirmed 
that  the  CSAE  Directive’s  implementation  has  enhanced  the  use  of  appropriate 
investigative  tools  to  fight  against  CSAE.  Most  respondents  (77%,  n=34  out  of  44) 
agreed that the CSAE Directive’s implementation had a moderate or even large effect on 
ensuring  that  law  enforcement  have  access  to  the  right  tools  to  investigate  cases  of 
CSAE.181  Two  respondents  mentioned  that  the  CSAE  Directive’s  implementation  had 
helped introduce high-tech and specialised tools for investigating CSAE cases.182 Also, a 
large share of respondents agreed that the sanctions foreseen by the CSAE Directive are 
dissuasive (44%, n=22 out of 50), effective (48%, n=25 out of 52), and proportionate 
(51%,  n=27  out  of  53)  to  a  large  or  very  large  extent.183  Nevertheless,  the  share  of 
respondents  that  considered  such  sanctions  as  only  moderately  dissuasive  is  still 
considerable (34%, n=17 out of 50).184 Finally, the majority of respondents confirmed that 
there  is  high  variance  in  terms  of  what  materials  constitute  “child  pornography” 
according  to  Member  States’  legislations.  Depending  on  specific  national  definitions 
included  in  different  Member  States’  legislations,  “child  pornography”  can  include  AI 
robot (51%, n=24 out of 47), anime and manga depicting sexual images of children (63%, 
n=35 out of 56), child sex dolls (51%, n=27 out of 53), deep fake (67%, n=32 out of 48), 
literary novels romancing child sexual abuse (39%, n=20 out of 51) and texts explaining 
how to groom (46%, n=23 out of 50).185 

With  respect  to  reporting  mechanisms,  most  respondents  (99%,  n=66  out  of  67) 
identified hotlines (phone or online) as the main available avenue for reporting cases 
of CSAE in their country, followed by social media platforms (61%, n= 41 out of 67) 
and focal points (teachers/educators) (52%, n=35 out of 67). Most respondents also had 
positive views about their national hotlines, which they deemed to be confidential (89%, 
n=54 out of 61), user-friendly (65%, n=40 out of 62), well-known (41%, n=26 out of 63), 

179  Online survey Q 3.1. 
180 Online survey Q 3.2. 
181 Online survey Q 4.1. 
182 Online survey Q 4.2. 
183 Online survey Q 4.4. 
184 Online survey Q 4.4. 
185 Online survey Q 4.3. 

19 

 
 
 
and responsive (59%, n=35 out of 59) to a large or very large extent.186 Moreover, most 
respondents (72%, n=38 out of 53) found that confidentiality rules in their countries are 
not  a  constraint  to  reporting  cases  of  CSAE.187  As  anecdotal  evidence,  one  respondent 
elaborated that CSAE can be reported anonymously at the national level, while another 
one finds that health and social care workers struggle with their professional confidentiality 
obligations. 

Regarding CSAE prevention, most respondents (60%, n=27) considered that the CSAE 
Directive’s implementation has contributed to preventing repeated offences against 
children (e.g. stopping offenders from holding professional positions that bring them in 
regular and direct contact with children), at least to a moderate, large or very extent.188 Yet, 
29% (n= 13 out of 45) of respondents still claimed that the CSAE Directive’s contribution 
had little if any  contribution in  this regard. Although  several  stakeholders (44%, n=17) 
considered that its contribution was moderate or large, the majority of respondents (50%, 
n=19 out of 38) deemed that the CSAE Directive’s implementation only contributed to 
a small extent, or it did not contribute at all, to preventing abuses of children with 
disabilities. Similarly, most respondents (59%, n=20 out of 34) considered that the CSAE 
Directive’s  implementation  had  contributed  to  preventing  abuses  of  children  with 
specific gender needs (e.g. girls, boys, LGBTQI+) to a small extent, or it did not contribute 
at all. However, according to most respondents, the CSAE Directive has contributed to 
a moderate, large, and very large extent towards the prevention of child abuses in the 
context of migration (53%, n=17 out of 32), the uploading, access to, and dissemination 
of CSAM (71%, n=30 out  of 42),  and the dissemination of material advertising the 
organisation  of  travels  to  commit  CSAE  (66%,  n=23  out  of  35).  Further,  most  of 
respondents (64%, n=25) considered that the implementation of the CSAE Directive has 
contributed to preventing first-time offences against children (e.g. through intervention 
programmes  to  persons  who  fear  they  might  offend)  to  a  moderate,  large  or  very  large 
extent.  Also,  some  respondents  (n=4)  highlighted  that  initiatives  or  measures  targeting 
potential offenders are still insufficient, and that they are often the result of independent 
actions  taken  by  the  single  CSO,  rather  than  a  direct  result  of  the  CSAE  Directive 
implementation.189 

Most  of  the  survey  respondents  (77%,  n=19  out  of  53)  considered  that  the  CSAE 
Directive’s implementation has contributed to facilitating access by child victims to 
assistance and support measures available to them (e.g. legal remedies and appropriate 
specialist protection measures) at least to a moderate, or to a large or very large extent. 
Some  survey  respondents  reported  that  support  services  are  made  available  as  long  as 
necessary  (n=8),  or  that  the  period  is  determined  on  a  case-by-case  basis  (n=2).190 
Moreover, most of the survey respondents (51%, n=27 out of 53) considered that the CSAE 
Directive’s  implementation  has  contributed  to  ensuring  that  victims  of  CSAE  do  not 
suffer additional trauma and harm from participating in criminal investigations and 
proceedings from a large to a very large extent. 191 However, some survey respondents 

186 Online survey Q 6.3. 
187 Online survey Q 6.6. 
188 The whole paragraph is based on answers to online survey Q 5.1. 
189 Online survey Q 5.2. 
190 Online survey Q 7.3. 
191 Online survey Q 7.1. 

20 

 
 
 
(n=5) commented that many of the assistance and protection services available to CSAE 
victims were already in place before the implementation of the CSAE Directive.192 Survey 
respondents  (84%,  n=49  out  of  58)  also  considered  that  efforts  at  the  EU  level  against 
CSAE  would  benefit  from  additional  EU  training  for  judicial  and  law  enforcement 
authorities working with victims of CSAE, from a large to a very large extent.193  

To conclude, most of the law enforcement authorities responding to the online survey 
confirmed they frequently cooperate with other law enforcement authorities (92%, 
n=12 out of 13) and judicial authorities (84%, n=11 out of 13) in their Member State in 
relation  to  CSAE  cases.194  According  to  respondents,  main  cooperation  mechanisms 
facilitating  coordination  of  national  actors  concerned  with  the  fight  against  CSAE  (e.g. 
including, among others, ad-hoc memorandum, regular exchange of information, ad-hoc 
cooperation agreement) are available in their country to facilitate coordination of national 
actors concerned with the fight against CSAE. As to cooperation with authorities in other 
countries in relation to CSAE, it mainly occurs with law enforcement authorities (39%, 
n=20 out of 51), competent authorities (34%, n=17 out of 52) and judicial authorities (22%, 
n=11 out of 51).Some respondents (n=5) also pointed to the role played by the International 
Association  of  Internet  Hotlines  (INHOPE)  Network  in  facilitating  cross-border 
cooperation with third countries’ hotlines and law enforcement authorities.195 

Efficiency  

Most survey respondents reported no remarkable increase in the costs entailed by the 
CSAE Directive, either with respect to investigation and prosecution of CSAE offences, 
or to CSAE prevention or to the provision of assistance and protection to CSAE victims. 
Similarly,  respondents  identified  no  change  in  the  costs  related  to  the  training  of 
professionals  working  with  victims  of  CSAE  in  their  country.196  Yet,  respondents 
reported  a  significant  increase  in  the  provision  of  and  participation  in  trainings 
following the implementation of the CSAE Directive in their country. According to the 
majority  of  survey  respondents,  the  CSAE  Directive  has  contributed  to  at  least  a  3% 
increase in the number of participants taking part in trainings, including member of 
the judiciary (56%, n=), police officers (58%, n=14 out of 24), and  teachers (50%, n=6 
out  of  12).  Conversely,  most  consulted  stakeholders  believed  that  the  CSAE  Directive 
limitedly contributed (less than 3%) to increasing the training offer for front-line police 
officers  (55%, n=16 out  of 29), professionals  in  charge of interviewing children during 
criminal proceedings (56%, n=15 out of 27), and the judiciary adjudicating cases of CSAE 
(63%, n=12 out of 19).197  

Is the intervention still relevant?  

192 Online survey Q 7.2. 
193 Online survey Q 12.1. 
194 Online survey Q 8.1. 
195 Online survey Q 8.4. 
196 Online survey Q 10.8. 
197 Online survey Q 10.9. 

21 

 
 
 
Relevance  

Most of the stakeholders consulted through the survey consider that the CSAE Directive 
addresses the specific protection needs of different categories of children in the EU to a 
large/very large extent.198 Also, the wording of the CSAE Directive is considered by the 
majority of respondents to be fully in line with the current political sensitivity (52%, n=24 
out of 46).199 

Problem evolution 

The majority of respondents (74%, n=35 out of 47) agreed that CSAE-related offences will 
increase in  the next  5-10 years.200  Specifically, growing trends will mainly  concern the 
amount of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) circulating online (n=3), dissemination of 
CSAM through the darkweb (n=12), online solicitation (n=9), including for the production 
of self-generated content by victims (n=13) and live streaming (n=4).201 

Many  stakeholders  (n=6)  believe  that  tech-facilitated  means  and  their  ongoing 
development and use in society represent key threats for the safety of children (n=30), 
introducing inter alia new forms of child sexual exploitation (e.g. sugaring and survival 
sex).  In  particular,  they  refer  to  artificial  intelligence  technologies,  like  deepfake 
technologies  (n=8),  the  metaverse  (n=2),  as  well  as  to  malicious  uses  of  tech-based 
services, like social media and gaming platforms (n=6), often characterised by encrypted 
communication  (n=7),  and  anonymous  online  services  (n=8),  such  as  cryptocurrency-
based payment methods (n=1). Such technological developments pose a serious threat also 
in light of the diffusion of technological devices and access to social media among many 
more children and increasingly younger (n=12), combined with a lack of parental control 
and awareness of the dangers of navigating the web (n=7).202 

Need for EU action 

The majority of respondents confirmed the necessity of additional EU intervention to 
fight against CSAE. Specifically, the three main areas where EU intervention is deemed 
necessary  (to  a  large  and  very  large  extent)  are  the  establishment  of:  (i)  additional  EU 
funding for the fight against of child sexual abuse and exploitation in the EU (95%, n=56 
out of 59), (ii) common minimum standards for ICT companies to report cases of online 
child sexual abuse and exploitation (93%, n=51 out of 55), (iii) additional EU trainings for 
judicial and law enforcement authorities working with victims of child sexual abuse and 
exploitation  (85%,  n=49  out  of  58).203  Furthermore,  additional  EU  action  is  believed 
necessary to  ensuring a common definition of CSAM (n=5) and common rules  to  fight 
against CSAM related offences (n=11), higher level of harmonisation of procedures and 

198 Online survey Q 9.1. 
199 Online survey Q 9.6. 
200 Online survey Q 11.2. 
201 Online survey Q 11.1 and Q 11.2. 
202 Online survey Q 11.1, Q 11.2 and Q 11.3. 
203 Online survey Q 12.1. 

22 

 
 
 
penalties during cross-border investigations (n=12) as well as common standards for the 
use of adequate tools to detect CSAE, including its online format (n=4).204  

4.4 Targeted interviews 

The Study Team planned to perform targeted interviews, aiming at:  

•  Understanding the current state of the debate on the fight against CSAE in terms of 

both academic developments and possible policy options; 

• 

• 

Investigating current and future needs and challenges as well as the main policy 
developments in the fight against CSAE vis-à-vis the Directive’s objectives; 

Investigating  the  degree  of  coherence  and  complementarity  in  the  fight  against 
CSAE between EU interventions and international measures and standards in view 
of identifying synergies and overlaps; 

•  Collecting examples of good practices (also from outside the EU) or possible key 
developments in terms of cooperation and coordination across Member States for 
the fight against CSAE; 

•  Gathering recommendations and suggestions for the improvement of the current 

practices. 

Topic guides and the content of interviews were tailored to the expertise of the interviewee. 
Stakeholders  were  identified  through  suggestions  from  the  Commission,  a  stakeholder 
mapping  process,  recommendations  from  the  interviewees,  and  recommendations  from 
members of the study’s expert panel. Key information was coded into an evidence grid, in 
relation to each evaluation question. 

To what extent was the intervention successful and why? 

Effectiveness  

Regarding CSAE investigation and prosecution, the interviewees agreed that the CSAE 
Directive  provided  for  an  effective  legal  framework  for  investigation  and  prosecution 
procedures at the national level. The most reported factor undermining the effectiveness 
of the CSAE Directives was the absence of a common definition of the “age of sexual 
consent”. Also, interviewees highlighted that the term “child pornography” should be 
replaced with a more suitable term: as the term “pornography” is primarily used for adults 
engaging  in  consensual  sexual  acts,  hence  using  the  terms  “child  pornography”  might 
appear to  imply  a similar legitimacy to that of consensual  pornography.  A shortage of 
both financial and human resources available at the Member State level emerged as an 
additional barrier to investigation and prosecution of CSAE-related offences. Stakeholders 
agreed that the CSAE Directive has helped investigate and prosecute cross-border online 
CSAE-related offences, though they broadly agreed its contribution has been insufficient. 

204 Online survey Q 12.4. 

23 

 
 
 
One  interviewee  criticised  the  CSAE  Directive’s  focus  on  perpetrators  and  committed 
offences instead of regulating the online environment that enabled the crimes.  

In  the  area  of  assistance,  support  and  protection,  interviewees  agreed  that  the  CSAE 
Directive provides for procedural safeguards before, during and after criminal proceedings. 
Yet,  stakeholder  claimed  that  it  does  not  provide  for  a  structured  and  solid 
multidisciplinary system of assistance, support and protection of the child. More precisely, 
interviewees  claimed  that  assistance  and  protection  should  be  better  tailored  to  the 
specific  needs  of  children  during  criminal  proceedings.  The  Barnahus  Model  was 
repeatedly  referenced  as  a  good  practice  in  the  field  of  CSAE.  Three  interviews 
emphasised that underreporting remains a barrier to providing support due to both 
individual-level constraints (fear of retaliation from perpetrator, risk of ridicule, shame) 
and  lack  of  adequate  reporting  systems.  According  to  interviewees,  delays  and  non-
child-centred processes hinder the provision of adequate support and protection of children 
once they have reported an offence.  

With  regard  to  the  effectiveness  of  prevention  measures,  interviewees  pointed  to 
education initiatives  and awareness-raising activities as the major areas where the 
CSAE Directive has shown a positive contribution. However, one interviewee claimed 
that national budget and effort are still too much focused on the repression side of the fight 
against  CSAE,  with  limited  investments  in  prevention  measures.  Another  interviewee 
emphasised  that,  due  to  insufficient  resources  available  at  the  Member  State  level, 
prevention  measures  are  usually  targeted  at  very  specific  audiences  and  lack  a 
comprehensive  approach  to  CSAE  prevention.  For  instance,  most  secondary 
prevention initiatives are not targeted at the right audience (e.g. mid 65 years old men 
are  not  usually  considered,  while  they  represent  a  significant  share  of  all  offenders). 
Finally,  some  interviewees  pointed  to  the  insufficient  offer  of  initiatives  aimed  at  the 
prevention  of  online  CSAE  offences,  which,  according  to  the  interviewees,  is  a 
consequence of the inadequate coverage of such offences within the CSAE Directive.  

Efficiency  

Interviewees agreed that, overall, the costs incurred to reach the objectives of the CSAE 
Directive  are  balanced  by  the  overall  benefits  in  terms  of  higher  criminalisation  and 
prevention  of  CSAE  offences.  However,  there  are  areas  where  the  benefits  can  still  be 
increased, hence increasing overall cost-effectiveness. For instance, hotlines are expensive 
to  maintain  (hardware,  software,  human  time,  training)  but  are  not  widely  used. 
Interviewees  emphasised  that  prevention  initiatives  are  highly  cost-effective  as 
prevention  is  always  less  costly  than  repression.  Safety-by-design  was  raised  as  an 
efficient approach to fight against online CSAE. However, such a principle is not widely 
implemented  due  to  claims  of  perceived  constraints  on  technological  innovation  and 
violations of privacy.  

Coherence  

The majority of the interviewees reported no issues in terms of coherence of the CSAE 
Directive with other relevant EU initiatives.  

24 

 
 
One interviewee pointed to potential inconsistencies between the CSAE Directive and the 
Lanzarote Convention as regards the definition of solicitation/grooming, which is identical 
in  both  measures.  Yet,  six  years  ago  the  Lanzarote  Committee  pointed  out  that  such  a 
definition is not updated, thus it needs a revision. However, any revision in the Lanzarote 
Convention should be accompanied by similar revision in the CSAE Directive in order to 
ensure that the two measures are fully coherent.  

Finally, four interviewees raised the challenge of ensuring a balance between requirements 
included in the CSAE Directive and existing rules concerning data protection and privacy, 
particularly  the  right  to  privacy  and  confidentiality  with  respect  to  the  processing  of 
personal data included in the e-Privacy Directive.205  More precisely, these interviewees 
claimed  that  rules  included  in  the  Regulation  2021/1232  that  allows  for  a  temporary 
derogation from the e-Privacy Directive should be embedded in the CSAE Directive.206 
However, one interviewee specifies that the rules included in the Regulation 2021/1232 
will be embedded in the Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual 
abuse,207 which is currently under discussion at the EU level.  

How did the EU intervention make a difference and to whom?  

EU added value  

Interviewees  agreed  that  the  CSAE  Directive  provided  for  a  legal  framework  that 
stimulated the adoption of rules against CSAE across the Member States. One interviewee 
pointed out that the minimum common rules provided by the CSAE Directive represent 
the necessary precondition towards an effective detection, investigation and prosecution 
of  CSAE  offences,  which  have  often  cyber  and  cross-border  elements.  Several 
interviewees highlighted that the CSAE Directive facilitated cross-border cooperation for 
the taking down of CSAM, which might not have happened otherwise.  

Is the intervention still relevant?  

205  The  providers  of  electronic  communications  services  must  comply  with  the  e-Privacy  Directive’s 
obligation  to  respect  the  confidentiality  of  communications  and  with  the  conditions  for  processing 
communications data. The practices of some number- interpersonal communications services to detect 
child sexual abuse online could interfere with certain provisions of the e-Privacy Directive. European 
Commission (2002), Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 
2002  concerning  the  processing  of  personal  data  and  the  protection  of  privacy  in  the  electronic 
communications sector. Available at: link. 

206    Regulation  2021/1232  allows  for  a  temporary  derogation  from  certain  provisions  of  Directive 
2002/58/EC  as  regards  the  use  of  technologies  by  internet service  number-independent  interpersonal 
communications services for  the processing of personal and other data  for the purpose of combating 
online child sexual abuse. European Commission (2021), Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 14 July 2021 on a temporary derogation from certain provisions of 
Directive  2002/58/EC  as  regards  the  use  of  technologies  by  providers  of  number-independent 
interpersonal communications services for the processing of personal and other data for the purpose of 
combating online child sexual abuse. Available at: link.  

207  European Commission (2022), Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council 

laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. Available at: link. 

25 

 
 
 
Relevance  

Interviewees widely agreed that  the CSAE Directive is not fully relevant. Definitions 
therein should be updated to account for current but also forthcoming technologies. For 
example, artificial intelligence (AI) and self-generated contents were raised as emerging 
areas that are not addressed but should be. Several interviewees explicitly mentioned the 
importance  of  livestreaming,  noting  that  the  CSAE  Directive  fails  to  account  for 
livestreamed  content  and  instead  focuses  too  heavily  on  pre-recorded  content.  Two 
interviewees raised that, in fact, a significant amount of illicit activities (e.g. livestreaming 
sexual abuse, distribution of CSAM content, grooming of children for sexual purposes) 
occurs through licit platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.  

Finally, the majority of interviewees held that the CSAE Directive does not go far enough 
in addressing the specific needs of different groups of children (e.g. non-binary and 
LGBTQ children, children in migration, children with disabilities).  

Problem evolution 

Regarding  emerging  technological  developments,  interviewees  were  concerned  by 
developments in AI, augmented reality (e.g. the metaverse) and gaming. Interviewees also 
raised  concerns  over  the  proliferation  of  existing  technology,  both  in  terms  of  the 
increasing use of technology as well as children accessing technology at an ever-younger 
age.  The  lack  of  parental/caregiver  filtering  between  children  and  content/interactions 
facilitated by technology presents new opportunities for offenders to target their victims. 
Two  interviewees  also  specified  the  increasing  threat  posed  by  organised  criminal 
groups, as the trade of CSAM represents a growing market for criminal organisations to 
profit. One interviewee posited that offenders are already drawing from organised criminal 
groups  and  adopting  some  of  their  tactics,  for  the  sake  of  profiting  off  of  their  own 
activities they would conduct anyway. The other interviewee foresaw existing organised 
crime groups entering into the market themselves for the sake of profit.  

Need for EU action 

Opportunities  for  both  legislative  and  non-legislative  EU  action  were  raised  during  the 
targeted interviews. As concerns legislative action, interviewees raised the possibility for 
the EU to adopt new EU rules on online dimensions of CSAE to strengthen internet safety 
for children. Four interviews raised the point that the terminology of the CSAE Directive 
should be revised to ensure that definitions therein are up-do-date. For instance, the term 
‘child  pornography’  should  be  replaced  with  ‘child  sexual  abuse  material’.  Also,  one 
interview highlighted the need to  include in  the  CSAE Directive specific provisions on 
data collection requirements for the Member States.  

4.5 Virtual study visits to selected Member States  

In  order  to  finalise  the  assessment  of  the  Directive  and  preliminarily  assess  the 
consequences of the identified policy options, the Study Team implemented virtual study 
visits  in  four  selected  Member  States.  The  study  visits  represented  the  trait  d’union 

26 

 
 
 
between  the  evaluation  and  the  impact  assessment,  with  a  twofold  objective.  From  a 
retroactive  perspective,  they  aimed  at  testing  the  conclusions  and  recommendations 
stemming from the evaluation of the Directive as well as confirming the relevance of the 
identified  problems  and  at  fine-tuning  the  understanding  of  possible  good  practices 
identified  within  specific  national  contexts.  From  a  forward-looking  perspective,  the 
virtual  study visits  aimed at  preliminarily testing different  identified policy options and 
solutions and at obtaining preliminary inputs on their impacts and costs, or savings linked 
to the adoption of new measures. 

5. CONSULTATION PLANNING 

5.1 Consultations focused on the impacts of identified policy options 

5.1.1 Online questionnaire focused on costs  
Once  the  policy  options  are  defined  together  with  a  preliminary  identification  of  their 
respective impacts, the Study Team will launch a second online questionnaire focused only 
on the expected costs stemming from the option implementation. The questionnaires will 
be  addressed  to  the  same  stakeholders  selected  for  the  virtual  study  visits.  The 
questionnaire is aimed at gathering information on the possible impacts over time, which 
might  be challenging  to  retrieve based on the desktop research. This  questionnaire will 
focus  on  both  one-off  and  recurrent  investments  as  well  as  on  different  types  of  costs, 
including e.g., the time needed to perform the different activities required by the measure, 
the number of FTEs involved in the implementation of such activities and related average 
salary. From an operational perspective, the questionnaire will be launched following the 
same approach already described for the online survey above (see Activity 3.2). However, 
the  feedback  period  for  this  questionnaire  will  only  be  open  for  1-2  weeks.  In  order  to 
gather the highest number of responses possible, the Study Team will propose stakeholders 
who have difficulties in replying to the questionnaire to fill it in during an interview with 
the Study Team. 

5.1.2 Case study Interviews 
In  addition  to  the  online  questionnaire,  the  Study  Team  will  undertake  case  study 
interviews with the same national stakeholders who received the questionnaires focused 
on costs. These interviews have a twofold purpose: (i) to minimise possible data gaps in 
case  the  response  rate  of  the  online  questionnaire  is  low  and  (ii)  to  collect  in-depth 
information and data from selected Member States on the nature and extent of the impacts 
in  light  of  the  specific  national  policy  and  regulatory  framework  relevant  to  the  fight 
against  CSAE.  Qualitative  and  quantitative  data  (including  quantifiable  costs/benefits) 
collected through the case study interviews will allow the Study Team to develop a better 
understanding  of  the  concrete  and  practical  consequences  of  each  option,  and  thus  to 
develop  an 
to  national 
differences/specificities. In each selected Member State, the Study Team will perform up 
to five interviews with relevant national stakeholders concerned by the policy alternatives 
under  assessment  (as  for  the  virtual  study  visits,  these  will  likely  include  national 
competent  authorities,  national 
judicial  authorities, 
CSOs/hotlines). The interviews will last maximum 1.5 hour and will be performed either 
by phone or through online platforms (e.g. Microsoft Teams). 

law  enforcement  authorities, 

that  will  be  more 

impact  assessment 

sensitive 

27 

 
 
ANNEX 3: WHO IS AFFECTED AND HOW? 

1. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE INITIATIVE 

The  revision  of  the  Child  Sexual  Abuse  Directive  primarily  affects  the  following 
actors/groups of persons: victims and their relatives, governments, the judicial system and 
victim support services.   

For  all  preferred  options,  namely  options  A,  B,  and  C  as  well  as  for  the  horizontal 
measures/instruments,  the  overall  practical  implications  will  be  assessed  for  each 
actor/group of persons.  

Victims and their relatives (and society as a whole) 

•  The  legislative  definitions  related  to  the  criminalisation  of  pornography 
depicting children, the criminalisation of offences committed in virtual reality, 
the criminalisation of physical reproductions of CSA, the criminalisation of 
sexual chatting with children under the age of consent, the creation of live-
streaming as a stand-alone offence would reduce the incidence of the crime.  
•  Measures which improve efficiency in fighting child sexual abuse will most 
certainly produce positive social impacts, such as an increase in security and 
trust in authorities and interpersonal relations, as well as a lesser need for self-
protecting measures, especially considering that sexual abuse and exploitation 
of children causes deep  and long-lasting  physical,  psychological and social 
damage for the victim and people close to him or her. 

•  Reduce the harm suffered by victims.  
•  Ensure a higher level of safety of citizens against crime and fight impunity of 

criminals, as provisions would be encoded in law.  

•  Encompass  positive  measures  for  society,  through  measures  entailing 
focusing both on the prevention and the assistance to victims’ side, to identify 
clear benchmarks to assess the effectiveness of programmes.  

•  A more efficient system to fight and prevent crime deters more criminals and 

their rehabilitation would lead to fewer offences. 

•  Strengthen  the  protection  of  other  fundamental  rights  enshrined  in  the  EU 
Charter,  including  the  right  to  human  dignity  (Article  1),  the  right  to  the 
integrity of the person (Article 3), the prohibition of inhuman or degrading 
treatment or punishment (Article 4), and the rights of the child (Article 24). 

National authorities (including judicial and law enforcement authorities) 

• 

•  Enhance the capacity of national authorities, as well as cooperation with the 
private sector in order to better prevent and fight against child sexual abuse.   
Improve the functioning of prevention mechanisms within the Member States 
and  ensure  better  national  coordination  among  assistance  and  support 
services.  It would enhance the  capacity of stakeholders  likely  to  come into 
contact with victims of child sexual abuse, to identify victims at an early stage 
and refer them to adequate services. 

28 

 
 
•  Compile  and  keep  a  new  statistical  database  on  child  sexual  abuse  related-
offences among the total number of police reports, investigations and court 
cases is a measure with a strong potential in terms of impact on society.  

• 

•  Formalise mandatory cross-border disqualifications for sex offenders.  
• 

Introduce  stricter  requirements  to  address  issues  related  to  professionals, 
judges and educators dealing with child abuse cases. 
Improve the capacity of law enforcement and judicial authorities to deprive 
any criminals from exploiting child sexual abuse for financial purposes, and 
to prevent child sexual exploitation from infiltrating the legal economy.  
•  Reduce  costs,  which  are  incurred  by  the  crime  for  the  society,  in  terms  of 
coordination of investigations, prevention, specialised services, as well as law 
enforcement, health services and social protection.  

•  Stricter measures, e.g. to increase the level of penalties for certain crimes such 
as possession of child sexual abuse material or to criminalise as many forms 
of  exploitation  as  possible,  or  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  cross-border 
investigations to safeguard fundamental rights. 

•  Formalise  the  data  collection  on  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation  at  the 
national  level  to  collect  data  every  year  on  the  indicators  specified  in  the 
Directive, as a minimum.  

European Commission 

•  Support Member States, and monitor the transposition and implementation of 
the  revised  provisions  of  the  Child  Sexual  Abuse  Directive,  in  addition  to 
continuing  the  monitoring  of  the  implementation  of  the  provisions,  which 
remain unchanged.  

•  Organise  meetings  with  the  internet  companies,  in  cooperation  with  the 

Member States and EU Agencies, within the EU Internet Forum.  

2. SUMMARY OF COSTS AND BENEFITS 

I. Overview of Benefits (total for all provisions) – Preferred Option 

Description 

to 

improve 
Measures 
prosecution 
and 
investigation  of  CSA 
and  level  of  coherence 
of  EU 
rules  across 
Member States 

Amount 

Direct benefits 

Comments 

No data is available. It is not possible to 
provide  quantified  estimates  for  the 
direct  benefits  brought 
about  by 
criminalisation. 

This effort will ensure the Directive 
is  future-proof  and  includes  new 
trends  and  phenomena  concerning 
serious  child  sexual  abuse  offences 
not  currently  covered  by  EU 
legislation.  Ambiguity  in  existing 
the 
legal  provisions, 
criminalisation  of  possession  of 
CSAM  in  the  context  of  reporting 
and on statute of limitations will be 
removed, making it easier for victims 
to be safeguarded from abuse and to 

including 

29 

 
 
 
  
tools  at 

extend  the  possibility  for  restitution 
for crimes committed against them.  
Law enforcement will be enabled to 
make  the  fullest  possible  use  of 
their  disposal, 
existing 
and 
facilitating 
prosecutions, 
the 
online  dimension  of  these  crimes. 
Policy  measures  relating  to  cross-
border  cooperation  will  enhance 
coordination 
law 
enforcement, and judicial authorities, 
and between  

investigations 
including 

among 

into 

Measures aimed at strengthening the 
criminalisation of child sexual abuse 
and  exploitation  and  increasing  the 
level  of  harmonisation  of  EU  rules 
across Member States will provide a 
stronger  legal  basis  of  the  law 
enforcement  and  judicial  response 
and  as  a  result  will  reduce  the 
incidence of the crime and number of 
victims, as well as the risks posed by 
perpetrators to children.  

This measure is aimed at improving 
the collection of convictions  related 
to  CSAE  crimes  and  monitoring  of 
CSAE-related trends and threats. As 
a result, this will increase knowledge 
and 
sexual 
child 
on 
exploitation 
better 
informed  and  targeted  policies  and 
and 
possible 
collaborative efforts. The yearly-data 
collection  will  contribute  to  more 
accurate and up-to-date reporting. 

supporting 

funding 

future 

abuse 

The  effects  of  CSA  extend  beyond 
the  immediate  act  of  harm  and 
include  risks  for  development  of 
severe  mental, 
and 
behavioural  health  disorders  across 
victims’  lives.  Children  who  are 
already victims of sexual abuse are at 
higher 
subsequent 
victimisation and criminal offending.  

physical 

risk 

of 

in 

an 
Introducing 
the 
obligation 
Directive  for  Member 
States  to  collect  and 
report  data  on  child 
and 
sexual 
exploitation 
the 
Commission every year 

abuse 
to 

the 

fight 
Strengthen 
against  child 
sexual 
abuse  and  exploitation 
in the EU 

No data is available. It is not possible to 
provide  quantified  estimates  for  the 
direct benefits brought about through the 
collection of statistical data.  

Indirect benefits 

The  implementation  of  the  initiative 
should therefore result in a reduction of 
the current estimated total cost of CSA in 
the  EU  of  €13.8  billion,  constituting  an 
indirect benefit of the directive. Overall, 
reducing the number of victims of child 
to  a 
sexual  abuse,  will  contribute 
decrease in the costs of investigating and 
and 
prosecuting 

crimes 

these 

30 

 
 
 
 
Decrease in the demand 
for  child  sexual  abuse 
brought 
by 
effective 
prevention 
measures.  

about 

safeguarding  victims.  Stopping  children 
from becoming victims in the first place 
will decrease the stress on healthcare and 
broader support services both to would-
be victims and their families.  

In the longer term this will also decrease 
the impact on the legal economy as there 
will be less productivity loss by victims 
and reliance on social services.  

this 
No  EU-wide  cost  estimate  of 
loss  by  victims  exists, 
productivity 
however the economic impact study run 
in the UK in 2018-2019 indicated that the 
cost of healthcare, lost output and victim 
(EUR 
services  amount 
69,000) per victim across their lifetime, 
which should be expected to decrease if 
the measures are successful.  

to  £59,300 

implementation  of  prevention 
The 
programs  for  offenders  and  programs 
that raise awareness and provide training 
on child sexual abuse has been sporadic 
throughout  the  EU  Member  States.  No 
data  is  available  to  estimate  the  cost  of 
setting  up 
running  different 
categories of prevention interventions as 
well as the overall efficacy for prevention 
initiatives.  

and 

The gathering or relevant statistical data 
is already set out above. 

31 

and 

and 

States 

These measures will allow for a more 
comprehensive 
coordinated 
response  within  and  across  EU 
Member 
swifter 
identification  and  safeguarding  of 
child victims from all forms of child 
sexual  abuse  and  exploitation.  It  is 
also expected that victims will have 
swifter  access  to  more  tailored  care 
and support for both themselves and 
their  families  and  a  more  efficient 
judicial response.  

This will in turn decrease the cost of 
the loss of quality of life for victims 
and  have  an  overall  positive  social 
impact 
increasing 
security  and  trust  in  authorities  and 
lessening the need for parental and/or 
self-protection measures.   

including  by 

delivery 

programmes 

Availability 
of 
and 
rigorously  evaluated  and  effective 
for 
prevention 
offenders and persons who fear they 
might offend, will in the longer term 
decrease the demand for child sexual 
abuse material and fresh abuse.  

Prevention 
targeting 
programs 
awareness  raising of carers, persons 
in  regular contact  with  children and 
children 
themselves  will  help 
children  and  their  carers  to  avoid 
risky  situations, 
and/or  mitigate 
decreasing  instances of  child sexual 
abuse. 

for 

regular 

Obligations 
data 
collection will support in the longer-
term evidence based policy making, 
including  putting  in  place  effective 
deterrence 
and 
preventative 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the 

decrease 

mechanisms 
to 
prevalence of child sexual abuse.  
Annual  benefits  from  reduction  of 
crime. 
Savings  on  administrative  costs  for 
in  particular 
public  authorities, 
through  the  anticipated  compliance 
with harmonised law across Member 
(the  Proposed  Violence 
States 
against  Women  Directive  and  the 
Proposed Regulation to Prevent and 
Combat Child Sexual Abuse. 

Assistance  to  victims  – 
programmes 
support 
to 
and 
compensation 

access 

Victims of child sexual  abuse who seek 
support within the EU Member States are 
treated  within  the  general  physical  and 
psychosocial  healthcare  systems  and 
there  are  no  statistics  on  the  types,  and 
duration  of  treatments  and  associated 
costs. However from studies carried out 
in the US we can infer that  

Annual  benefits  from  reduction  of 
impact  of  crime  on  victims’  long-
term wellbeing.  
Savings  on  administrative  costs  for 
public  authorities, 
in  particular 
through  the  anticipated  compliance 
with harmonised law across Member 
States 
(the  Proposed  Violence 
against  Women  Directive  and  the 
Proposed Regulation to Prevent and 
Combat Child Sexual Abuse. 

Administrative cost savings related to the ‘one in, one out’ approach* 

N/A 

N/A 

The  preferred  option 
generally 
would 
contribute 
to 
strengthening  the  fight 
sexual 
against  child 
abuse  and  exploitation 
and coordination across 
the EU Member States. 
It  will  reduce  the  costs 
incurred  by  the  crime 
for  the  society,  and  in 
particular  victims  of 
child  sexual  abuse  and 
decrease its prevalence.  

The costs associated with the preferred option are presented in the Table below.  

No costs are identified for citizens/consumers  and businesses since the costs associated 
with the policy measures directly impact administrations at the national level. 

32 

 
 
 
Citizens/Consumers 

Businesses 

Administrations 

One-off 

Recurrent 

One-off 

Recurrent 

One-off 

Recurrent 

II. Overview of costs – Preferred option 

legislative  adjustments 
clarify 
including: 

to 
ambiguities 

a)  Rules 

on 

offences 
concerning  CSAM  so 
that  they  apply  when 
CSAM  depicts  a  person 
appearing  to  be  a  child 
whose  age  cannot  be 
determined; 

b)  Clarifying 

that 
of 
transmission 
on 
information 
between 
convictions 
MSs  is  possible  even 
without  consent  of  the 
person concerned, if law 
transmitting  states 
of 
allow it 

Direct 
adjustment 
costs 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

33 

the 

Member  States 
would  have  an 
obligation 
to 
explicitly 
address 
legislative 
adjustments 
in 
their legislation, 
will 
which 
require 
some 
limited 
adjustments 
national law. 

in 

States 

a)  Member 
already 
investigate, 
prosecute 
and 
punish  offences 
related  to  CSAM 
when the material 
clearly  depicts  a 
minor.  However, 
this broadening to 
include depictions 
of  persons  who 
may  appear  to  be 
children may lead 
possible 
to 
in 
increase 
numbers 
of 
investigations and 
prosecutions.  It  is 
to 
difficult 
in 
estimate 

a 

 
 
 
 
 
c)  Providing 
exemptions 
from 
criminalisation 
when CSAM is accessed 
for 
downloaded 
or 
reporting purposes 
d)  Non-criminalisation  of 
consensual 
sharing, 
possession or production 
of  CSAM  by  children 
over  the  age  of  sexual 
consent when material is 
destined  for  private  use 
of those children alone 

e)  Exemption 

from 
for 
criminalisation 
victims for possession of 
materials depicting their 
abuse 

f)  Ensuring  victims  have 
access 
national 
to 
compensation  schemes 
for victims of crimes 

Direct 
administrative 
costs 

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
enforcement 
costs 

Indirect costs 

concrete terms the 
extent  of  such  an 
increase if any. 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

g)  Clarifying 

that 

time-
limit  for  prosecution  of 
related  offences 
CSA 
before 
cannot 
victim 
and 
upwards. 

start 
is 

18 

34 

 
 
 
 
h)  Ensuring coherence with 
EU 

other 
legislative instruments 

relevant 

Direct 
adjustment 
cost 

amendments 
Legislative 
ensuring  that  the  language 
and  definitions  on  CSA 
related  crimes  are  future 
proof  with 
to 
potential  new  technological 
developments, 
trends  and 
threats. 

regards 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

the 

Member  States 
would  have  an 
obligation 
to 
explicitly 
address 
legislative 
adjustments 
in 
their legislation, 
will 
which 
require 
some 
limited 
adjustments 
national law. 

in 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
administrative 
costs 

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
enforcement 
costs 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
to 

Introduction  of  legislative 
amendments 
prevent 
CSAE offences: 
a)  Clear  benchmarks 

to 
assess  effectiveness  of 
prevention programmes; 
b)  Ensuring  existence  of 
prevention 
for 
and 

dedicated 
programmes 
offenders 
outside prison; 

inside 

c)  Ensuring  existence  of 
prevention 
dedicated 
programmes for persons 
they  might 
wo 
fear 
commit  CSA 
related 
offences; 

d)  Ensuring  MSs 

can 
introduce  cross-border 
disqualifications  for  sex 
offenders  from  certain 
jobs involving children; 

e)  Encourage 

harmonisation 
national 
transmission 

law 

of 
on 
of 

Indirect costs  N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
adjustment 
cost 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

the 

Member  States 
would  have  an 
to 
obligation 
explicitly 
address 
legislative 
adjustments 
in 
their legislation, 
will 
which 
some 
require 
limited 
adjustments 
national law. 

in 

Setting  up  of 
clear criteria by 
which  to  assess 
the 
effectiveness  of 
prevention 
initiatives 
carries a one-off 
cost,  however 
this 
benchmarking 
exercise  should 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
information  on  previous 
offences without consent 
of person concerned 

be carried out at 
the 
EU-level 
possibly  by  the 
on 
Network 
Prevention,  that 
brings  together 
experts  in  the 
this 
In 
field. 
way  an  EU-
wide 
standard 
of  efficacy  for 
prevention 
prgrammes  can 
be ensured. 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
administrative 
costs 

the  current 
Under 
Directive, 
EU 
Member  States  are 
already obliged to set 
up 
prevention 
initiatives for persons 
who  have  offended 
and  those  who  fear 
they  might  offend, 
however, 
the 
process  of  evaluating 
the implementation of 
the  EU  Directive  in 

in 

37 

 
 
 
practice  it  was  noted 
that  these  prevention 
initiatives 
remain 
sporadic.  Member 
States are expected to 
incur an initial cost to 
set up such initiatives 
and recurring costs to 
maintain  them  in  the 
longer term. the types 
of programs can vary 
in  content,  mode  of 
delivery  and  length. 
No  average  cost  for 
and 
setting 
these 
running 
initiatives 
is 
available. 

up 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
enforcement 
costs 

Indirect costs  N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
enhancing 
and 

Direct 
adjustment 
cost 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Measures 
investigation 
prosecution: 
a)  Enabling 

use 

of 
undercover  agents  for 
investigative purposes; 
b)  Ensuring  existing  tools 
are  full  leveraged  and 
used more effectively in 
this crime area 

Member  States 
the 
will  have 
obligation 
to 
explicitly 
address 
both 
measures  fully 
in  national  law, 
and will incur a 
one-off 
cost 
related  to  these 
updates. 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
administrative 
costs 

39 

use 

of 
The 
agents 
undercover 
and  other 
special 
investigative tools are 
some  Member 
in 
States  restricted  for 
use on serious crimes 
which carry a specific 
The 
penalty. 
possibility  to  extend 
the  use  of 
these 
techniques  and  tools 
to  all  crimes  of  child 
and 
sexual 

abuse 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
will 
exploitation 
entail 
yearly  
a 
recurrent  direct  cost 
and 
facilitate 
to 
maintain their use, as 
well 
train 
as 
officers.  

to 

With  regards  to  the 
use  of  ECRIS  and 
SIS,  no  additional 
costs  are  envisaged. 
All  EU  Member 
States  should  already 
have  in  place  all  the 
requisite 
infrastructure  to  link 
up  to  and  query  both 
systems.  They  also 
already are obliged to 
share 
convictions 
through  ECRIS  and 
have the functionality 
to put in place checks 
related to child sexual 
and 
abuse 
exploitation concerns. 

40 

 
 
 
N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
enforcement 
costs 

Indirect costs  N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
adjustment 
cost 

Collection  of  statistics  on 
child 
sexual  abuse  and 
and 
exploitation 
disaggregated data available 
for 
considered 
vulnerable 

groups 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
administrative 
costs 

Member  States 
will face a one-
off direct cost to 
the 
up 
set 
infrastructure to 
to 
be 
able 
the 
collect 
statistical  data 
fields  that  will 
be  mandated 
the 
within 
Directive. 
There 

are 

The 
collection  of 
statistics  will  entail  a 
yearly  output.  The 
study 
independent 
supporting 
this 
Impact  Assessment 
estimates  costs  to  be 
around EUR 2.4 mil.  
figure 
The 
collectively 
covers 
the cost  generated by 
stations 
all  police 
EU 
within 

the 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
currently 
no 
obligations  on 
EU  Member 
States to collect 
statistics related 
to  child  sexual 
abuse  and  there 
is  very  limited 
information  on 
the types of set-
that 
ups 
Member  States 
have in place. A 
variety  of  data 
collection 
architectures 
can 
envisaged 
within  national 
authorities.  For 
these  reasons  it 
to 
is  difficult 
a 
provide 

be 

Member  States  as  a 
are 
whole 
anticipated 
take 
part  in  this  exercise 
(62 250208).  

who 
to 

It is estimated that an 
action  encompassing 
collection, 
the 
analysis 
and 
uploading/submission 
of  data  takes  about 
180  minutes,  costing 
an  average  EUR  26 
per  hour  (total  EUR 
78).  Statistics  will  be 
collected 
formally 
every  2  years  (0.5 
times  per  year)  from 
62 
police 
stations.  This  creates 
31  125  ‘actions’  (62 
250  X  0.5)  which 
amounts to EUR 2. 4 

250 

208 The number of police stations/entities was calculated by identifying the number of policemen/women in the EU (1.6 million- Eurostat data) and dividing that by the average number 
of police officers managing a police station (25.7). As there are no numbers available for the EU in this regard, the US-based study by Hickman, Matthew & Reaves, Brian (2001). Local 
police departments, 1999. Available at: link., was utilised as a proxy.  

42 

 
 
 
reasonable 
estimate  of  this 
one-off cost. 

million a year (31 125 
actions X EUR 78 per 
action) 

The above calculation 
assumes  that  there  is 
currently  no  form  of 
data 
gathering/information 
sharing  set  up  within 
and  among  the  EU 
States. 
Member 
the 
However, 
independent 
study, 
informal 
and 
interactions 
with 
Member  States  show 
that 
some 
is 
infrastructure 
already  in  place  to 
collect 
similar 
statistics  on  other 
crime categories (e.g. 
THB) 
could 
that 
facilitate and possibly 
decrease  the  cost  of 
the action. As it is not 
foresee 
to 
possible 

43 

 
 
how  Member  States 
to 
will 
choose 
this 
implement 
such 
action, 
extrapolation  has  not 
been  included  in  our 
calculation. 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
enforcement 
costs 

Indirect costs  N/A 

Encouraging  the  setting-up 
of CSA contact points at the 
national level within the EU 
Member States 

Direct 
adjustment 
cost 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Direct 
administrative 
costs 

It 
that 
architecture 

is  assumed 
the 
to 

fight 

The 
against 
child  sexual  abuse 
requires a coordinated 
and multi-stakeholder 

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
which 
the 
national contact 
point  on  child 
sexual  abuse  is 
to  be  affiliated 
within 
the 
relevant 
structure  e.g.  a 
Ministry 
or 
national  public 
administration 
body  is  already 
in  place.  Hence 
no  one-off  cost 
been 
has 
envisaged here. 

response.  At 
the 
national  level  several 
key  players  have  a 
significant role in the 
prevention of CSA as 
well  as  provision  of 
assistance 
and 
support to victims and 
the  investigation  and 
prosecution  of  these 
crimes. The setting up 
of  a national  contact 
point  on  CSA  would 
help 
coordinate, 
efforts, 
streamline 
avoid duplication and 
all 
ensure 
that 
fully 
resources  are 
exploited 
the 
at 
national level.  
This  role  would  also 
serve  as  the  single 
point of contact on all 
concerns  related 
to 
CSA at the EU level.  
was 
cost 
The 
conservatively 
estimated  to  consist 

45 

 
 
of  the  wage  of  the 
individual.  This  was 
by 
extrapolated 
the 
multiplying 
hourly labour costs by 
average  number  of 
hours  worked  in  a 
year.  

to 

This  shall  be  further 
refer 
to 
revised 
specifically 
the 
total  labour  costs  of 
public  administrators 
in  accordance  with 
code 
the  NACE 
which  quotes 
the 
average  yearly  EU 
salary  as  EUR  46 
928209.  This 
figure 
does  not  reflect  the 
specific  grade  of  the 
contact 
‘national 
no 
point’ 
is 
information 

as 

209 Eurostat labour cost, wages and salaries, direct remuneration (excluding apprentices) by NACE Rev. 2 activity. Link. 

46 

 
 
 
available  on  what 
level  of  seniority  the 
contact  point  should 
have.  

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
enforcement 
costs 

Direct 
regulatory fees 
and charges 

Direct 
adjustment 
costs  

Indirect 
adjustment 
costs 

Total   

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Costs related to the ‘one in, one out’ approach 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

Administrative 
costs 
(for 
offsetting) 

(1) Estimates (gross values) to be provided with respect to the baseline; (2) costs are provided for each identifiable action/obligation of the preferred 
option otherwise for all retained options when no preferred option is specified; (3) If relevant and available, please present information on costs according 
to the standard typology of costs (adjustment costs, administrative costs, regulatory charges, enforcement costs, indirect costs;). (4) Administrative costs 
for offsetting as explained in Tool #58 and #59 of the ‘better regulation’ toolbox. The total adjustment costs should equal the sum of the adjustment costs 
presented in the upper part of the table (whenever they are quantifiable and/or can be monetised). Measures taken with a view to compensate adjustment 
costs to the greatest extent possible are presented in the section of the impact assessment report presenting the preferred option. 

3. RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 

III. Overview of relevant Sustainable Development Goals – Preferred Option(s) 
Relevant SDG 

Expected progress towards the Goal 

Comments 

SDG no. 5.2. (eliminate all forms of 
violence against women and girls) 

Strengthened 
fight  against  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation within the EU, in particular when it is facilitated 
by the use of technology, including live streaming, text and 
audio-based  CSAM,  virtual  reality  and  augmented  reality 
CSAM,  child  pornography  deepfakes,  the  use  of  digital 
currencies, and metaverse developments.  

Create  standard  national  mechanisms  which  measure  the 
extent  of  crimes  and  monitor  the  effectiveness  of  the 
legislations they are implementing. 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ensuring effective prevention of child sexual abuse.  

Facilitating  investigation  and  prosecution,  including  by 
facilitation  the  investigation  and  coordination  of  criminal 
proceedings,  both  on  a  national  and  EU  scale,  and  on  a 
global one as well.  

Effectively  prosecute  the  crime  of  child  sexual  abuse  by 
ensuring  the  criminalisation  of  all  forms  of  child  sexual 
abuse  and  exploitation  in  light  of  new  technological 
developments and phenomena.  

Improving protection and support to victims of child sexual 
abuse 

Ensure the creation of effective prevention programmes and 
to  provide  support  and  promote  access  to  intervention 
programmes 
at 
rehabilitating offenders who continue to be dangerous after 
release. 

appropriate  measures 

aimed 

and 

Reduced demand that fosters all forms of sexual exploitation 
of  children 
raising  campaigns, 
prevention initiatives and enhanced cooperation with online 
platforms and services.  

through  awareness 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
abuse, 
(end 
SDG  no.  16.2. 
exploitation, 
trafficking  and  all 
forms of violence against children) 

Strengthened 
fight  against  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation within the EU, in particular when it is facilitated 
by the use of technology, including live streaming, text and 
audio-based  CSAM,  virtual  reality  and  augmented  reality 
CSAM,  child  pornography  deepfakes,  the  use  of  digital 
currencies, and metaverse developments.  

Create  standard  national  mechanisms  which  measure  the 
extent  of  crimes  and  monitor  the  effectiveness  of  the 
legislations they are implementing. 

Ensuring effective prevention of child sexual abuse.  

Facilitating  investigation  and  prosecution,  including  by 
facilitation  the  investigation  and  coordination  of  criminal 
proceedings,  both  on  a  national  and  EU  scale,  and  on  a 
global one as well.  

Effectively  prosecute  the  crime  of  child  sexual  abuse  by 
ensuring  the  criminalisation  of  all  forms  of  child  sexual 
abuse  and  exploitation  in  light  of  new  technological 
developments and phenomena.  

Improving protection and support to victims of child sexual 
abuse 

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ensure the creation of effective prevention programmes and 
to  provide  support  and  promote  access  to  intervention 
programmes 
at 
rehabilitating offenders who continue to be dangerous after 
release. 

appropriate  measures 

aimed 

and 

Reduced demand that fosters all forms of sexual exploitation 
raising  campaigns, 
of  children 
prevention initiatives and enhanced cooperation with online 
platforms and services. 

through  awareness 

Other SDGs of particular relevance are those that address risk factors of CSA, such as SDG 1 on poverty (e.g. children forced by their parents to be 
sexually abused online), SDG 3 on health (e.g. given the short and long-term negative health consequences of CSA on children), SDG 4 on education 
(e.g. provisions on prevention mechanisms to raise awareness of CSA online risks), and SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure (e.g. as 
the  initiative  aims  to  support  service  providers  efforts  to  fight  against  CSA  online,  including  through  definitions  of  online  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation). 

51 

 
 
 
ANNEX 4: ANALYTICAL METHODS 

1.1. Evaluation questions 

In accordance with the Terms of Reference drawn up by the European Commission, RAND 
Europe  in  collaboration  with  Ernst  &  Young  (EY)  conducted  a  study  to  support  the 
evaluation  of  the  Directive  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of 
children and child pornography and an impact assessment of the possible options for its 
amendment. (request for service No 28 - HOME/2020/ISFP/FW/EVA2/0068).   

Its content has been structured following the requests of the Terms of Reference (ToR) and 
considering our technical proposal. The report is structured in the following chapters: 

Introduction, presenting the study objectives and scope (Chapter 1); 

• 
•  Overview of the status of the project, describing the activities implemented so far 
and providing for a preliminary assessment of the data collection process (Chapter 
2); 

•  Preliminary results of the analysis of CSAE in the EU: scale and scope of CSAE, 
the key feature of the phenomenon and its statistical magnitude (Chapter 3); 
•  The relevant policy context to the fight against CSAE at the EU and international 

level (Chapter 4); 

•  A  detailed  overview  of  the  objectives  of  Directive  2011/93/EU,  as  well  as  its 

implementation state of play across Member States (Chapter 5) 

•  Evaluation results in relation to the evaluation questions (EQ) under each of the 
five  evaluation  criteria:  effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance,  coherence,  and  EU 
added value (Chapter 0); 

•  Conclusions of the evaluation analysis, including some points of further discussion 

emerging from the analysis of the evaluation criteria (Chapter 7). 

The  methodological  approach  derived  from  a  careful  analysis  of  the  39  evaluation 
questions presented below and the production of evaluation grids separated by each of the 
five  evaluation  criteria  as  they  are  stipulated  by  the  Better  Regulation  Guidelines 
(effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance,  coherence  and  EU  Added  Value).  Building  on  the 
evaluation questions, the evaluation grids included: 

•  Judgment criteria: statements that need to be confirmed or disconfirmed by 

the analysis. 

•  Analytical  approach:  the  type  of  analysis  used  to  answer  the  evaluation 
question. The proposed analysis informed the type of information collected. 
•  Indicators: quantitative and qualitative measures supporting the analysis and 

informing the judgement criteria. 

•  Data sources: quantitative and qualitative sources of indicator variables used 

in the analysis. 

The  evaluation  grids  have  been  treated  as  a  ‘live’  document  throughout  the  research 
process. This means they have undergone revisions throughout the early research process 
to  ensure  that  the  questions  were  phrased  in  a  manner  that  supports  the  aims  of  the 
evaluation in best way possible.  

52 

 
 
 
In  this  report,  the  evaluation  criteria  are  addressed  according  to  the  order  of  the  Better 
Regulation  Guidelines.  The  evaluation  should  look  at  the  effectiveness,  efficiency, 
relevance and coherence of the actions undertaken on the basis of the Directive, as well as 
the achieved EU added value of these actions. Where appropriate, each evaluation point 
must be applied to the key areas covered by the Directive i.e. prevention, investigation and 
prosecution of offences, and assistance to and protection of victims. The methodology on 
research  under  point  6.1  should  be  read  together  with  the  following  indicative  list  of 
questions, which the Contractor should address in the analysis. The list of questions is non-
exhaustive and should be discussed between the Contractor and Commission services, and 
further supplemented by the Contractor as needed. 

Evaluation questions 

Effectiveness 

General: 

1.  A number of provisions of the Directive still remain to be fully implemented by 
the EU Member States (in  particular with  regard to  prevention). What  are the 
issues that have contributed to incomplete implementation?  

2.  To  what  extent  is  the  progress/lack  of  progress  towards  this  implementation 

linked to the provisions themselves?  

3.  What factors have hindered or facilitated the effectiveness of the implementation 

in practice of the Directive, and if so to which extent? 

4.  Has  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  resulted  in  a  significant  shift 
(increase/decrease) in sexual crimes set out in the Directive committed against 
children that were prosecuted?   

5.  To what extent has the implementation of the Directive in practice contributed 
(both  quantitatively  and  qualitatively)  to  the  prevention  of  CSAE,  including 
through the measures addressing sharing of child sexual abuse material? 

Investigation and prosecution of crimes: 

6.  How  effective  has  the  Directive  been  in  imposing  criminal  penalties  that  are 

dissuasive? 

7.  How  efficient  has  the  Directive  been  in  harmonising  the  offences  of  child 
pornography involving material described in Article 2(c)(iii) of the Directive?  
8.  To what extent has the implementation of the Directive facilitated in practice the 
investigation of offences and initiation of criminal proceedings regarding crimes 
of CSAE? In particular: 
8.1. To  what  extent  has  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  ensured  that  law 
enforcement have access to the right tools and resources to initiate and take 
forward investigations relating to CSAE? 

8.2. To  what  extent  has  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  ensured  that 
prosecution for crimes set out in Article 15(2) of the Directive is enabled for 
a sufficient period of time after the victim has reached the age of majority 
and which commensurate with the gravity of the offence concerned? 

53 

 
 
 
 
 
8.3. To what extent has the Directive been effective in ensuring that international 
travel  (carried out for the purpose of sexually  abusing children) is  not  an 
obstacle to prosecuting abuse or exploitation committed abroad?  

8.4. To  what  extent  has  the  Directive  been  effective  at  removing  obstacles  to 
international cooperation and fostering the use of investigative tools? 

Assistance and protection to victims: 

9.  To what  extent  has the  Directive been  effective  in  facilitating access  by  child 
victims  to  assistance  and  support,  including  legal  remedies  and  appropriate 
specialist protection measures? 

10. To  what  extent  has  the  Directive  ensured  that  victims  of  CSAE  do  not  suffer 
additional  trauma  and  harm  from  participating  in  criminal  investigations  and 
proceedings?  

11. Are there areas where assistance to and protection of child victims is regarded as 

lacking? 
Prevention: 

12. To  what  extent  was  the  Directive  successful  in  promoting  the  setting  up  and 
access to intervention programmes to persons who fear they might offend and to 
offenders,  as  a  means  to  prevent  first-time  and  repeated  offences  against 
children? 

13. To  what  extent  was  the  Directive  successful  in  promoting  the  adoption  of 
measures  to  prevent  or  prohibit  the  dissemination  of  material  advertising  the 
opportunity  to  commit  CSAE  offences  and  the  organisation  of  travel 
arrangements with the purpose to commit these offences? 

14. To  what  extent  was  the  Directive  successful  in  promoting  the  adoption  of 
measures to discourage and reduce the demand that fosters all forms of sexual 
exploitation of children?  

15. To  what  extent  was  the  Directive  successful  in  promoting  the  taking  of 
appropriate action aimed at raising awareness and reducing the risk of children 
becoming victims of sexual abuse and exploitation? 

16. How effective has the Directive been in facilitating awareness-raising and other 

measures that encourage reporting?  

17. To what extent has the Directive ensured that appropriate security measures are 
taken  with  regard  to  child  sex  offenders  who  continue  to  be  at  risk  of  re-
offending,  including  stopping  them  from  holding  professional  positions  that 
bring them in regular and direct contact with children? 

18. To what extent has, the Directive helped to disrupt and prevent the uploading, 

access to and dissemination of child sexual abuse material online? 

Efficiency 

Efficiency considers the relationship between the resources used due to the Directive and 
the changes generated by its application. Any areas in which there is potential to reduce 
inefficiencies, including regulatory and resource burdens, and for simplifying interventions 
should be clearly identified.  

19. If  identifiable,  what  are  the  costs  and  benefits  (monetary  and  non-monetary) 
associated with compliance with the Directive in the Member States, in particular 

54 

 
 
to assist with investigations, prevention of CSAE and assistance and support to 
victims? 

20. Can significant cost or benefit differences be identified between Member States 
as regards the achievements of the aims in question 19 above? And if so what 
causes them? 

21. How are the costs and benefits distributed among different stakeholders at the 

national and EU level? 

22. Have Member States prioritized funding to ensure the full implementation of the 
provisions  of  the  Directive,  also  when  such  implementation  is  outsourced  to 
private parties, external actors, non-governmental organisations etc…? 

23. Can any costs be identified that are out of proportion with the benefits achieved? 
24. Are the costs of compliance with the provisions of the Directive proportionate to 
the benefits brought about as regards the prevention of and combating CSAE? 
25. Is  there  any  evidence  that  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  as  regards  the 
prevention and combating of CSAE caused unnecessary administrative burdens? 
26. Are  there  opportunities  to  simplify  the  provisions  of  the  Directive  to  reduce 
unnecessary  costs  without  undermining  the  existing  objectives  set  out  by  the 
provisions of the Directive? 

Relevance 

27. To what extent have the provisions of the Directive been appropriate to meet the 
objectives of combatting child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in its online 
and offline form?  

28. To what extent do the original provisions of the Directive still correspond to the 

present needs within the EU? 

29. How  well  does  the  Directive  cover  the  present  and  upcoming  technological 

advancements in the digital world? 

30. How relevant is the Directive to EU citizens and more specifically to children 

and affected stakeholders? 

31. What are the key stakeholders’ expectations for the role of the EU as regards the 

fight against child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation? 

Coherence 

No policy exists in a vacuum. In the evaluation of coherence, the Contractor is asked to 
look at the degree to which and how well the Directive interacts with other interventions 
and initiatives, both those listed below and beyond. 

32. To what extent is the Directive coherent with the Directive 2012/29/EU on the 
protection  of  victims  of  crime210,  the  Directive  2011/36/EU  on  trafficking  in 
human  beings211,  the  European  strategy  for  a  better  internet  for  children,  and 

210  EU  Directive  2012/29/EU  on  establishing  minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and protection  of  victims  of 
crime,  and  replacing  Council  Framework  Decision  2001/220/JHA  OJ  L315/57.  14.11.2012  p.57-73  (https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32012L0029) 

211 EU Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating 
trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA. 
OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1–11 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32011L0036) 

55 

 
 
 
 
other EU relevant legislative frameworks that include measures that safeguard 
the fundamental rights of children? 

33. To what extent is the Directive coherent with initiatives relating to the Rights of 

the child, and the Digital Services Act? 

34.  
35. How do these policies affect (positively or negatively) the implementation of the 

Directive? 

36. Is there scope for further integration with other EU policy objectives? 
37. To  what  extent  is  the  Directive  coherent  with  broader  initiatives  at  the  global 

level aimed at combatting child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation? 

EU added value 

EU  added  value  looks  for  positive  changes  that can  be  reasonably  attributed  to  the  EU 
intervention (in this case the Directive) over any other factors that may have affected the 
fight against child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. The Contractor should consider 
the findings in the other dimensions of the evaluation and present arguments on causality, 
drawing conclusions based on the evidence obtained. Questions to be considered include 
but are not limited to: 

38. What is the additional value resulting from the implementation in practice of the 

Directive, compared to the situation prior to its entry into force in 2011?  

39. What is the additional value resulting from the implementation in practice of the 
Directive, compared to efforts that Member States acting on their own initiative 
would have put in place at the national and/or regional level? 

1.2. Impact assessment 

Assessing the potential impact of policy options included the following stages.  

1.  Problem definition and assessment; 

2.  Analysis of the EU’s right to act; 

3.  Identification of policy objectives and detailed formulation of retained policy options; 

4.  Assessment of the impact of policy options; 

5.  Ranking and comparison of policy options. 

1.3. Description of data collection methods methodology  

1.3.1. Evaluation 

The evaluation of the Directive was informed by the collection and analysis of qualitative 
and quantitative data obtained through the following methods:  

56 

 
 
 
•  Mapping  and  analysis  of  transposition  of  the  Directive  into  national  law212. 
The  desk  analysis  included  multiple  sources,  for  example  the  identification  and 
analysis  of  the  updated  legislation  of  each  Member  State.  Official  reports  (e.g. 
commentaries  on  the  legislation,  preparatory  studies,  documents  accompanying 
reforms  and  amendments)  were  consulted,  when  available.  Implementation 
monitoring  reports  of  the  Lanzarote  Convention  were  also  consulted  when 
available.  In  addition,  academic  literature,  and  other  relevant  documents  were 
consulted when available and necessary to address specific issues. Finally, in case 
of particularly complex  or unclear issues, the study team  reached out  to  experts 
from Member States through their network of academic and professional contacts.  

•  Documentary review of more than 100 sources. Key desk resources include (i) 
EU  legislative  and  policy  documents,  (ii)  relevant  databases,  and  (iii)  relevant 
studies and reports. The complete list of sources reviewed for the Staff Working 
Document on the evaluation is presented at the end of this Annex. 

•  Public consultation of EU citizens that ran from 20 April 2022 until 13 July 2022.  

A total of 49 contributions were received. 

•  Online survey that ran from 13 May 2022 to 1 June 2022. A total of 67 responses 
were received. Participants included civil society organisations (15) Member State 
government  –led  authorities,  including  Ministries  (18),  national  LEAs  (13), 
national  judicial  authorities  (JAs)  (11),  and  hotlines  (10).  At  least  one  response 
from each Member State was received. 

•  Interviews  with  27  stakeholders  were  performed.  Stakeholders 

included 
representatives from CSOs (10), EU agencies (5), International bodies (5), prison, 
detention and restorative justice specialists (3), education institutions and teachers 
(2), EMPACT (1), and Representatives from ICT private companies (1).  

•  Experts workshops (6) organised by the Commission to gather info on challenges 
and  emerging  issues  on  the  implementation  of  some  aspects  of  the  Directive, 
between 17 January 2018 and 6 September 2019.  

•  Analysis of data on EU funding of CSA projects under the Internal Security Fund 

- Police (ISF - P).  

•  Feedback on the Roadmap/Inception Impact Assessment. From 28 September 
2021  to  26  October  2021,  the  EC  sought  feedback  on  the  inception  impact 
assessment  underpinning  this  evaluation.213  The  17  replies  received  from  non-

212 For the purpose of the transposition analysis, the research study team had a series of exchanges with the 
Commission’s  Unit  responsible  for  EU  Pilot  and  Infringement  procedures  in  relation  to  the  CSAE 
Directive, in particular to verify that the information collected was up to date. 

213 European Commission, Combatting child sexual abuse – review of EU rules, last accessed on 12.10. 2022. 

Available here. 

57 

 
 
 
governmental  organisations  (10),  companies  and  business  organisations  (2),  EU 
citizens (2), other entities (2) and business associations (1) were also analysed214.   

Further details on the data collection activities can be found in the synopsis report in Annex 
2.  

1.3.2. Impact assessment  

•  Interviews  with  (4)  EU  agencies  and  (3)  EU  level  civil  society  organisations 
were  performed.  One  additional  interview  with  a  senior  advisor  at  a  National 
Rapporteur’s office was conducted. Interviews were aimed at collecting views on 
the nature and extent of the likely impacts and feasibility of the identified policy 
options for the stakeholder groups who might be affected. 

•  Desktop research on Member States selected for the study visits (DE, IT, NL, 
RO).  The  study  visits  aimed  to  provide  in-depth  analyses  of  the  CSAE 
phenomenon and mechanisms in place to fight CSAE in selected Member States. 
The ECPAT country reports have acted as a common baseline for each of the study 
visits  against  which  to  view  progress  in  the  fight  against  CSAE  since  the 
implementation  of the CSAE Directive. The  findings  from  those reports215 have 
been  subsequently  updated  and  expanded  upon  to  understand  how  the  CSAE 
phenomenon  and  the  mechanisms  in  place  to  fight  it  have  developed  since  the 
CSAE Directive came into effect in each of the Member States. The Member States 
were  selected  to  give  different  regional  and  socio-economics  contexts  to  this 
development. The case studies included group interviews with national authorities 
from  the  selected  Member  States  on  possible  impacts  of  the  identified  policy 
measures. 

1.4.  Limitations  

The data collected for the evaluation and impact assessment has several limitations that 
should be borne in mind when interpreting the findings. We summarise these limitations 
below, along with the mitigation measures taken to address them where possible.   

1.  Measuring  effectiveness  with  limited  available  data:  Given  some  of  the  data 
gaps, it was sometimes challenging to validate some of the expert judgements and 
stakeholder  opinions,  which  made  measuring  the  effectiveness  challenging.  For 
example, there was a lack of monitoring data on the effectiveness of prevention 
measures, such as awareness raising campaigns, research and information.  

2.  Subjectivity of stakeholders’ views: Data collected from stakeholders, including 
through  interviews,  surveys,  and  workshops  represents  subjective  views,  rather 
than  objective  conclusions.  To  help  mitigate  this,  the  report  relies  on  the 
triangulation  of  various  data  sources  (as  outlined  in  this  Annex).  In  addition, 
stakeholders  consulted  as  part  of  the  evaluation  and  impact  assessment  for 
interviews,  workshops,  and  the  online  survey  included  people  with  relevant 
expertise  in  the  field  of  trafficking  in  human  beings,  who  are  used  to  giving 

214  Ibid. 
215 Available at https://ecpat.org/countries/. 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
evidence  as  part  of  their  professional  roles  given  the  well-developed  role  of 
Member  States'  national  rapporteurs  in  this  field.  While  the  experience  in 
trafficking cannot be directly transferred to the specific situation of child sexual 
abuse,  there  is  a  certain  degree  of  overlap  in  these  related  fields  that  allows  to 
extrapolate to a limited extent.  

3.  Selection bias of stakeholders: There may be a certain degree of selection bias, 
especially regarding interviewees. Participants’ views might not be representative 
of all stakeholders affected by the Directive. To help mitigate this, stakeholders at 
all  levels  were  selected  for  participation  (in  consultation  with  DG  HOME), 
including  at  the  EU,  national,  international  and  civil  society  level.  Through  the 
consultations, in particular the online survey, it was possible to gather perspectives 
from all Member States.  

4.  Attributing  outcomes  to  the  Directive:  attributing  outcomes  in  the  area  of 
combatting child sexual abuse to the existence of the Directive can be challenging. 
The  evaluation  and  impact  assessment  therefore  can  only  assess  the  Directive’s 
contribution  to  combatting  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation  and  child 
pornography  based  on  how  the  available  evidence  compares  to  the  intervention 
logic.   

5.  Assessing trends and statistics related to the phenomenon of CSA: There are a 
number of gaps in the available data on CSA. In an effort to fill gaps as much as 
possible,  this  report  relies  on  a  variety  of  available  data  sets,  including  data 
gathered by related databases, studies and reports, and inputs provided by Member 
States  in  response  to  request  for  data  from  the  European  Commission.  The 
consultation of several available data sources helped map important gaps.   

1.5. List of sources    

1.5.1 EU legislative and policy documents 

Organisation 

Year 

European Commission 

2008 

European Commission 

2013 

European Commission 

2022 

European Commission 

2022 

European Commission   2004 

Document 
Framework  Decision  2008/841/JHA  on  the  fight  against 
organised crime 
DJ  Just  Guidance  Document  related  to  the  transposition  and 
implementation  of  Directive  2012/29/EU  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing 
minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection  of 
victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision  
2001/220/JHA. 
European  Commission  (2022)  Proposed  Regulation  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules to 
prevent and combat child sexual abuse. COM/2022/209 final 
Proposal  on  a  Directive  to  combat violence  against  women 
(COM/2022/105 final). 
Council framework Decision  2004/68/JHA on combating  the 
sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Organisation 

Year 

European Commission   2006 

European Commission   2007 

European Commission   2009 

European Commission   2010 

European Commission   2012 

European Commission   2018  

European Commission   2020 

European Commission   2020 

European Commission   2020 
European Commission   2020 

European Commission   2020 

European Commission   2020 
European Commission   2021 

European Commission   2021 

European Commission   2022 

European Commission 

2022 

European Council  

1997 

European Council  

2000 

European Council  

2001 

European Council  

2001 

Document 
Communication  from  the  Commission  -  Towards  an  EU 
Strategy on the Rights of the Child. 
Commission Decision 2007/116/EC on reserving the national 
numbering  beginning  with  116  for  harmonised  numbers  for 
harmonised services of social value. 
Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating the 
sexual  abuse,  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child 
pornography, repealing Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA. 
Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the 
Council on combating the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of 
children  and  child  pornography, 
repealing  Framework 
Decision 2004/68/JHA. 
European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children. 
JRC  Publication  -  Fighting  child  sexual  abuse:  prevention 
policies for offenders. 
EU Strategy on victims' rights. 
EU  strategy  for  a  more  effective  fight  against  child  sexual 
abuse. 
EU Security Union Strategy. 
EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024. 
Proposal  for  a  Regulation    on  a  Single  Market  For  Digital 
Services  (Digital  Services  Act)  and  amending  Directive 
2000/31/EC of 15 December 2020, COM/2020/825 final. 
EU Gender Equality Strategy (2020-2025). 
EU strategy on the rights of the child. 
Commission  Proposal 
Establishing a European Child Guarantee 
A Digital Decade for children and youth:  the new European 
strategy for a better internet for kids (BIK+) 
Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the 
EU Directive 2011/93  of 13th  December 2011 on combating 
the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child 
pornography and the impact assessment of the possible options 
for its amendment. Finalised on 30 November 2022 
Joint Action adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 
of the Treaty on European Union concerning action to combat 
trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children 
(97/154/JHA). 
Council Decision 2000/375/JHA to combat child pornography 
on the internet. 
Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA on the standing of 
victims in criminal proceedings. 
Council  Framework  Decision  2001/500/JHA  on  money 
laundering,  the  identification,  tracing,  freezing,  seizing  and 
confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds of crime. 

for  a  Council  Recommendation 

60 

 
 
Organisation 

Year 

European Council  

2002 

European Council  

2005 

European Council  

2009 

European Council  

2009 

Document 
Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European 
arrest warrant. 
Council Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA on Confiscation 
of Crime Related Proceeds, Instrumentalities and Property. 
Stockholm Programme — An Open and Secure Europe Serving 
and Protecting Citizens (2009). 
Council  Framework  Decision  2009/948/JHA  on  prevention 
and  settlement  of  conflicts  of  exercise  of  jurisdiction  in 
criminal proceedings. 

European Council  

2019 

Council conclusions on combating the sexual abuse of children. 

European Council  

2021 

European Parliament 

2019 

European Parliament  

1996 

European Parliament  

2017 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

2000 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

2002 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

2011 

2012 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

2016 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

2016 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

2016 

European 
and Council 

Parliament 

2017  

Council  conclusions  setting  the  EU's  priorities  for  the  fight 
against serious and organised crime for EMPACT 2022 - 2025. 
European  Parliament  resolution  of  26  November  2019  on 
children’s rights on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child  (2019/2876(RSP)). 
Resolution on minors who are victims of violence. Published 
on: OJ No C 320, 28. 10. 1996. Pag. 190. 
Resolution  of  14  December  2017  on  the  implementation  of 
Directive 2011/93/EU. 
Directive 2000/31/EC on certain legal  aspects of information 
society  services,  in  particular  electronic  commerce,  in  the 
Internal Market ('Directive on electronic commerce'). 
Directive 2002/58 of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing 
of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic 
communications  sector  (Directive  on  privacy  and  electronic 
communications). 
Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking 
in human beings and protecting its victims. 
(EU)  2012/29/EU  on  establishing  minimum 
Directive 
standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection  of  victims  of 
crime. 
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons 
with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free 
movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC 
Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons 
with  regard  to  the  processing  of  personal  data  by  competent 
authorities  for  the  purposes  of  the  prevention,  investigation, 
detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution 
of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data. 
Directive (EU) 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children 
who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings. 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of 
the  Council  concerning  the  respect  for  private  life  and  the 
protection of personal data in electronic communications and 
repealing  Directive  2002/58/EC  (Regulation  on  Privacy  and 

61 

 
 
Organisation 

Year 

European 
and Council 

Parliament 

2009 

European 
and Council 

Parliament 

2020 

European 
and Council 

Parliament 

2021 

European 
and Council  

Parliament 

European 
and Council 

Parliament 

European Union  
European Union  

2022 

2022 

1957 
2000 

Document 
Electronic  Communications)  COM/2017/010  final  -  2017/03 
(COD). 
2Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of 
  25  November  2009  amending  Directive 
2002/22/EC  on  universal  service and users’ rights relating  to 
electronic  communications  networks  and  services,  Directive 
2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the 
protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector 
and  Regulation  (EC)  No  2006/2004  on  cooperation  between 
national  authorities  responsible  for 
the  enforcement  of 
consumer protection laws, OJ L 337, 18.12.2009 
Impact  Assessment  accompanying  the  Proposal  on  a  Single 
Market  For  Digital  Services  (Digital  Services  Act)  and 
amending  Directive  2000/31/EC,  SWD(2020)  348  final, 
December 2020 
Regulation  (EU)  2021/1232  on  a  temporary  derogation  from 
certain provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC as regards the use 
of 
technologies  by  providers  of  number-independent 
interpersonal  communications  services  for  the  processing  of 
personal  and  other  data  for  the  purpose  of  combating  online 
child sexual abuse 
Proposed Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat 
child sexual abuse       
Impact  assessment  accompanying 
for  a 
Regulation  laying  down  rules  to  prevent  and  combat  child 
sexual abuse, SWD/2022/209 final 
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 

the  Proposal 

1.5.2. Relevant databases 

Organisation 

Study 

ECPAT 

EIU 

EUROSTAT 

INHOPE 

INTERPOL 

Annual report 

and 

Out of the Shadows 
European  Crime 
Safety Survey (EU ICS) 
Annual reports 
International 
Sexual 
(ICSE) Database 

Child 
Exploitation 

frameworks 

Data 
Legal 
country 
Environment 

Legal framework 

for  CSAE  by 

Government commitment and capacity 

Engagement  of  industry,  civil  society 
and media 

62 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IWF 

Annual reports 

Lucy 
Foundation 

Faithfull 

Interventions Database 

NCMEC 

Annual reports 

Project Arachind 

UK Home Office 

UNICEF 

UNICRI 

UNODC 

Image 

Annual reports 
Child  Abuse 
Database (CAID) 
Multiple Indicator Cluster 
Surveys (MICS) 
International 
Victims Survey (ICVS) 
United  Nations  Crime 
Trends Survey (UN-CTS) 

Crime 

criminal 

offences 
(to  be 

to 
sexual  assault 

Exposure 
including 
specified) over a given period 
Eradicating  Child  Sexual  Abuse 
(ECSA) 
Social  and  demographic  information 
on victims  
Age of victims 

Gender of victims 

Reporting patterns 

Site types 

Worldwide reporting 

1.5.3. Relevant studies and reports 

Organisation 

Yea
r 

American  Psychological 
Association  in  Supreme 
Court  case  Marion  R. 
Stogner 
of 
California  

v  State 

Document 

Amicus Curaie program 

Bracket Foundation 

2019 

Artificial  intelligence  -  Combatting  online  sexual 
abuse of children 

Police Crime Statistics  

2011 
-
2020 
2022  EU Strategic Training needs assessment 2022-2025 

Federal 

Bundeskriminalamt  
(German 
Criminal Police Office)  
CEPOL 
Child 
International  
30Collin-Vézina,  D.,  et 
al., 

Helpline 

2019 

2012 

Council of Europe 

2017 

Council of Europe 

2017 

Council of Europe 

2018 

Council of Europe 

2021 

Child Helpline data for 2019. Voices of Children and 
young people in the EU 
Lessons  learned  from  child  sexual  abuse  research: 
Prevalence, outcomes, and preventive strategies 
The protection of children against sexual exploitation 
and  sexual  abuse  facilitated  by  information  and 
communication technologies (ICTs) 
Protecting children affected by the refugee crisis from 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 
Lanzarote  Committee,  2nd  implementation  report. 
Protection  of  children  against  sexual  abuse  in  the 
circle of trust: the strategies 
Detailed Concept Note on sexual abuse of children in 
their circle of trust including recommendations by the 

63 

 
 
 
 
Organisation 

Yea
r 

Document 

Council of Europe 

Lanzarote Committee as well as promising practices 
which can be easily replicated 
Reports 
the 
the  monitoring 
Convention  on  the  protection  of  children  against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

rounds  on 

from 

for 

Directorate-General 
Communications 
Networks,  Content  and 
Technology 
(European 
Commission),  Grimaldi 
ICF, 
Studio  Legale 
Wavestone 
Directorate-General 
Migration 
Affairs (European 
Commission), Jane’s 

for 
and  Home 

, 

2020 

Study on framework of best practices to tackle child 
sexual abuse material online 

2017  Irregular migration and child sexual abuse 

ECPAT International 

2008 

ECPAT International 

2016 

ECPAT International 

2016 

ECPAT International 

2016 

Private  Sector  Accountability  in  Combating  the 
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children 
Offenders on the Move. Global Study on  the Sexual 
Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism 
Power, Impunity and Anonymity. Understanding  the 
Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of 
Children 
Power,  Impunity  and  Anonimity.  Understanding  the 
Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of 
Children 

ECPAT International 

2019  Sexual exploitation of children & Voluntourism  

ECPAT International 

2020 

ECPAT International 

2020 

Sexual  Exploitation  of  Children  in  Travel  and 
Tourism. Regional report: Europe 
Summary Paper on Child, Early and Forced Marriages 
as  a  Form  of,  or  Pathway  to  Sexual  Exploitation  of 
Children 

ECPAT International 

ECPAT International 

ECPAT International 

ECPAT International  

ECPAT  International  and 
INTERPOL 

eNACSO 

2020 

2020 

2020  Summary Paper on Online Child Sexual Exploitation 
Summary Paper on Sexual Exploitation of Children in 
Prostitution 
Summary Paper on Sexual Exploitation on Children in 
Travel and Tourism 
ECPAT International, Reports on Country Overviews 
Towards a Global  Indicator on Unidentified Victims 
in  Child  Sexual  Exploitation  Material  -  Technical 
Report 
A  survey  on  the  transposition  of  the  Directive 
2011/93/EU  on  combating  sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation of children and child pornography. 

2016 

2018 

64 

 
 
  
  
Organisation 

Ernie  Allen  for  ECPAT 
international 

Yea
r 

2018 

Eurochild and UNICEF 

2019 

European Commission 

2009 

European Commission 

2009 

European Commission 

2011 

European Commission 

2016 

European Commission 

2016 

European Commission 

2016 

European Commission 

2016 

European Commission 

2018 

Document 

in 

repealing 

The  power  of  public  private  partnerships 
eradicating child sexual exploitation 
The Europe Kids Want. Sharing the views of children 
and young people across Europe 
Accompanying  document  to  the  Proposal  for  a 
Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual 
abuse,  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child 
pornography, 
Framework  Decision 
2004/68/JHA - Impact assessment {COM(2009) 135} 
{SEC(2009) 356}. 
Commission  staff  working  paper  -  Accompanying 
document  to  the  proposal  for  a  Council  Framework 
Decision  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse,  sexual 
exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography, 
- 
repealing  Framework  Decision  2004/68/JHA 
Summary  of  the  impact  assessment  {COM(2009) 
135} {SEC(2009) 355} 
Report  assessing  the  extent  to  which  the  Member 
States have taken the necessary measures in order to 
comply  with  Directive  2011/93/EU  of  13  December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation of children and child pornography. 
Report assessing the implementation of the measures 
referred to  in  Article 25 of Directive 2011/93/EU of 
13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and 
sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. 
Report  assessing  the  extent  to  which  the  Member 
States have taken the necessary measures in order to 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 
Report  assessing  the  extent  to  which  the  Member 
States have taken the necessary measures in order to 
comply  with  Directive  2011/93/EU  of  13  December 
2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation of children and child pornography 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to  the  European 
the 
the  Council 
Parliament 
implementation of the measures referred to in Article 
25 of Directive 2011/93/EU 
Fighting Child Sexual Abuse: prevention policies for 
offenders  

assessing 

and 

European Commission 
European Commission 

2019  12th EU Forum on the rights of the child 
2020  13th EU Forum on the rights of the child 

European Commission 

2020 

impact  assessment  on  a  Proposed 
Inception 
Regulation  to  combat  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation of children 

65 

 
 
Organisation 

Yea
r 

European Commission 

2020 

European Commission 

2020 

European Commission 

2021 

European Council 

2017 

European Council 

2017 

European Parliament 

2017 

Document 

Study on framework of best practices to tackle child 
sexual abuse material online 
Study  on  the  economic,  social  and  human  costs  of 
trafficking in human beings within the EU 
Targeted  survey  of  law  enforcement  authorities, 
‘Fighting  child sexual  abuse:  detection, removal and 
reporting of illegal content online’ (2021) 
Final  report  of 
the  seventh  round  of  mutual 
evaluations  on  "The  practical  implementation  and 
operation of the European policies on prevention and 
combating cybercrime". 
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the  seventh  round  of  mutual 
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Europol 

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Europol 
Facebook 

2019  EU IOCTA 2020 

2020 

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Report  on  online  child  sexual  abuse  during  the 
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targeting  children  during  COVID 
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2021  EU SOCTA 2021 
2020  Content Restrictions report 

M.  Ferragut,  M.  Ortiz-
Tallo, M. J Blanca 

2021 

FRA 

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justice.  Perspectives  of  children 
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or parties in nine EU Member States  
Crime,  safety  and  victims'  rights  –  Fundamental 
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FRA  
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A., 

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2021  Transparency Report 
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Document 

Italian Police Crime Statistics 

2020  Prevention Initiatives Report 
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2019  Annual Report 2019 
2019  Combating child sexual abuse – review of EU rules 

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response 

the  European  Commission’s 
IWF 
Roadmap-  EU  Strategy  for  a  more  effective  fight 
against child sexual abuse 

to 

2019  Annual Report 2019 

2020 

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Briefing  for  the  LIBE  Committee  Hearing-  Fighting 
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Combatting  the  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation  of 
children 
IWF 
the  European  Commission’s 
roadmap- Delivering for children: an EU strategy on 
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the  European  Commission’s 
response 
Roadmap-  EU  Strategy  for  a  more  effective  fight 
against child sexual abuse 
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Joint Research Centre 

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McGinnis, Rachel E. 

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Merdian,  H.,  Perkins,  D., 
Webster, S. & McCashin, 
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for 
Missing  &  Exploited 
Children 
for 
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Missing  &  Exploited 
Children  
for 
National 
Missing  &  Exploited 
Children 
National 
for 
Missing  &  Exploited 
Children  
NetClean 
OECD 

Center 

Center 

Council of Europe  

OSCE 

Redondo, S. 

2019  Reports by Electronic Service Providers (ESPs) 

Captured  on  Film:  Survivors  of  child  sexual  abuse 
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UNICEF 

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including 

prostitution, 

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children, 
child 
child 
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children 
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and Exploitation: Evidence Review 
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online 
Encryption,  Privacy  and  Children’s  Right 
Protection from Harm 
Federal  Sentencing  of  Child  Pornography  (non-
production offences) 

to 

2021  

Protect 

United  States  Sentencing 
Commission 
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We 
Alliance 
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Alliance 
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Alliance 

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2021 

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Maltreatment 

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69 

 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX 5: EVALUATION OF DIRECTIVE 2011/93/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 13 DECEMBER 2011 ON COMBATING THE SEXUAL ABUSE AND 
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, AND REPLACING 
COUNCIL FRAMEWORK DECISION 2004/68/JHA 

1 

INTRODUCTION 

General introduction 

On 13 December 2011, the Parliament and the Council of the European  Union adopted 
Directive (EU) 2011/93  on combating  child sexual  abuse, sexual  exploitation and child 
pornography216 (hereafter “the Directive”). The Directive replaced Framework Decision 
2004/68/JHA217 (hereafter “the Framework Decision”) and was adopted to strengthen the 
EU legal framework in this field. It brought about major changes in the legal framework 
on children’s’ rights in the Union.  

The  Directive  is  a  comprehensive  legal  framework  which  covers  investigation  and 
prosecution  of  crimes,  assistance  to  and  protection  of  victims,  and  prevention.  It 
approximates  the  definition  of  a  number  of  offences,  sets  minimum  levels  for  criminal 
penalties,  and  facilitates  the  reporting,  investigation  and  prosecution  of  such  crimes.  It 
extends national jurisdiction to cover abuse perpetrated by EU nationals abroad, gives child 
victims easier access to legal remedies and also includes measures to prevent additional 
trauma from participation in criminal proceedings.  

The Directive has a wide scope. It grants access to special intervention and risk assessment 
programmes  for  offenders  and  potential  offenders,  it  facilitates  the  circulation  of 
information  on  convictions  and  disqualifications  among  respective  Police  Forces,  and 
makes the management of criminal records easier by allowing for more reliable checks and 
controls. The Directive prohibits advertising the possibility of abuse and organising child 
sex  tourism.  It  provides  for  education,  awareness  raising  and  training  of  officials  and 
society at large. Member States bound by the Directive218 (hereafter “Member States”) are 
obliged  to  implement  and  reflect  its  provisions  in  their  national  laws.  The  deadline  for 
transposition of this Directive was December 13, 2013.  

In December 2016, the Commission adopted two (2) reports assessing the extent to which 
the Member States have taken the necessary measures to comply with the Directive. One 
report looks at the implementation of all the provisions with the exception of Article 25219 

216 Directive (EU) 2011/93 on combating child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and child pornography  
217 Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA  
218 All EU Member States except Denmark 
219 Report From The Commission To The European Parliament And The Council assessing the extent to 
which the Member States have taken the necessary measures in order to comply with Directive 
2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and 
child pornography 

70 

 
 
 
which contains measures against websites containing or disseminating child pornography, 
whereas the second report focuses on the implementation of Article 25220.  

The reports provided an overview on the progress made and showed that the Directive had 
not yet reached its full potential through complete implementation by the EU countries. 
The transposition reports conclude that the Directive has led to substantive strengthening 
of  the  Member  States’  criminal  justice  approach  to  child  sexual  abuse,  afforded  better 
rights and support to victims of these crimes and facilitated the setting up of prevention 
efforts.  As  for  the  Directive  not  yet  reaching  its  full  potential  through  complete 
implementation, in 2019 the Commission was compelled to open infringements procedures 
against  23  EU  countries  for  non-compliance  with  implementing  the  Directive.  This 
evaluation  aims  to  address  possible  gaps  in  the  current  laws,  starting  with  a  study  to 
identify the remaining issues, as well as best practices and priority measures to tackle them. 

On the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2019, the European 
Parliament  adopted  a  Resolution221  acknowledging  that  this  crime  remains  an  evolving 
phenomenon, and called for enhanced efforts in all the areas covered by the Directive. The 
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Ministers at the JHA Council of October 2019222 invited 
the Commission to consider further prevention measures and ensure that the legislation on 
combating child sexual abuse is effective and fit for purpose. 

Ensuring the full implementation of current legislation was also included as an initiative 
in the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child abuse223. The strategy aims to 
provide a framework for developing a strong and comprehensive response to child sexual 
abuse,  both  in  its  online  and  offline  forms.  The  2020-2025  strategy  sets  out  a 
comprehensive response to the growing threat of child sexual abuse both offline and online, 
by improving prevention, investigation, and assistance to victims. It includes 8 initiatives 
to  put  in  place  a  strong  legal  framework  for  the  protection  of  children  and  facilitate  a 
coordinated  approach  across  the  many  actors  involved  in  protecting  and  supporting 
children. Among these, it aimed to ensure a complete implementation of the Directive as 
a key action. 

In  September  2021  the  Commission  published  a  REFIT  initiative  to  assess  the 
implementation  of  the  Directive  2011/93,  identify  legislative  gaps,  best  practices  and 
priority actions at EU level, and to prepare a proposal to review the Directive in 2023224. 
The  Commission  launched  a  public  consultation  on  the  evaluation  roadmap,  combined 
with an inception impact assessment, in the first quarter of 2022. The public consultation225 
informed the evaluation and revision of the EU Child Sexual Abuse Directive, and gave 
citizens and stakeholders the opportunity to provide their feedback on current and future 

220  Report  From  The  Commission  To  The  European  Parliament  And  The  Council  assessing  the 
implementation of the measures referred to in Article 25 of Directive 2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 
on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography 

221  European  Parliament  resolution  of  26  November  2019  on  children’s  rights  on  the  occasion  of  the 

30thanniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (2019/2876(RSP)) 

222 Council conclusions on combating the sexual abuse of children‒ Council conclusions (8 October 2019)  
223 EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse, COM (2020) 607, 24 July 2020 
224 Review of EU rules to combat child sexual abuse 
225 Ibid 

71 

 
 
 
challenges in combatting child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse 
material and possible ways to reinforce, develop and update the existing framework. 

In parallel, other pieces of EU legislation in the area of protection of children against sexual 
abuse and exploitation include particular attention to the dangers that the misuse of digital 
technology  by  child  sex  offenders  can  pose  to  children.  On  10  September  2020,  the 
Commission  presented  the  Proposal  for  a  Regulation  on  a  temporary  derogation  from 
certain  provisions of the e-Privacy Directive  for  the purpose of  combating  child sexual 
abuse  online226.  It  allows  online  communication  service  providers  to  derogate  from  the 
privacy rules contained in the e-Privacy Directive, with the aim to enable them to continue 
to detect and report child sexual abuse content on a voluntary basis for a limited period of 
time until July 2024.  

The  interim  Regulation  was  followed  by  a  longer-term  proposal  on  11  May  2022,  the 
Proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. The 
Proposed  Regulation  is  intended  to  replace  the  interim  Regulation,  by  putting  in  place 
mandatory measures to detect and report child sexual abuse. To protect children in Europe 
and worldwide, the Commission proposed to set up a European centre to prevent and fight 
child sexual abuse and support victims.  

 Purpose and scope of the evaluation/fitness check 

Those  addressed  by  the  Directive  are  the  EU  Member  States’  authorities,  who  need  to 
ensure full transposition and implementation of the Directive in their national framework. 
The purpose of this evaluation is to assess whether the Directive has delivered the intended 
objectives – to effectively prosecute crime of child sexual abuse, to protect victims’ rights 
and to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse – in accordance with the Commission’s 
Better Regulation  Guidelines.  The legal  basis for recasting the existing  Directive is  the 
same relevant article as present in the existing Directive, therefore it includes Article 82(2) 
and 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Judicial cooperation in 
criminal matters). 

The evaluation comes eleven years after the adoption of the Directive. As such, it captures 
how  the  fight  against  Child  Sexual  Abuse  would  or  would  not  have  evolved  had  the 
Directive not be adopted. The evaluation covers the period when it started to apply until 
the end of 2022. The scope of the study therefore includes the impact of the COVID-19 
pandemic in 2020 to 2022. The geographic scope of the evaluation covers 26 EU Member 
States with the exception of Denmark, as well as the UK. 

This  evaluation  is  built  on  the  evaluation  support  study  (hereafter  “the  support  study”) 
carried out by an external contractor and on regular guiding consultations with an Inter-
Service  Steering  Group  (ISSG)  with  representatives  from  the  different  Directorates-

226 Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 July 2021 on a temporary 
derogation  from  certain  provisions  of  Directive  2002/58/EC  as  regards  the  use  of  technologies  by 
providers of number-independent interpersonal communications services for the processing of personal 
and other data for the purpose of combating online child sexual abuse 

72 

 
 
 
General of the European Commission227. A public consultation and specific stakeholder 
consultations were carried out to further explore the impacts of the options on all relevant 
stakeholders, as necessary, and ensure that those who would be affected by this initiative 
can  provide  their  views  and  opinion.  These  consultations  drew  on  the  opportunities 
presented  by  existing  dialogues,  taking  into  account  the  variety  of  interests  and 
stakeholders  involved.  Overall,  the  evaluation  builds  on  existing  data  including  but  not 
limited  to  data  collected  from  interactions  with  EU  Member  States  and  experts  in 
combating child sexual abuse.  

The  evaluation  aims  to  assess  the  actual  performance  of  the  Directive  in  terms  of  five 
criteria: 

-  Effectiveness:  analysing    the    progress    made    towards    achieving    the  
objectives  of the intervention, looking for evidence of why, whether or how 
these changes are linked to the EU intervention; 

-  Efficiency:  looking  closely  at  both  the  costs  and    benefits  of  the  EU 
intervention  as  they  accrue  to  different  stakeholders,  identifying  what 
factors are driving these costs/benefits and how these factors relate to the 
EU intervention; 

-  Relevance: looking at the objectives of the EU intervention being evaluated 
and see how well they (still) match the (current) needs and problems; 

-  Coherence: looking at how well the intervention works: i) internally and 

ii) with other EU interventions and international obligations; and 

-  EU added value: considering  arguments  about  the  value  resulting  from  
EU interventions  that  is  additional  to  the  value  that  would  have  resulted  
from  interventions  initiated  at  regional  or  national  levels  by  both  public 
authorities and the private sector. 

It is now appropriate to subject the Directive to a full evaluation to determine whether it 
has reached its intended purposes and whether it continues to be justified in terms of the 
five criteria listed above. The evaluation and impact assessment will be carried out back-
to-back. The evaluation of the Directive will inform  the impact  assessment  that will be 
elaborated to support the preparation of this initiative.  

WHAT WAS THE EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE INTERVENTION? 

The intervention and its objectives 

Prior to the adoption of the Directive, the response to countering child sexual abuse in EU 
Member States was regulated by several EU and international legal instruments. National 

227 DG JUST, DG CNECT, JRC, DG NEAR, DG SANTE, DG EMPL, DG BUDG, EEAS, SJ, DG ECHO, 

DG GROW, DG EAC, SG and DG RTD. 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
legislation was not deemed to be strong or consistent enough to provide a vigorous social 
response  to  this  disturbing  phenomenon.  At  EU  level,  Council  Framework  Decision 
2004/68/JHA228, introduced a minimum of approximation of Member States’ legislation 
to  criminalise  the  most  serious  forms  of  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation,  to  extend 
domestic  jurisdiction,  and  to  provide  for  a  minimum  of  assistance  to  victims.  The 
Framework Decision had a number of shortcomings. It approximated legislation only on a 
limited number of offences, did  not  address  new forms  of abuse and exploitation  using 
information  technology,  and obstacles to  prosecuting  offences outside national territory 
persist.  As  outlined  in  the  impact  assessment  accompanying  the  Directive,  the  specific 
needs of child victims were not sufficiently addressed and measures to prevent offences 
were inadequate. Other EU initiatives in force or on the way at the time, had only partially 
addressed some problems which also affect child sexual offences.229  

On  a  global  scale,  the  main  international  standard  was  the  Optional  Protocol  to  the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child 
pornography of 2000230. However, not all Member States had acceded to this Convention. 
At  international  level,  the  Council  of  Europe  Convention  against  child  sexual  abuse 
adopted in 2007231 constituted the highest international standard for protection of children 
against child sexual abuse. However, there was uncertainty that all Member States would 
ratify  the  Convention  due  to  lengthy  national  procedures  and  a  lack  of  timescale  for 
ratification. A vigorous monitoring mechanism to ensure appropriate implementation was 
not provided for either.  

The  main  problem,  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  Directive  at  the  time,  was  the 
insufficiency, lack of coordination and unclear effectiveness  of efforts  to combat Child 
Sexual Abuse in Europe. Variations in national criminal law and procedures gave rise to 
differences in investigation and prosecution in various countries and convicted offenders 
continued to pose a high risk of recidivism after serving their sentences. Developments in 
information  technology  had made these problems  more acute by  facilitating  production 
and distribution of child sexual abuse images while offering offenders anonymity and the 
star of possibilities to form like-minded communities where they could normalise these 
crimes  and  instigate  further  illegal  action  from  members.  Insufficient  response  by  law 
enforcement  mechanisms  contributed  to  the  prevalence  of  these  phenomena,  and 
difficulties were exacerbated by the transnational dimension of certain forms of offences. 
National legal systems needed to deal with high number of actors involved, with different 
degrees of responsibility and operating in different jurisdictions. On the side of the child 

228 Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA 
229 This Included Council Decision 2000/375/JHA of 29 May 2000 to combat child pornography on the 
internet, Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and 
the surrender procedures between Member States, Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA of 24 
February 2005 on attacks against information systems, Decision No 854/2005/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 establishing a multiannual Community Programme on 
promoting safer use of the internet and new online technologies, and Council Framework Decision 
2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition of 
judgments and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative 
sanctions. 
230Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution 
and child pornography of 2000 
231Council of Europe Convention against child sexual abuse  

74 

 
 
 
victims, the main cause of this phenomenon was vulnerability resulting from a variety of 
factors, with victims being reluctant to report abuse for shame or fear of the consequences.  

Research  has  strongly  suggested  that  this  phenomenon  is  not  decreasing  over  time232, 
rather that certain forms of sexual violence are on the rise. Stakeholders argued forcefully 
for more effective and specific measures to counter child sexual abuse. The Directive sets 
out a comprehensive response, with those addressed by the Directive being the Member 
States’  authorities,  who  needed  to  ensure  full  transposition  and  implementation  of  the 
Directive in their national framework.  

At the time of the intervention, the lack of accurate and reliable statistics on the nature of 
the phenomenon, on the number of children involved, and on the profile of offenders did 
not allow a precise estimation of how child sexual abuse would evolve in the future. 233 In 
any case, child sexual abuse was already considered to be increasing, and the research in 
the  impact  assessment  accompanying  the  Directive234  suggested  that  a  significant 
percentage of children in Europe could be sexually assaulted during their childhood. The 
research work done in 2011 could not have predicted the drastic increase of child sexual 
abuse  worldwide,  in  part  facilitated  by  increased  technological  developments  and 
accessibility to the internet, nor the pivotal impact that the global pandemic could have had 
on the sexual abuse of children, with the Internet Watch Foundation noting a 65 % increase 
in reports of confirmed child sexual abuse in 2021 compared to the previous year.235   

The expected impact of the Directive was to strengthen legislation in the areas covered by 
the current EU legislation on prosecution of the offenders and protection of child victims, 
and  to  increase  the  availability  and  quality  of  preventive  measures,  thus  improving  the 
protection of children in general. The financial cost was expected to be outweighed by the 
social and economic benefit of more efficient action against this crime.  

Objectives of the Directive 2011/93 

The  general  policy  objective  of  the  Directive,  under  Article  29  of  the  Treaty  on  the 
European Union, was to prevent and combat offences against children. Specific objectives 
to serve it were to effectively prosecute the crime, to protect victims’ rights and to prevent 
child sexual exploitation and abuse, and to establish effective monitoring systems. 

A.  Specific objective: to effectively prosecute the crime 

I. 

To  impose  effective,  proportionate  and  dissuasive  criminal  penalties  on 
offenders  who  commit  child  sexual  abuse  or  exploitation.  This  was 
especially  important  with  regard  to  activities,  which  currently  were  not 
criminalised at all, or were not criminalised consistently throughout the EU, 
including new forms of child sexual abuse or exploitation committed using 
information technology. 

232 Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of 
children and child pornography, repealing Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA   
233 Ibid 
234 Ibid 
235 Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), Annual Reports of 2016 to 2020. 

75 

 
 
 
II. 

III. 

IV. 

To  facilitate  the  investigation  of  offences  and  the  initiation  of  criminal 
proceedings, especially in the absence of reporting or a complaint by the 
child victim at the time of the abuse. 
To  effectively  prosecute  abuse  or  exploitation  committed  abroad,  thus 
ensuring that international travel was not an obstacle to fighting child sexual 
abuse and exploitation. 
To remove obstacles to international cooperation and to foster the use of 
investigative 
in  organised  crime  and 
transnational cases. 

tools  which  were  effective 

B.  Specific objective: to protect victims’ rights 

I. 

To facilitate access by victims to legal remedies and appropriate specialist 
protection measures. 
To ensure that victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation suffer no harm 
from participating in criminal investigations and proceedings. 
C.  Specific objective: to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse 

II. 

I. 

II. 

To promote access to intervention programmes and measures as a means to 
prevent repeated and first-time offences against children. 
To ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with regard to child 
sex offenders who continue to be dangerous after their release, and that they 
were effectively implemented throughout the EU. 
To technically prevent or make it more difficult to access and disseminate 
child pornography, especially on the internet. 
D.  Specific objective: to establish effective monitoring systems 

III. 

I. 

To create harmonised national mechanisms to measure the extent of such 
crime and to monitor the effectiveness of policy to fight child sexual abuse 
and exploitation. 

The Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Directive’s expected outcome was to harmonise minimum 
criminal  law  rules  at  EU  level  concerning  the  definitions  of  child  sexual  abuse  and 
exploitation  offences  and  corresponding  sanctions  and  to  require  the  establishment  of 
prevention measures in this area. It also required Member States to ensure the provision of 
assistance  and  support  to  victims  before,  during  and  after  the  conclusion  of  criminal 
proceedings.  

The Directive defined a minimum set of standards at EU level to define and sanction these 
crimes, prevent them and assist victims.  The Directive set minimum levels for criminal 
penalties and facilitates reporting, investigations and prosecution of such crimes. Member 
States were required to comply with these minimum rules and may go beyond them if they 
consider  it  necessary.  Similarly,  the  Directive  defined  the  responsibilities  of  Member 
States but left it to national authorities to comply with those responsibilities in the way that 
suits best the national specificities. The Directive set out prevention measures, including 
awareness raising, and intervention programmes for offenders and persons who fear they 
might  offend.  It  reinforced  provision  of  support  to  victims  including  prevention  of 
additional trauma caused by participating in criminal proceedings.  

Table 1 shows the intervention logic (problem, drivers, objectives and options) that 
were  described  and  analysed  in  the  impact  assessment  leading  to  the  adoption  of 
Directive 2011/93: 

Table 1: problem, problem drivers, objectives and options (intervention logic) 

76 

 
 
Point(s) of comparison  

At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Directive,  the  Impact  Assessment  highlighted  that 
victims of CSA did not always receive the tailored and comprehensive assistance required, 
such  as  support  in  trying  to  stop  the  sharing  and  distribution  online  of  the  images  and 
videos depicting their abuse, which perpetuated the harm, re-victimising victims of this 
crime. There was little data on whether survivors had access to appropriate support, and 
research  present  in  the  Impact  Assessment  suggested  that  the  level  of  satisfaction  with 
support received is low. The existing initiatives at the time did not systematically make 
use of existing best practices and lessons learned in other Member States or globally. This 
translated into information gaps on help resources, gaps in specialised support, and overall 
inefficiency of efforts. There was room for improvement in the cooperation between public 
authorities and NGOs to ensure that victims were aware of the resources available to them. 
In  addition,  there  was  no  cooperation  between  public  authorities  and  hotlines  or  other 
NGOs  to  support  victims  at  their  request  in  searching  and  taking  down  the  material 
depicting them. 

In  what  concerns  prevention  efforts  to  decrease  the  likelihood  that  a  child  becomes  a 
victim,  awareness  raising236  and  training  were  limited  in  availability,  particularly  to 
organisations and persons that come in regular and direct contact with children as part of 
their jobs or vocational activities, in addition to carers and parents. At the same time, those 

236 The Commission- funded network of Safer Internet Centres is a good example. It raises awareness on 
online safety and provides information, resources and assistance via helplines and hotlines on a wide range 
of digital safety topics including grooming and sexting 

77 

 
 
 
 
in regular and direct contact with children did not have the knowledge and tools to ensure 
that  children  do  not  become  victims,  given  their  proximity  to  the  child.  On  prevention 
efforts  to  decrease  the  likelihood  that  a  person  offends,  research  into  what  motivates 
individuals to become offenders was scarce and fragmented. This lack of research made it 
difficult to put in place effective programmes before a person offends for the first time, in 
the course of or  after criminal  proceedings, both  inside and outside prison. As a result, 
there were currently very few programmes in place237. 

The study by the contractor found that various types of practitioners in this field did not 
communicate sufficiently with each other and with researchers on the effectiveness of the 
programmes,  lessons  learned  and  best  practices,  while  language  was  a  further  barrier. 
Expertise  and  resources  to  establish  and  implement  such  initiatives  were  not  evenly 
distributed in the EU, and successful programmes were mostly local  endeavours. There 
were overlapping efforts in some areas, with Member States designing similar programmes 
and  campaigns  in  parallel238  ,  whereas  other  areas,  such  as  reaching  out  to  potential 
offenders, were not sufficiently addressed. The few programmes that existed were rarely 
evaluated to assess their effectiveness and usability239. A recent systematic review of the 
published empirical literature on child sexual abuse perpetration prevention interventions 
found at the time only five published evaluation studies, and these were methodologically 
limited (four examined the same intervention only on adults in Germany, and the other one 
focused only on children aged 5 to 12)240. 

Inefficiencies in cooperation existed notably on prevention programmes for offenders and 
for persons who fear that they might offend. In some Member States, NGOs carried out 
these  programmes  with  limited  support  from  public  authorities241.  In  addition,  the 
coordination between public authorities and NGOs on the programmes they respectively 
offered at different stages was also limited (between the programmes that public authorities 
offer in prisons and the reintegration programmes that NGOs offer after the offender leaves 
prison) 242 .  

As a result of Directive 2011/93/UE, the following impacts were expected: an enhanced 
detection  and  prosecution  of  offenders  by  Member  States,  progress  towards  achieving 
common levels of protection and assistance of victims, and a better capacity to prevent 
child sexual abuse. A positive impact on fundamental rights was expected, as the Directive 

237   For an overview of prevention programmes in the EU and third countries, see Di Gioia R., Beslay, L. 
(2018)  Fighting  child  sexual  abuse:  prevention  policies  for  offenders  –  Inception  Report,  EUR  29344 
EN,(2018) Fighting child sexual abuse: prevention policies for offenders – Inception Report, EUR 29344 
EN, 

doi: 10.2760/48791 
238   Di Gioia, R., Beslay, L., ‘Fighting child sexual abuse-Prevention policies for offenders, 3 October 
2018. 
239   Ibid. 

240   Seto,  M.;  Letourneau,  E.;  Overview  of  perpetrator  prevention  evidence  and  existing  programmes, 

October 19, 2021.  

241   Di Gioia, R., Beslay, L., Fighting child sexual abuse - Prevention policies for offenders, October 2018. 
242   See for example the results of 2020 evaluation of Circles UK, and EU funded project CIRCLES4EU. 

78 

 
 
 
 
aimed to promote and advance the right to protection of children as laid down in Article 
24 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. 

Regarding prosecution, the Directive approximated national criminal law to cover forms 
of  child  sexual  abuse  which  were  currently  not  covered  by  EU  legislation,  including 
conduct which had proliferated through the expansion of information technology (IT). It 
provided  shared  definitions  of  criminal  law,  with  the  aim  of  harmonising  criminal  law 
across  Member  States.  Data  sharing  and  international  cooperation  would  have  been 
facilitated throughout the harmonisation of criminal law. The Directive aimed to remove 
legal  obstacles  to  enquiries  and  prosecutions  by  introducing  amendments  to  criminal 
procedures. A positive social impact of fighting child sexual abuse and exploitation was 
expected, as more cases of abuse would have been punished in a more efficient way.  

Regarding  victim  assistance,  the  Directive  introduced  free  legal  counselling  and 
representation  for  children,  as  well  as  a  non-punishment  clause  for  child  victims.  The 
Directive aimed to facilitate the participation of victims in legal proceedings by reducing 
or eliminating harm they would suffer in the proceedings. A substantially positive social 
impact of fighting child sexual abuse and exploitation in general was expected, as better 
implementation and additional tools would have made victim protection more effective.  

Regarding prevention, risk assessments would have been conducted for offenders to assess 
the  possibility  of  recidivism,  and  they  would  be  offered  to  participate  in  intervention 
programmes and projects which were suited to the risks and circumstances of the offenders 
to mitigate that risk. The programmes would have been opened only on a voluntary basis. 
The aims were to encourage less crime and fewer victims.  

The  significant  improvement  in  protecting  victims  and,  indirectly,  preventing  offences 
through  deterrence  was  expected  to  lead  to  a  significant  positive  economic  impact  of 
fighting child sexual abuse and exploitation in general.  

Table  2  shows  the  intervention  logic  (needs,  objectives  and  results)  that  will  be 
described and analysed in this evaluation study: 

79 

 
 
Table 2: needs, objectives and results (intervention logic) 

• To assess whether the Directive has delivered the intended objectives after eleven years of its adoption
• To determine the actual performance of the Directive in terms of five criteria: effectiveness, efficency, relevance, coherence, EU added value
• To explain how the fight against Child Sexual Abuse would or would not have evolved had the Directive not be adopted
• To inform other EU institutions, the public and stakeholders on the progress of implementation and potential changes

Needs

• To help improve the understanding of current issues MSs are facing in the implementation of the legislation and inform decision making
• To determine how new forms of offences can be criminalised in light of technological developments in particular online
• To analyse potential obstacles to investigation and prosecution
• To assess how the protection of victims in investigation and criminal proceedings is being coordinated 

Objectives

• Legal setting: Directive 2011/36/EU, Implementation measures taken by national authorities, Infringements.
• Institutional organisation: Existing supervision and administration at MS level, IT and technological developments 
• Data and studies from contractor and civil society
• Financial resources: State budgets for the timely and correct implementation of measures, Competent authorities' staff available and trained

• Exploring the expansion of new forms of offences using IT
• Understanding obstacles in cross-border cases throughout investigation and prosecution and ensuring that convictions are harmonious and effective in all Member States
• Assessing how to improve access to justice for victims and increased availability of victim support services
• Research into creation of efficient intervention programmes and treatment for offenders

Inputs

Outputs

• Understanding how to enhance the capacity of Member States to detect and prosecute child sexual abuse 
• Assessing how to improve legal support for victims
• Evaluation of how to increase access to prevention programmes for offenders

Results

• Enhanced recognition of EU values and fundamental rights
• Safer societies
• Strengthening sanctions for offenders and prevention programmes
• Increasing trust in judicial systems
• Supporting mental health and quality of life for victims

Impacts

• EU citizens, with a focus on children
• Member States relevant authorities
• Organisations providing victim support
• Civil society organisations
• European Commission and EU Centre to counter and prevent child sexual abuse

Target 
Groups

HOW HAS THE SITUATION EVOLVED OVER THE EVALUATION PERIOD? 

Current state of play 

The CSAE Directive contributed to making the fight against CSAE a key EU priority. This 
resulted  in  the  allocation  of  European  resources  to  projects  aiming  at  improving  the 
detection and investigation of CSAE as well its prevention. Another significant result was 

80 

 
 
 
the organisation of six expert workshops by the Commission, held to gather information 
on  challenges  and  emerging  issues  on  the  implementation  of  certain  articles  of  the 
Directive.  Yet  another  main  output  was  the  gathering  of  experts  working  towards  the 
harmonisation of prevention programmes for offenders and potential offenders across the 
EU. 

Nonetheless, Member States faced delays in the implementation of the Directive into their 
national  law.  In  order  to  ensure  effective  protection  of  children  from  sexual  abuse  and 
sexual  exploitation,  all  countries  had  to  fully  comply  with  the  provisions.  In  2019  the 
Commission was compelled to open infringements procedures against 23 EU countries for 
non-compliance with implementing the Directive. The Commission is currently assessing 
the progress made by all Member States in the past 3 years and proceeding to the closure 
or delimitation of the scope of most of these infringement proceedings. 

Since the adoption of the Directive in 2011, exchanges with Member States have brought 
to  light  issues  that  may  not  be  addressed  by  the  existing  legal  framework,  as  well  as 
disparities  between  Member  States’  approaches  that  can  hamper  cooperation  and  an 
effective approach regarding such crimes.  

With regards to definitions and prosecutions, some Member States in their implementation 
have broadened the original scope of the Directive with regard to the definition of child 
pornography,  to  cover  not  only  realistic  images  but  also  fictitious  material  such  as 
drawings,  deep  fake  images  or  novels.  In  other  instances,  national  criminal  law  was 
proposed to criminalise the production and distribution of child sex dolls going beyond the 
categories of criminalised acts set out in the Directive.  

The Directive includes provisions on prevention, both to prevent the child from becoming 
a  victim  and  to  prevent  the  person  from  (re)offending  against  children.  The  report 
monitoring the implementation of the Directive showed that efforts to set out prevention 
initiatives are fragmented and insufficient and in many cases, where initiatives do exist, it 
is unclear whether they are effective.  

Similarly, in a number of the targeted workshops that the Commission held with Member 
States,  experts  considered  that  further  emphasis  should  be  placed  on  efforts  to  provide 
support and assistance to victims. The current provisions do not explicitly refer to the need 
for  tailor-made  support  to  mitigate  long-term  trauma  sustained  because  of  the  abuse, 
including through medical and psychosocial support. This has resulted in a mismatch of 
services and treatments available to victims across Member States. 

The Directive has been in place for over nine years. In this time, the development of ICTs 
and the technological advancements that have taken place since the entry into force of the 
CSAE  Directive,  combined  with  the  extensive  use  of  web-enabled  devices  such  as 
smartphones  or  tablets  by  children,  have  significantly  increased  the  risks  that  children 
become victims of sexual offenders.243  

243  European  Parliament  (2017).  Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children  Directive  2011/93/EU  –  European 

Implementation Assessment.  

81 

 
 
 
Indeed, in the past few years, the EU has registered a dramatic increase in reports of child 
sexual  abuse  online  (from  23,000  in  2010  to  more  than  700,000  in  2021).244  Broader 
Internet penetration and an expanding use of mobile devices make it possible for offenders 
to  misuse  technology  to  contact,  groom  and  abuse  children.245  Additionally,  the  easy 
availability of encrypted messaging platforms, peer to peer networks, and easy access to 
the ‘Darknet’ make it easier for perpetrators to connect, cooperate, evade identification and 
share  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation  material.  246  Such  phenomena,  and  their 
increasing  importance,  pose  a  threat  to  the  fight  against  CSAE,  and  might  hamper  the 
relevance of the measures foreseen by the legislation in place. Technological developments 
affecting children in child sexual abuse are encompassing live streaming, text and audio-
based CSAM, virtual reality and augmented reality CSAM, child pornography deep fakes, 
the use of digital currencies, and metaverse developments. 

EVALUATION FINDINGS (ANALYTICAL PART) 

To what extent was the intervention successful and why?  

The intervention is deemed to be successful in  the sense that without the existence and 
implementation of the Directive, certain forms of child sexual abuse would not have been 
criminalised coherently across all Member States, the current level of cooperation amongst 
authorities from different Member States would not have been achieved, and less initiatives 
would have been taken in relation to prevention and victims’ assistance and support. Still, 
there are with difficulties stemming from reasons related to certain ambiguities in the text, 
the  emergence  of  new  phenomenon  in  the  realm  of  child  sexual  abuse,  and  certain 
implementation issues linked to the increasingly cross-border nature of the crime, due to 
the spreading  of information and communication technologies as  well as  to  the ease of 
travel among Member States. 

Effectiveness 

Among the factors that facilitated the implementation of the CSAE Directive, EU funding 
opportunities appear to  have contributed to the implementation of several EU-level and 
national level projects and initiatives to prevent and fight against CSAE. The funding for 
projects fighting child sexual abuse was issued through regular calls for proposals under 
the Internal Security Fund- Police (ISF-PP) and Horizon Europe framework programme 
for research and innovation. 

However, the implementation of the CSAE Directive is hindered by a variety of factors, 
related  to  prevention  (e.g.  insufficiency  of  prevention  initiatives  targeting  potential 
offenders),  assistance  and  protection  for  CSAE  victims  (e.g.  limited  psychological 
support),  investigation  and  prosecution  (e.g.  limited  resources  available  to  law 
enforcement  agencies  to  investigate  large  amounts  of  referrals  and  limitations  to 
investigative tools available in certain Member States), and reporting (e.g. underreporting 
of victims of CSAE). In addition, some of the terminology used in the CSAE Directive 

244 NCMEC Cybertipline report 2021  
245  Europol Report 2019, Online Child Sexual Abuse During Covid-19 
246 Europol Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2020 

82 

 
 
 
appears to be problematic, hindering its consistent implementation across Member States. 
A range of factors appear to have hindered the CSAE Directive’s implementation at the 
national  level,  including  a  lack  of  resources  allocated  to  prevention  initiatives,  low 
reporting  rates  among  victims,  different  practices  among  Member  States,  challenges 
associated to tackling online CSAE, and insufficient background checks for professionals 
having contact with children 

Fighting child sexual abuse  

The  Directive  has  encouraged  Member  States  to  adopt  measures  that  promote 
reporting  of  child  sexual  abuse  by  the  victims  themselves,  professionals  working  in 
close  contact  with  children,  and  society  at  large.  Although  all  EU  Member  States  have 
helplines in place that are dedicated to children who seek assistance, research shows that 
their nature, organisation and available resources varies greatly, creating discrepancies in 
the help and assistance among children across the EU.247   

The  CSAE  Directive  has  facilitated  the  establishment  of  mechanisms  designed  to 
ensure the prompt removal of CSAM online. These measures, which include hotlines 
and networks, can enhance knowledge exchange, collaboration, and efficiency.To this end, 
implementation methods include helplines, hotlines, mandatory reporting, and awareness-
raising and training campaigns. In particular, awareness raising campaigns and training of 
health  staff  have  improved  detection  and  implementation  of  CSAM,  according  to  the 
stakeholders consulted in the contractor’s study. 

The  Directive’s  impact  on  child  sexual  abuse  is  difficult  to  assess,  though  its 
implementation contributed to raising awareness about CSAE and thus contributed to 
improved reporting and prosecution of offences. Other factors might have also contributed 
to the increase in child sexual abuse, such as an increase in levels of reporting, increase in 
resources dedicated to prosecution, or the increase in the online dimension of the crimes.    

The  CSAE  Directive  has  contributed  toward  fostering  and  enhancing  Member  States’ 
cooperation within the EU and with international organisations for the investigation and 
prosecution  of  criminal  offences  concerning  CSAE.  However,  challenges  persist, 
particularly when cooperating with third countries to tackle online CSAE. Challenges 
include jurisdiction issues, lack of trust towards data protection regimes in third countries, 
lack of hotlines in third countries, and cumbersome legal procedures, such as Mutual Legal 
Assistance (MLA). 

As  for  issues  with  the  Directive,  factors  that  limit  reporting  include  a  lack  of 
coordination  between  actors,  legal  uncertainty,  a  lack  of  support  to  victims  and  the 
reporters, and a lack of funding for these mechanisms. In addition, evidence suggests that 
children who are abused in their family appear to be less likely to disclose the abuse than 
those abused by someone outside the family. To address this, some Member States have 
implemented  campaigns  specifically  targeting  children  that  aim  at  increasing  their 
resilience. 

247  European  Parliament  (2017).  Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children  Directive  2011/93/EU  –  European 

Implementation Assessment. 

83 

 
 
 
However, a large margin of discretion left by the CSAE Directive regarding the operations 
of these systems leads to a series of self or co-regulatory measures that vary considerably 
in scope, methodology, and legal certainty.248 To ensure the prompt removal of web pages, 
Member States have implemented notice and take down procedures through national 
hotlines,  where  Internet  users  can  report  CSAM  that  they  find  online.249  The  optional 
nature  of  Article  25  (2)  has  meant  that  its  implementation  by  Member  States  has  been 
inconsistent and varied.  

Divergences  in  the  criminalisation  of  offences  across  the  Member  States  resulted  from 
differences in the interpretation of the provisions of the CSAE Directive. Consulted experts 
stressed that there are differences in the classification of the offences across Member 
States (i.e. some are considered misdemeanours and not felonies, especially in cases of 
possession  of  child  sexual  abuse  material),  which  may  result  in  lower  prioritisation  of 
action and restrict the availability of tools for LEAs. 250 Prosecution levels for CSAE are 
low or not consistent with the minimum penalties.251  Whilst data on prosecution rates is 
scarce, some stakeholders suggest that judges ultimately attribute less harsh sentences to 
perpetrators than those prescribed by national legislation.252  
 Penalty levels for some crimes, such as possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), 
might be too low to act as a deterrent for perpetrators. 253  

The CSAE Directive’s implementation has not consistently ensured that prosecution for 
crimes set out in Article 15(2) of the Directive, is enabled for a sufficient period of 
time after the victim has reached the age of majority and which are commensurate with 
the  gravity  of  the  offence  concerned.  Whilst  consulted  stakeholders  in  the  contractor’s 
study  acknowledged  the  CSAE  Directive’s  contribution  in  this  area,  other  evidence 
highlights that the period of time permitted by Member States vary, which prevents victims 
from having a guarantee that the crimes will be prosecuted if they report the offence when 
they are older 

At this stage, evidence on the implementation of Article 21 appears to be limited. Most 
interventions in the travel and tourism sector are focused on reporting mechanisms and 
industry standards by companies, neither of which seem to be particularly effective due to 
their broad scope and dependence on self-regulation. The study results provide that most 
interventions have focused on stopping child sex tourism, rather than preventing it.254 

248 European Commission (2017), Study on Framework of best practices to tackle child sexual abuse material 

online.  

249 European Commission (2016), Report assessing the extent to which the Member States have taken the 
necessary measures in order to comply with Directive 2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 on combating 
the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. 

250 Commission meeting report (2019), Expert Workshop on current and future challenges in the fight against 

child sexual abuse.  

251 Targeted interviews with one representative from one CSO (#18); feedback provided two respondents to 

survey question #4.5 (See Annex I.1.1). 

252 Based on feedback provided two respondents to survey question #4.5 (See Annex I.1.1). 
253  Commission  workshop  report  (2019),  Expert  workshop  on  current  and  future  challenges  in  the  fight 
against child sexual abuse; targeted interviews with one representative from one CSO (#11); feedback 
provided by one respondent to survey question #4.5 (See Annex I.1.1). 

254 ECPAT (2016), Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism: regional report Europe.  

84 

 
 
 
 
 
Prevention 

Overall,  the  assessment  suggests  that  the  CSAE  Directive’s  implementation  has  had  a 
limited impact in promoting interventions for persons who fear they might offend. Member 
States  have  rolled  out  a  limited  number  of  intervention  programmes  or  measures,  and, 
where those exist, it is difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. Certain good practices have 
gained grounds following the adoption of the Directive, and the subsequent interactions 
between Member States and the Commission, such as some Member States establishing 
rehabilitation  programmes  in  prison.  However,  there  are  still  implementation  gaps  and 
difficulties in terms of cost and coordination among different actors at the national level.  

Certain  relevant  national  initiatives  targeting  potential  offenders  include  national 
Helplines  providing  help  to  potential  offenders,  in  particular  by  offering  confidential 
advice/information,  and  support  to  anyone  with  concerns  about  their  sexual  thoughts, 
feelings, or behaviour towards children. Relevant initiatives at Member State level have 
been  put  in  place  also  thanks  to  the  input  of  the  Daphne  funding  programme.255  Some 
Member States have measures in place to assess the dangerousness and possible risks of 
repetition  of  the  offences,  which  mirrors  Article  24(4)  of  the  CSAE  Directive.256  For 
instance, some Member States developed specific risk assessment tools for this end. 

The CSAE Directive appears to have slightly contributed towards encouraging Member 
States to implement preventative initiatives to raise awareness on CSAE targeting the 
society  at  large  (including  children  and  parents),  but  relevant  stakeholders  in  the 
contractor’s study suggest that there is room for improvement to raise awareness around 
CSAE. Indeed, experts believe that initiatives targeting all aspects of prevention remain 
limited and are not  equally prioritised across Member States. Specifically, stakeholders 
agree that more educational initiatives (e.g. sex education, understanding CSAE, and the 
risks  associated  to  CSAE)  should  be  carried  out,  as  well  as  regular  awareness-raising 
campaigns targeting a broader audience.   

Although  almost  all  Member  States  have  implemented  background  checks  for 
preventing previous child sex offenders from coming into contact with children, their 
conduction  is  not  always  ensured.  Whilst  the  European  Criminal  Records  Information 
System (ECRIS) is a useful tool for exchanging information on criminal records across 
Member States,  criminal records may not contain information  about  child sexual  abuse 
offences.  However,  consulted  experts  revealed  that  criminal  records  may  not  contain 
information about child sexual abuse offences for different reasons (e.g. the low level of 
penalty imposed, or because only in case of recidivism they may appear).257 In addition, 
with  there  being  no  compulsory  exchange  of  information  on  the  conviction  of  sexual 
offenders, and no common register, there are gaps in the Directive itself.  

255 The Daphne programme aims to contribute to the protection of children, young people and women against 
all forms of violence and contribute to the prevention of sexual exploitation and trafficking of human 
beings. European Commission, DAPHNE III Funding Programme.  

256  Council  of  Europe,  Lanzarote  Committee  (2018),  2nd  implementation  report.  Protection  of  children 

against sexual abuse in the circle of trust: the strategies.  

257 Commission conclusions paper (2018), Expert Workshop on the Implementation of the CSAE Directive 

with regard to Background checks and the Use of ECRIS.  

85 

 
 
 
Nevertheless,  the  CSAE  Directive  seems  to  have  had  a  limited  effect  in  encouraging 
Member States to set up measures for previous offenders, since it appears that several 
Member States do not have these measures in place, and their content vary considerably 
across them.258 In addition, where these exist, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of 
these intervention programmes or measures. It is challenging to determine the extent to 
which the CSAE Directive’s implementation contributed to the identified programmes.  

Consulted experts also stressed that initiatives targeting all aspects of prevention remain 
limited and they are not equally prioritised across EU Member States.259 Most members 
of the Committee of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection of Children against 
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse260 also confirm that they have no specific measures, 
programmes, or services for potential CSAE offenders.261 In addition, the CSAE Directive 
does not specify that prevention initiatives should take into consideration the specific needs 
of vulnerable children, and consulted experts agree that more attention should be given to 
vulnerable children. The reviewed evidence suggests that Member States do not usually 
provide prevention initiatives which specifically target boys or girls. 

Assistance to victims 

Overall, there has been an increase in effectiveness in victim protection, with more uniform 
criminalisation across Member States, adoption all throughout Member States of at least 
certain assistance and support measures, and the introduction in all legal systems of certain 
procedural  safeguards  for  CSA  victims.  Still,  there  are  differences  and  issues  to  be 
addressed, such as a divergent interpretation of certain provisions of the directive, notably 
on exceptions for criminalisation for consensual production, and access and possession of 
paedopornographic  material.  There  are  differences  as  to  age  of  consent  and  a  limited 
implementation of victim protection measures, especially beyond criminal proceedings. 

The CSAE Directive has been effective in ensuring that victims of CSAE do not suffer 
additional trauma or harm from participating in criminal investigations and proceedings. 
However,  some  challenges  remain.  For  instance,  audio-recording  of  interviews  is  not 
always ensured, and CSAE victims are not always interviewed in a child-friendly manner. 
This is also in contrast to the Victims’ Right Directive, Article 24, which holds that child 
victims’ testimony should be audiovisually recorded to prevent them testifying multiple 
times.262  

Concerning the requirement provided in Article 20(5), in almost all Member States, the 
possibility exists to hear the child victim in closed court without the presence of the 

258  European  Parliament  (2017).  Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children  Directive  2011/93/EU  –  European 

Implementation Assessment. 

259 Commission meeting report (2019), Expert workshop on current and future challenges in the fight against 

child sexual abuse.  

260  The  Lanzarote  Committee  (i.e.  the  Committee  of  the  Parties  to  the  Convention  on  the  Protection  of 
Children  against  Sexual  Exploitation  and  Sexual  Abuse)  is  the  body  established  to  monitor  whether 
Parties effectively implement the Lanzarote Convention. 

261  Council  of  Europe,  Lanzarote  Committee  (2018),  2nd  implementation  report.  Protection  of  children 

against sexual abuse in the circle of trust: the strategies. 

262 FRA (2017), Child-friendly justice: perspectives of children involved in judicial proceedings as victims, 

witnesses, or parties in nine EU Member States. 

86 

 
 
 
public or in the judge’s chambers.263 All Member States have set up a range of measures 
to protect the privacy, identity and image of a victim (Article 20(6)), though some national 
legislations  emphasise  certain  protections  more  than  others.264  Nevertheless,  some 
challenges related to the appointment of a special representative for victims during criminal 
proceedings have been identified:265 

Although  the  CSAE  Directive’s  requirements,  aiming  to  avoid  additional  trauma  in 
criminal  proceedings,    have  proved  to  be  effective  (e.g.  use  of  blue  rooms,  avoiding 
unnecessary repetition and multiple hearings of children), it appears that criminal court 
proceedings  can  be  lengthy,  cumbersome,  time-consuming,  and  cause  additional 
trauma and re-victimisation.266 For instance, while video-recordings and child-friendly 
approaches  (e.g.  help  the  child  prepare  for  the  hearing,  language  adapted  to  age  and 
maturity, absence of defendant or other parties)267 are essential for the purposes of avoiding 
additional trauma for CSAE victims, it appears that these measures are not systematically 
ensured across Member States.  

The Directive has contributed to an increase in the training of professionals likely to 
come  into  contact  with  victims  of  CSAE,  including  LEAs,  the  judiciary,  and  social 
workers. Based on research and feedback from consulted stakeholders, evidence suggests 
that  the  implementation  of  training  has  been  effective,  although  it  could  be  improved 
through more training and resources. As of 2016, most Member States had transposed this 
provision.268 More than 10 Member States had, trained officials (police officers or judges) 
who were required to conduct interviews with child victims. 

However,  as  for  the  issues  concerning  assistance  to  victims  especially  after  the 
proceedings,    in  some  Member  States  law  enforcement  authorities  are  obliged  to  refer 
victims to assistance and support services, however evidence from the contractor’s study 
suggests  that  there  is  a  lack  of  coordination between  the  judicial  system  and health 
sectors,  which  hampers  victims’  access  to  these  services.    In  addition,  psychological 
assistance for child victims is not always ensured, with consulted experts highlight that 
medical and psychological support for CSAE victims is limited.269 In many cases, where 
support  services  exist,  resources  are  limited,  and victims  must  face  long  waiting  times. 
Further,  support  may  be  limited  in  time  and  not  include  all  the  necessary  healthcare. 

263  Missing  Children  Europe,  ECPAT,  eNASCO  (2016),  A  survey  on  the  Transposition  of  Directive 
2011/93/EU on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.  

264 Ibid. 
265 Ibid. 
266 Commission Meeting report (2019), Expert workshop on current and future challenges in the fight against 

child sexual abuse. 

267 FRA (2017), Child-friendly justice: perspectives of children involved in judicial proceedings as victims, 

witnesses, or parties in nine EU Member States. 

268 European Commission (2016), Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council 
assessing the extent to which the Member states have taken the necessary measures in order to comply 
with Directive 2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation 
of children and child pornography.  

269 Commission Meeting report (2019), Expert workshop on current and future challenges in the fight against 

child sexual abuse; targeted interview with one CSO (#11). 

87 

 
 
 
Although support services are offered in most Member States, there is a shared perception 
that more should be done.270  

Concerning  compensation,  all  Member  States  recognise  the  victims’  right  to  claim 
compensation for damages caused by sexual offenders, though the exercise of this right 
differs among them. Participants at the 2019 workshop on current and future challenges in 
the fight against CSAE underlined the lack of robust compensation mechanisms for victims 
of CSAE.271 Overall, the reviewed evidence and the insights from consulted stakeholders 
reveal that there are some gaps in ensuring assistance and protection measures for CSAE 
victims.  

With  regard  to  CSAE  cases  occurring  within  the  victim’s  family,  evidence  suggests 
that there is limited ad hoc legislation to deal with these cases. In some Member States 
the national legislation gives the option of removing either the alleged perpetrator or the 
victim, and, under certain circumstances, allows the Court to make an order for the parental 
care of the victim. In other cases, the procedure is to remove the victim from the family 
while in a minority of Member States the police may force the perpetrator to temporarily 
leave the house.  

Relevant  research  reveals  that  most  Member  States  do  not  explicitly  codify  into  their 
national  legislation  that  assistance  and  support  measures  cannot  be  conditional  on  the 
cooperation of child victims in criminal procedures, and that most Member States seem to 
fulfil  this  obligation  simply  because  there  is  no  legislation  contrary  to  the  article  in 
question.272  Nevertheless,  it  is  unclear  whether  Member  States  offer  unconditional 
assistance and support for child victims without a residence permit, such as in cases 
of  child  trafficking,  and  children  in  migration  whose  asylum  application  has  not  been 
processed yet. 

Evidence reviewed reveals that it remains unclear how the specific and individual needs 
are assessed across Member States.273 Although most Member States have stated that an 
individual  needs  assessment  of  child  victims  is  undertaken,  only  a  few  have  provided 
information on the procedures of the individual needs assessment  

Efficiency 

Costs and benefits linked to the implementation of the Directive 

The overall cost of implementation is not particularly high as the Directive largely relies 
on  pre-existing  structures,  be  it  the  criminal  justice  system,  health  system,  or  social 

270 FRA (2017), Child-friendly justice: perspectives of children involved in judicial proceedings as victims, 

witnesses, or parties in nine EU Member States. 

271 Commission meeting report (2019) Expert workshop on current and future challenges in the fight against 

child sexual abuse.  

272  Missing  Children  Europe,  ECPAT,  eNASCO  (2016),  A  survey  on  the  Transposition  of  Directive 
2011/93/EU  on  combating  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography. 
Available at: link. 

273 Ibid.  

88 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
workers,  thereby  obtaining  substantial  benefits.  However,  financial  and  administrative 
costs arise from the Member State implementation of the Directive. Nevertheless, the long-
term societal benefits and gains deriving from an effective fight against child sexual abuse 
will be significant and the benefits will be proportionate to the costs. If child sexual abuse 
is not prevented or addressed in terms of effective and timely support to the victim, the 
consequences will be notable due to the life/long detrimental effects on victims and society 
at  large.  With  regard  to  benefits,  the  previous  impact  assessment  of  the  Directive  had 
assumed that meeting children’s needs would, in terms of benefits, considerably mitigate 
the costs associated with children’s victimisation and considerably reduce the total costs 
of crime. 

 In the stakeholder consultations conducted by the Contractor’s Sutdy, the level of costs to 
comply  with  the  Directive  to  achieve  these  benefits  have  not  been  identified  as  being 
disproportionate.  This  is  both  based  on  consultations  via  interviews  as  well  as  findings 
from the online survey. However, it can be noted that whereas certain countries indicated 
that costs have increased in their countries over time, at the same time, several of these 
countries still face a medium to high level of the problem in terms of the number of victims.  

Whilst there is no adequate evidence available to conclude whether this means that certain 
measures have not produced sufficient “value for money”, it shows that still more needs to 
be done in order to address and fight this very crucial problem. There are differences in the 
development  of  costs  for  the  implementation  of  the  various  provisions  of  the  Directive 
between  the  Member  States  and  with  regard  to  individual  activities.  The  differences 
between the Member States do not, however, allow any universal conclusions to be made. 
Table 3 shows the overview of costs and budget allocations per Member State, before and 
after the adoption of Directive 2011/93: 

Table 3: overview of costs and budget allocations per Member State 
Overview of costs and budget allocations per Member State before and after the 
implementation of the Directive 

Legend 
No response 
Significant decrease  
Decrease  
Slight decrease 
No change 
Slight increase 
Increase 
Significant increase 

89 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Budget allocated to… 

# 

Member States 

A
T 

B
E 

B
G 

C
Y 

C
Z 

D
E 

E
E 

E
L 

E
S 

FI 

F
R 

H
R 

Investigation Measures 

H
U 

IE IT 

L
T 

L
U 

L
V 

M
T 

N
L 

P
L 

P
T 

R
O 

S
E 

SI 

S
K 

5 Legal counselling of children 

6 

Salaries  of  interviewers  of  children  in 
criminal proceedings 

7 

Salaries  of  special  representatives  of 
children in criminal proceedings 

8 

Outsourced 
implement protection initiatives 

to  external  actors 

to 

Prevention Measures 

to 

to 

ICT  private 
Budget  allocated 
companies 
implement  preventive 
initiatives (e.g. prompt removal of web 
pages containing or disseminating child 
pornography, etc.) 

1 

to 

allocated 

Budget 
intervention 
programmes  targeted  at  children  to 
prevent them from becoming victims of 
abuse 

allocated 

Budget 
intervention 
programmes  targeted  at  offenders  (to 
prevent repeated offences 

to 

2 

3 

allocated 

intervention 
to 
Budget 
programmes 
at  potential 
targeted 
offenders (to prevent first time offences 

4 

Budget outsourced to external actors to 
implement  preventive  initiatives  (e.g. 
raising 
information  and  awareness 
campaigns, education programmes, etc.) 

5 

to  civil  society 
Budget  outsourced 
organisations  to  implement  preventive 
initiatives 
and 
awareness raising campaigns, etc.) 

information 

(e.g. 

6 

90 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Budget allocated to… 

# 

Member States 

A
T 

B
E 

B
G 

C
Y 

C
Z 

D
E 

E
E 

E
L 

E
S 

FI 

F
R 

H
R 

H
U 

IE IT 

L
T 

L
U 

L
V 

M
T 

N
L 

P
L 

P
T 

R
O 

S
E 

SI 

S
K 

Training  of  front-line  police  officers 
likely  to  come  into  contact  with  child 
victims 

7 

8 

Budget allocated to the training of legal 
counsellors 

9 

Budget  allocated  to  the  training  of 
professionals  in  charge  of interviewing 
children during criminal proceedings 

1
0 

Budget allocated to the training of social 
workers 

1
1 

Budget  allocated  to  the  training  of 
teachers 

1
2 

Budget allocated to train the judiciary in 
the  specifics  of  adjudicating  cases  of 
child sexual abuse and exploitation 

Costs for investigations and prosecutions 

Most Member States have reported no changes in budget allocations to investigative tools, 
IT equipment, salaries of judicial authorities and law enforcement authorities, as well as 
interviewers of children in criminal proceedings or special representatives of children in 
criminal  proceedings.  Most  reported  that  the  budget  available  in  their  country  for  the 
purpose of implementing investigation measures are sufficient only to a small extent.  

Five  countries  stand  out  for  having  reported  an  overall  (significant)  increase  in 
investigative costs. Only one country reported a significant decrease in budget outsourced 
to external actors to implement protection initiatives (e.g. child's houses, etc.).  

For implementation of measures such as investigative tools or IT equipment a few Member 
States reported that the budget available in their countries is not at all sufficient. A couple 
of Member States reported that they do not have sufficient budget available in their country 
for the legal counselling of children, salaries of interviewers or special representatives of 
children  in  criminal  proceedings,  or  external  actors  to  implement  protection  initiatives. 
With regard to the budget allocated to salaries of law enforcement authorities, five Member 
States reported insufficient budgets made available in their country.  

Costs for prevention and assistance to victim measures 

Most countries reported no change in costs for prevention measures, such as training for 
officials,  intervention  programmes  or  preventive  initiatives.  In  contrast  to  expenses  for 
investigation measures, where Member States solely reported increases or no changes, for 

91 

 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
expenses  in  prevention  measures  some  countries  even  reported  significant  decreases. 
Stakeholders from the Netherlands, for example, reported significant decreases of budget 
allocated  to  training  of  front-line  police  officers  likely  to  come  into  contact  with  child 
victims and professionals in charge of interviewing children during criminal proceedings. 
Additionally, two Member States reported decreases in budgets allocated to ICT private 
companies  to  implement  preventive  initiatives  (e.g.  prompt  removal  of  web  pages 
containing child pornography). Finally, two other Member States both reported that less 
budget was outsourced to civil society organisations to implement preventive initiatives. 
For most of the country examples, evidence shows that the budget available is not at all or 
only to a small extent sufficient to implement these prevention measures in the respective 
Member State. 

Possible costs savings 

Overall, costs for both prevention and investigation measures either increased or, for most 
of the Member States, remained unchanged over the past years. In the area of investigation 
budget was allocated to investigative tools, IT equipment or salaries of judicial authorities 
as  well  as  law  enforcement  authorities.  In  the  area  of  prevention,  Member  States  have 
incurred costs for measures, such as intervention programmes, training of professionals 
and front-line police officers likely to come into contact with child victims, or for prompt 
removal of webpages containing disseminating child pornography. 

The  various  provisions  of  the  CSAE  Directive  leave  much  room  for  interpretation  for 
Member States for implementing measures to be compliant - and conversely, the measures 
implemented in the Member States can in a number of cases be assigned to more than one 
of  the  Directive's  provisions.  Therefore,  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  a  statement  in  the 
context of efficiency about what the Member States are doing to be compliant with the 
Directive, and is a matter of interpretation in each individual case whether a measure has 
been implemented within the framework of the Directive or not. 

As  for  proposed  actions  concerning  cost  savings,  combating  child  sexual  abuse  can  be 
rendered more effective via the use of existing structures, or on the potential new creation 
of  the  EU  Centre  to  Counter  and  Prevent  Child  Sexual  Abuse,  as  provided  for  in  the 
proposed Regulation on preventing and combating child sexual abuse, within the limits of 
the tasks attributed to the EU Centre in that proposal. This would ensure that combating 
child  sexual  abuse  can  be  performed  more  strongly  and  without  any  additional  costs, 
further improving the efficiency of the Directive as a legislative instrument.  

Coherence  

There are a multitude of EU legislative instruments with which the Directive must ensure 
coherence.  Some  were  already  in  place  at  the  time  of  adoption,  such  as  the  Victims 
Directive and the Human Trafficking Directive, which are however now currently under 
revision and revised. Others were adopted in the meantime, such as the Gender Equality 
Strategy274,  and  the  New  European  Strategy  for  Better  Internet  for  Kids.  Certain 

274 European Commission (2020), A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025.  

92 

 
 
 
instruments are in the process of being adopted, such as the Digital Services Act275, the 
Proposed Violence against Women Directive276, and the Proposed Regulation to Prevent 
and Counter Child Sexual Abuse. 

As  for  the  instruments  that  were  already  in  place  once  the  Directive  was  adopted,  a 
fundamental aspect was that they were implemented in synergy with the Directive. In the 
context of a criminal trial, the measures between the Directive and the Victims Directive 
largely overlapped with regards to the protection of victims, including those affected by 
human  trafficking  based  on  the  Human  Trafficking  Directive  and  its  revision.  Now, 
coherence needs to be ensured with the multitude of upcoming instruments as well, which 
are able to tackle more recent issues as opposed to the 2011 Directive. 

Coherence with EU instruments in place at the time of the adoption 

The Victims Rights’ Directive 

Both Directives provide that the child’s best interest shall be a primary consideration when 
providing assistance and support to child victims and that the presumption of childhood 
should apply in order to provide assistance.  

The Victims Rights’ Directive provides for the same definition of ‘child’ included in the 
Directive,  i.e.  any  person  aged  below  18  years  old.  Moreover,  the  Victims  Rights’ 
Directive includes the definitions of ‘victim of crime’ and ‘restorative justice’. 

Also,  both  Directives,  which  recognise  children  as  vulnerable  victims,  provide  that 
assistance and support shall be based on child victim’s individual assessment and shall be 
extended to the family of child victims. Moreover, as concerns children protection during 
criminal proceedings, the two initiatives acknowledge the right of the children to avoid 
contact with the offender, as a way to avoid them to suffer additional trauma.  

The  Directive  explicitly  requires  Member  States  to  respect  the  rights  of  the  children 
included  in  the  Victims  Rights’  Directive,  hence  further  contributing  towards  full 
consistency  between  the  two  measures.  As  concerns  prevention  measures,  both  the 
initiatives provide for raising awareness campaigns and training of officials likely to come 
into contact with CSAE victims. 

 Regarding protection of CSAE victims during criminal investigations and proceedings, 
the same measures are provided for by both  Directives, including  the appointment of a 
special  representative;  access  to  legal  aid  and  compensation;  minimum  standards  of 
protection  of  child  victims  during  criminal  investigations  and  proceedings;  right  to 
protection of privacy. 

275 Commission (2020). Proposal for a Regulation on a Single Market for Digital Services (Digital Services 

Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (COM/2020/825 final).  

276 European Commission (2022), Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on 

combating violence against women and domestic violence.  

93 

 
 
 
 
The Human Trafficking Directive and its Revision 

The definitions of ‘child’ and ‘legal person’ are identical in the two Directives. In addition, 
the Human Trafficking Directive provides for a definition of ‘position of vulnerability’ of 
victims.277 In the CSAE Directive, a unique definition of vulnerability is missing.  

Although  vulnerable situations included in  the CSAE Directive proved to be consistent 
with  the  Human  Trafficking  Directive,  the  latter  considers  the  gender  dimension  of 
vulnerability (Recital 12), which is instead totally absent in the CSAE Directive. 

As  concerns  investigation  and  prosecution  of  CSAE,  both  the  CSAE  Directive  and  the 
Human Trafficking Directive cover the offence of sexual exploitation. However, while the 
CSAE Directive clarifies that sexual exploitation consists of pornographic performances 
and prostitution, the Human Trafficking Directive generally refers to “the prostitution of 
others  or  other  forms  of  sexual  exploitation”,  without  further  specifying  such  “other 
forms”. 

Overall, the two Directives proved to be consistent as child victims of human trafficking 
for the purpose of sexual exploitation targeted by the Human Trafficking Directive can 
receive  similar  levels  of  assistance  and  support  granted  to  victims  of  child  sexual 
exploitation under the CSAE Directive.  

Moreover,  Directive  2011/36/EU  provides  for  the  appointment  of  a  guardian  or  a 
representative  as  well  as  for  safe  accommodation  and  material  assistance,  as  well  as 
necessary  medical  treatment  including  psychological  assistance,  counselling  and 
information,  and  translation  and  interpretation  services.  Such  measures  are  not  covered 
through specific provisions in the CSAE Directive. 

As to prevention measures, both initiatives provide for include education and training 
programmes for (potential) offenders, research and awareness-raising 
campaigns  addressed  at  children,  regular  training  of  officials  likely  to 
come into contact with (potential) victims of sexual exploitation. 

 Moving to protection of CSAE victims, similar measures are contained in both the CSAE 
Directive  and  the  Human  Trafficking  Directive,  including  the  appointment  of  a  special 
representative,  free  legal  counselling  and  legal  representation,  as  well  as  right  to 
compensation,  and  minimum  standards  of  protection  of  child  victims  during  criminal 
investigations  and  proceedings.  Also,  the  two  initiatives  provide  for  the  prevention  of 
secondary victimisation through the protection of victims’ privacy and private life. 

277 Pursuant to Article 2(2) of Directive 2011/36/EU, “a position of vulnerability means a situation in which 
the  person  concerned  has  no  real  or  acceptable  alternative  but  to  submit  to  the  abuse  involved”. 
Moreover, Recital 12 of Directive 2011/36/EU states that “particularly vulnerable persons should include 
at least all children. Other factors that could be taken into account when assessing the vulnerability of a 
victim include, for example, gender, pregnancy, state of health and disability”. 

94 

 
 
 
 
Coherence with EU instruments adopted after the Directive 

Digital Services Act 

To  ensure  a  safe,  predictable  and  trusted  online  environment,  the  DSA  Proposal278 
regulates content moderation activities, including removing or disabling access to illegal 
content  online.  The  two  measures  have  the  common  objective  of  taking  down  illegal 
content, including CSAM, from public websites.  

These measures prove complementary to the Directive: while the latter targets Member 
States, the DSA Proposal already targets intermediary services in the internal market. The 
involvement of service providers in online content moderation activities as pursued by the 
DSA  will  impact  positively  the  goal  pursued  by  Article  25  of  the  CSAE  Directive, 
guaranteeing the prompt removal or blocking of access to CSAM.  

Proposal for a Violence against Women Directive 

The Directive does not  provide for a specific gender-based dimension, both in terms of 
offences and specific prevention, assistance, support and protection of victims. Thus, the 
Proposal proved to be complementary in this respect, since it provides for new measures 
and  standards  that  enhance  the  rights  of  victims  of  gender-based  violence,  including 
gender-based victims of CSAE. 

As  for  definitions,  the  Directive  proved  to  be  coherent  with  the  Proposal  as  to  the 
definitions of ‘child’ and ‘age of sexual consent’ (i.e. “the age below which, in accordance 
with national law, it is prohibited to engage in sexual activities with a child”). Moreover, 
Article 4 of the Proposal includes the following other definitions, which are instead not 
included in the CSAE Directive, yet  relevant to the fight against CSAE: a definition of 
cyber violence, and of information and communication technologies. 

Furthermore, the Proposal already broadens the scope of Article 3 of the CSAE Directive. 
Precisely, Article 45 adds that engaging with a child – or causing a child to engage with 
another person - in the offences amounting to sexual abuse, will lead to a maximum term 
of imprisonment of at least 12 years as a punishment for offences to child below the age 
of sexual consent, and 10 years for the ones above the age of sexual consent. In addition, 
Article 45 introduces the notion of non-consensual act. 

With respect to investigation and prosecution of CSAE, the CSAE Directive proved to be 
coherent  with  the Proposal  as relates to  offences therein.  Moreover, both the initiatives 
criminalise  the  incitement,  aiding  and  abetting,  as  well  as  attempting  to  commit  crime 
addressed  therein.    As  for  assistance,  and  support  and  protection  of  CSA  victims,  the 
Proposal  provides  for  some  measures  not  included  in  the  Directive.  These  include 
guidelines for law enforcement and judicial authorities concerning how to treat children in 
a child sensitive-manner, a targeted support for victims with specific needs and groups at 
risk, and a strong role of national bodies to carry out assistance to victims. 

278 Commission (2020). Proposal for a Regulation on a Single Market for Digital Services (Digital Services 

Act) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (COM/2020/825 final).  

95 

 
 
 
With respect to measures to ensure prevention and coordination in the fight against crimes 
covered therein, the Proposal provides for some measures which are instead not covered 
in the Directive, yet still relevant to the fight against CSAE. The Proposal provides  for 
training on coordinated multi-agency co-operation to allow for an appropriate handling of 
referrals, and for specific prevention actions based on children’s vulnerabilities. While the 
Directive only encourages Member States to develop mechanisms for data collection, at 
the  national  or  local  levels  and  in  collaboration  with  civil  society,  with  the  purpose  of 
evaluating the efforts made to combat CSAE, the Proposal set the collection, development, 
production and dissemination of statistics on violence as mandatory. The Proposal calls 
Member States to support research on root causes, effects, incidences and conviction rates 
of the forms of violence covered by this Directive. 

How did the EU intervention make a difference? 

The Directive has proven to be paramount in making the fight against child sexual abuse a 
key  EU  priority.  Considering  that  child  sexual  abuse  is  a  cross  border  crime,  and  has 
increasingly  become  so  with  the  growth  of  the  online  dimension,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  address  the  phenomenon  without  a  certain  level  of  harmonisation  of 
definitions and penalties.  

The Directive was a significant incentive for the establishment of prevention programmes 
and the adoption of victims’ support and assistance measures across Member States. The 
prioritisation  of  this  policy  area  has  also  resulted  in  the  allocation  of  EU  resources  to 
projects aiming at improving the detection and investigation of child abuse. Another added 
value of EU action was  the gathering  of experts  working  towards the harmonisation  of 
prevention programmes for offenders and potential offenders across the EU. The existence 
of the Directive manifested itself with respect to specific needs in countering child sexual 
abuse, such as in the fields of professional disqualifications and translational child sexual 
offences.  

Fight against CSA in the EU political agenda 
The Directive has contributed to bringing out the fight against child abuse as a key EU 
priority. Within the Commission’s DG HOME, actions in the area of internal security play 
a pivotal role in promoting the protection of children’s rights, including protection from 
sexual violence both online and offline. Stakeholders consulted during the study agreed 
that the Directive has be pivotal towards prioritisation of child abuse at the EU level. Also, 
the Directive has inspired the organisation of six expert workshops by the Commission, 
which were held to gather info on challenges and emerging issues on the implementation 
of some aspects of the Directive. The workshops offered an arena to discuss key issues 
regarding the implementation of the Directive as well as its relevance in light of new and 
emerging  issues  that  affect  the  intra-EU  effort  to  fight  against  child  abuse.  Also,  the 
Directive has inspired the organisation of six expert workshops by the Commission, which 
were held to gather info on challenges and emerging issues on the implementation of some 
aspects of the Directive. The workshops offered an arena to discuss key issues regarding 
the implementation of the Directive as well as its relevance in light of new and emerging 
issues that affect the intra-EU effort to fight against child abuse. 

Establishment of common minimum rules, definitions and standards 

96 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The  CSAE  Directive  paved  the  way  towards  the  harmonisation  of  national  laws  and 
practices regulating these three dimensions across the EU. The added value of the CSAE 
Directive is twofold. Firstly, the binding nature of the legislative act allows for the setting 
of mandatory standards to be observed in the fight against CSAE. The same results in terms 
of measures adopted at the national level to comply with the rules of the three dimensions 
of the fight against CSAE, would have hardly been achieved, had the Directive been a non-
binding instrument.   

Secondly and consequently, by imposing common standards across the EU, the Directive 
allowed for higher harmonisation of measures to fight against CSAE, as well as definitions 
of  CSAE  offences.  This  harmonisation  would  not  have  happened  if  a  common  legal 
framework  had  not  been  adopted.  Indeed,  different  cultural  backgrounds,  history,  and 
attitudes towards certain aspects of CSAE would have driven Member States’ legislation 
in divergent directions.  

Prevention programmes for offenders 
The CSAE Directive harmonises preventive measures across the Member States in relation 
to prevention activities such as education, awareness-raising and training of officials, as 
well as intervention programmes for convicted  offenders and individuals who fear they 
may offend. The CSAE Directive provides for common minimum standards related to the 
implementation  of  prevention  measures  aimed  at  reducing  the  risks  of  recidivism  of 
persons convicted or prosecuted for CSAE-related offences. 

To  support  these  actions,  the  Commission  has  set  up  a  network  of  practitioners  and 
researchers, aimed at encouraging research and the exchange of good practices, as well as 
supporting  Member  States  in  the  organisation  of  prevention  programmes,  and  raising 
awareness campaigns. In May 2021, the Commission, represented by the Joint Research 
Centre and the Directorate-General Home Affairs and Migration’s Security for the Digital 
Age unit, organised a Thematic Workshop involving experts to support the identification 
of  criteria  for  classifying  prevention  programmes  covered  by  Articles  22  and  24  of  the 
CSAE Directive.279 

Investigation and prosecution 
The Directive provides for a common set of about 20 online and offline offences divided 
into  four  categories  (i.e.  sexual  abuse,  sexual  exploitation,  child  pornography  and  the 
solicitation  of  children  for  online  sexual  purposes)  and  establishes  that  the  incitement, 
aiding, abetting, and attempt to commit a CSAE offence shall be punishable too. 
By introducing common definitions for several CSAE offences, the Directive has allowed 
a larger number of cases to be brought into light under the proper label of CSAE offence. 
Indeed,  the  CSAE  Directive  provides  for  criminal  offences  that  did  not  exist  in  the 
Criminal Code of some Member States.  

279 Di Gioia, R., Beslay, L., Cassar, A. and Pawula, A.,  Classification criteria for child sexual abuse  and 
exploitation  prevention  programmes,  EUR  30973  EN,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union, 
Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-46993-3, doi:10.2760/725913, JRC127262 p. 4.  

97 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Another added value of the Directive is the introduction of minimum penalties for CSAE 
crimes  –  whether  they  are  committed  by  physical  or  legal  persons  –  and  a  list  of 
aggravating  circumstances.  The  Directive  also  grants  that  the  prosecution  of  the  most 
serious offences is enabled for a sufficient period of time after victims reach the age of 
majority. Lastly, the Directive lays down rules for the establishment of Members States’ 
jurisdiction  over  offences.  This  allows  Member  States  to  try  their  citizens  for  offences 
committed  abroad,  as  well  as  to  extend  their  jurisdiction  to  offences  committed  abroad 
when the offender of the crime regularly resides in their territory, or if the offence has been 
committed on behalf of a legal person established in their territory.  

Among  others,  the  common  minimum  rules  provided  by  the  Directive  has  contributed 
towards the development of investigative tools and victim identification methods. More 
precisely, the Directive prescribes that Member States must enable investigative units to 
the identification of CSAE victims. Nowadays, a growing number of Member States are 
dedicating  resources  to  expanding  capabilities  focused  on  victim  identification,  such  as 
specialised staff, high-tech forensic tools and the establishment of national databases of 
CSAM, which optimised police investigations allowing them to dedicate more resources 
to victims’ identification. 

Another  added  value  of  the  Directive  is  to  ensure  that  effective  investigative  tools  are 
available to investigation and prosecution units. Specifically, they claim that modern and 
special  tools  to  detect  and  gather  intelligence  and  evidence,  as  well  as  tools  for  victim 
identification, are crucial for LEAs. 

Assistance and support to victims 
Stakeholders interviewed in the course of the contractor’s study  confirmed that the CSAE 
Directive establishes standards for child-friendly justice that ensure that children provide 
the best evidence and do not experience further trauma during criminal proceedings. 

The legal framework provided by the CSAE Directive as regards child assistance, support 
and protection is believed to have set the ground for the development of Children’s houses, 
e.g. the Barnahus model, which aims at offering assistance and protection adapted to the 
special needs of the child according to a holistic approach involving social services, law 
enforcement and medical professionals.280  

Moreover,  the  CSAE  Directive  has  contributed  to  the  establishment  of  a  reporting 
mechanism,  including  standards  and  harmonisation  of  hotlines.  The  CSAE  Directive 
encourages  the  reporting  of  CSAE  by  individuals  or  professionals  likely  to  come  into 
contact  with  victims  and  establishes  rules  to  ensure  confidentiality  of  reporting  by 
professionals. The CSAE Directive acknowledges the role of hotlines as valuable settings 
to  report  CSAE,  allowing  for  anonymous  complaints..  Also,  by  forwarding  reports  and 
preliminary evaluations of the type of material reported to LEAs, hotlines  support their 

280 The Lanzarote Convention identified the Icelandic Barnahus model as a good practice example for a child-
friendly multiagency and integrated response. Council of Europe. Protection of Children against Sexual 
Exploitation  and  Abuse.  Child-friendly,  multidisciplinary  and  interagency  response  inspired  by  the 
Barnahus model.  

98 

 
 
 
 
 
 
work.281 Safe Line, a Greek reporting hotline, stated that from 2011-2018 the number of 
reported online CSAM increased at an average annual rate of 2.3% per year.282  

International cooperation 
The  common  minimum  rules  provided  by  the  CSAE  Directive  set  the  ground  for 
cooperation to fight against CSAE at the national, EU and international levels. Cooperation 
among  Member  States,  as  well  as  between  Member  States  and  third  countries  was 
successfully promoted in order to ensure the removal of online CSAM, as established in 
Recital  46.  According  to  two  European  CSOs,  the  CSAE  Directive  has  allowed  cross-
border cooperation for the taking down of CSAM in a way that wouldn’t have happened 
without the Directive.283  

With  a  view  to  combating  child  sex  tourism,  the  CSAE  Directive  spurs  dialogue  and 
cooperation between Member States and third countries and international organisations, as 
described in Recital 29. An example of such cooperation is the exchange of information 
on  convicted  offenders  between  national  authorities.  Article  10  of  the  CSAE  Directive 
aims at ensuring that professionals working with children convicted of any CSAE crime 
are temporarily or permanently prevented from exercising professional activities involving 
contact with children.  

To  this  end,  Member  States  make  use  of  the  European  Criminal  Records  Information 
System (ECRIS)284, a decentralised system established in April 2012 in order to facilitate 
the exchange of information on previous criminal convictions throughout Member States. 
The  CSAE  Directive’s  measures  related  to  the  promotion  of  international  cooperation 
brought to the intensification of intelligence sharing among national authorities across the 
EU, hence they contributed  to detecting a greater number of victims285.   

Is the intervention still relevant? 

In 2011, the Directive attempted to capture the phenomenon of online child sexual abuse. 
However,  technological  progress  coupled  with  a  behavioural  shift  accentuated  by  the 
pandemic, has outpaced the Directive. A number of technological developments facilitate 
the commitment of CSAE in  a number of ways.  This  includes perpetrators hiding their 

281 Commission (2016). Report to the European Parliament and the Council assessing the implementation of 
the measures referred to in Article 25 of Directive 2011/93/EU of 13 December 2011 on combating the 
sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, COM(2016) 872 final.  

282 ECPAT International (2019). ECPAT Country Overview: Greece (Bangkok: ECPAT International), p. 

10.  

283 Targeted interviews with two CSOs (#6 and #7).  
284  More 
information  on  ECRIS 

is  available  at  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/european-e-

justice/ecris/index_en.htm. 

285 As anecdotical evidence, between the end of 2012 to April 2015, the number of identified victims reported 
in  the  INTERPOL’s  ICSE  database  increased  from  2,891  to  6,301.    Global  Alliance  Against  Child 
Sexual Abuse Online. 2015 Report, p. 11.  

99 

 
 
 
 
 
 
identity  through  encryption,  access  to  CSAM  self-generated  by  children  through 
smartphones and commitment of the crime at distance through live streaming.  

New realities such as  grooming on gaming platforms, and child sexual  abuse in  virtual 
reality environment, could not have been predicted when the Directive was adopted. Such 
developments hinder the activities of LEAs and pose new challenges. It is also essential to 
ensure  full  legislative  coherence  with  upcoming  legislative  instruments  such  as  the 
Violence Against Women Directive, the Digital Services Act, and the Proposed Regulation 
to Counter and Prevent Child Sexual Abuse.  

Increasing online trends 

The presence of children on the Internet has sharply increased in the last 10 years, as 60% 
of children in Europe are online all the time.286 This implies higher risks for them to be 
exposed to dangerous behaviours, especially when unsupervised, leading  to phenomena 
such as sexual harassment, enticement, solicitation and ‘online grooming. According to 
Europol,287 there has been a peak in online grooming cases in recent years, especially on 
social  media  and  gaming  platforms.  The  recent  developments  in  terms  of  possibilities 
offered by the Internet and the evolving trends in its use by children create the conditions 
for a number of challenges.  

Concerning  new  trends  and  developments  related  to  technology,  the  Directive  includes 
specific  provisions  to  cover  the  use  of  new  technologies.  Nevertheless,  stakeholders 
consulted through the contractor study288 are concerned that the CSAE Directive, and the 
fight  against  CSAE  in  general,  are  not  able  to  address  the  changes  happening  in  the 
technology field at an increasing speed.  

The rise of self-generated content 

“Sexting” behaviour makes adolescents especially vulnerable to abuse. Around 15-40% of 
young people engage in sexting, using smartphones, messaging apps and lives-streaming 
technology to explore their sexuality in an increasingly risky online environment.289  

The Directive explicitly mentions accessing CSAM material through ICT, in order to fight 
phenomena  such  as  the  unwanted  circulation/commodification  of  self-generated  sexual 
content. However, such provision does not include any compulsory requirement for the 
Member  States.  Indeed,  Member  States  may  decide  not  to  criminalise  the  production, 
acquisition or possession of material involving children if such content is possessed with 
the consent of children who have reached the age of consent to enter into sexual activities, 
making  the  fight  against  sextortion  more  difficult.  In  fact,  as  the  age  of  sexual  consent 

286 UNICEF and Eurochild (2019). Europe Kids Want  – Sharing the views of children and young people 

across Europe. 

287 Europol (2021). Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2021. Publications Office of the 

European Union, Luxembourg.  

288 Based on the feedback provided by 51 stakeholders responding to survey question #9.4 (See Annex I.1). 
289 Bracket Foundation (2019). Artificial Intelligence – Combating Online Sexual Abuse of Children. 

100 

 
 
 
 
differs, an activity that is consensual in a Member State might not be in another. As the 
situation  might  differ  from  country  to  country,  it  might  hinder  a  response  to  crimes, 
especially if there is a cross-border dimension. 

Web streaming possibilities 

New web streaming possibilities create new practices for offenders, such as live streaming 
of child sexual  abuse. The last stream  of  relevant  developments  is  the increased use of 
smartphones and webcams by children themselves, which has led to the production of what 
is now referred to as self-generated sexual content and material. Article 4 is focused on 
pornographic performances and, as such, it is also intended to contrast the live streaming 
of child sexual activities. It is very difficult to accurately measure the growing magnitude 
of the problem given the inability to detect the faint and temporary digital traces that live-
streamed abuse leaves behind.  

Grooming throughout virtual realities 

Article 6 aims to punish the use of information and communication technology to organise 
meetings  with  children  or  soliciting  them,  targeting  online  grooming.  Nevertheless,  the 
criminalisation  of  solicitation  through  new  technological  developments  could  be 
problematic to enforce. Grooming a children in the Metaverse to perform sexual activities 
through its avatar would be a grey area. 

Indeed,  an  emerging  trend  that  needs  to  be  monitored  is  the  use  of  entertainment  tools 
based  on  virtual  reality  technology  to  contact  children  for  the  purpose  of  sexual 
exploitation.  Child  sexual  abuse  through  virtual  reality  technology  has  already  been 
documented, but its future developments, implications and impact on children are yet to 
be fully understood.  

Facilitated settings for offenders 

Another alarming trend is the increasing popularity of darknets and other environments 
offering a high degree of anonymity, which are used by child sex offenders and producers 
to spread, sell and exchange CSAM. Groups facilitating the exchange of CSAM on the 
dark web keep proliferating and are a persistent threat.290 Moreover, the growing use of 
cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) as an alternative payment method ensures anonymity in 
payment transactions and facilitates offences related to child sexual abuse committed for 
financial gain.  

Another important technological development is the increase of distributed networks, such 
as  peer-to-peer  (p2p),  which  facilitate  file  sharing  among  users.  The  CSAE  Directive 
explicitly includes online pornographic performances on public and private p2p networks. 
These  platforms  enable  anonymous  access  to  massive  collections  including  millions  of 
images,  making  it  possible  to  share  large  volumes  of  material  among  like-minded 
perpetrators at no cost.  

290 Ibid. 

101 

 
 
 
Still, lower costs have led to a spike in volume and profitability of the crime; although sex 
trafficking represents only 20% of global human trafficking victims, it makes up 66% of 
the profits, with victims generating a return on investment between 100% and 1,000% for 
traffickers.291 

WHAT ARE THE CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED? 

Conclusions 

While the CSAE Directive has been largely transposed by Member States, some provisions 
still remain to be fully implemented in practice. The study identifies some barriers to the 
CSAE Directive’s implementation, which include some of the provisions’ misleading or 
vague terminology.  

With regards to effectiveness, the evaluation shows that the Directive has had a generally 
positive  impact  on  preventing  child  sexual  abuse,  on  fighting  against  the  crime  and 
prosecuting it, and on access to victim assistance measures. EU intervention was necessary 
and  needed  because  of  the  cross-border  dimension  of  the  crimes.  Nonetheless,  several 
challenges are identified, which are described in detail in the following section on lessons 
learned. 

When  it  comes  to  relevance,  the  evaluation  study  shows  that  the  Directive  in  general 
remains relevant. Due to  the persistent  threat  constituted by child sexual  abuse  and the 
alarmingly  growing  rate  of  the  crime,  there  is  persistent  relevance  of  the  Directive. 
Nonetheless,  several  limitations  have  been  identified  which  affect  its  ability  to  be 
considered  fit  for  purpose,  ranging  from  the  Directive’s  definitions  to  its  scope.  The 
Directive may not adequately address the needs of potential victims where new technology 
is an enabling factor.  

State  of  the  art  research  and  technological  developments  show  that  there  is  room  for 
improvement  on  the  role  of  new  forms  of  criminalisation.  The  Directive  has  not  yet 
captured  the  full  reality  of  the  online  phenomenon  of  child  sexual  abuse,  which  has 
developed into deep fakes, online paedophile handbooks, online sexual chatting,  graphical 
representations of children, and live-streaming.  

With regards to efficiency, Member States and different stakeholders reported increased 
budgets  allocated  to  both,  prevention  and  investigation  measures  provided  by  the 
Directive. It is, in particular, the law enforcement authorities and civil society organisations 
that increased their expenses for investigation tools and IT equipment (both of which are 
part  of  the  intervention  measures),  and  prevention  programmes.  Evidence  shows  that 
Member States  have implemented the Directive  in  different  manners and with  different 
costs. This is due to varied national laws and practices on where to focus most attention to: 
the areas of prevention, prosecution, or victim assistance.  

291 Bracket Foundation (2019). Artificial Intelligence – Combating Online Sexual Abuse of Children. 

102 

 
 
 
 
 
Certain limitations, such as the lack of specific reporting and clear frameworks, affected 
the assessment of the efficiency. By the time of the publication of the Evaluation Study, 
not all Member States provided the Commission with precise details on the implementation 
of the Directive, or on data and statistics related to child sexual abuse or on the nature of 
prevention programmes against offenders, as there is no legal obligation on them to do so 
and, especially in federal states, there appears to be a lack of comprehensive overview on 
the  existence  and  extent  of  such  programmes.  The  under-funding  of  the  system  for 
prevention programmes from public budget and the lack of interest in such across certain 
Member  States  were  identified  as  a  potential  cause  of  inefficiency  of  prevention 
programmes. In certain cases, the added value of the Directive was limited by a lack of 
specificity of some provisions. In addition, the assessment of this criterion varies across 
Member States, with some having strong national legislation on prevention programmes 
and assistance to victims projects existing prior to the Directive, while others recognising 
this would not be prioritised without EU impetus. 

However, it remains difficult to directly link the costs to the development of number of 
victims and, thus, evaluate the efficiency of the Directive in this context. These may on the 
one hand be a result of an increased number of offences, but may also show the effects of 
successful measures in terms of raising awareness on reporting possibilities and options. 

There  are  challenges  across  different  Member  States  related  to  the  prevention  of  child 
sexual  abuse,  with  limited  programmes  being  used  and  little  research  being  conducted. 
There is a lack of training of judges and educators dealing with victims of child sexual 
abuse. On assistance to victims, there must be greater clarity in relation to what is expected 
from statues of limitations and on compensation for damages suffered, including damages 
deriving from online dissemination of child sexual abuse material.  

Although it is difficult to be quantified, the evaluation of the Directive confirms that it has 
broadly  generated the  expected benefits.  In particular, it has brought  professionals, law 
enforcement and experts together to work on shared solutions in preventing and combating 
child sexual abuse, and in assisting victims of this crime. Member States have started to 
pay more attention to conducting efficient criminal investigations and proceedings and in 
prosecuting the crime in a cross-border scenario. In general, the Directive has enhanced 
the  safety  of  children  and  ensured  that  offenders  are  criminalised  accordingly,  thereby 
safeguarding key EU interests in protecting its citizens and combating crime.  

The  evaluation  shows  that  the  Directive  is  internally  and  externally  coherent  to  a 
satisfactory level. When it comes to  internal coherence, potential inconsistencies were 
identified  in  relation  to  definitions.  The  term  “consensual  sexual  activities”  was  not 
correctly  interpreted  as  applying  only  to  material  produced  and  possessed  between 
children, rather than between a child over the age of sexual consent and an adult. With 
regard to external coherence, there are no major inconsistencies between the Directive 
and national legislation. Some observed challenges can be attributed to the fact that some 
provisions of the Directive remain vague.. The broad definition of “solicitation of children 
for sexual purposes” led some Member States to draft legislation criminalising this in more 
specificity and detail than other Member States. The Evaluation finds that the Directive is 
overall coherent with sectorial legislation on the Anti-trafficking Directive, the Victims 
Right  Directive,  and  the  Violence  against  Women  Directive.  Nevertheless  in  order  to 

103 

 
 
ensure  full  coherence,  certain  points  must  be  clarified  in  order  to  adapt  definitions  and 
penalty levels for offenses. 

Nevertheless,  the  Directive  has  generated  added  value  by  prompting  further  action  and 
investments  in  countering  child  sexual  abuse  and  introducing  new  key  elements.  It 
contributed towards the establishment of a common set of offences and related sanctions 
to  be  established  by  the  Member  States,  contributing  towards  higher  harmonisation  of 
national criminal laws. As also confirmed by the stakeholders consulted throughout the 
study, the current level of harmonisation of measures to fight against CSAE, would have 
hardly  been  achieved  across  the  EU  without  a  binding  value  instrument  imposing 
determined criteria and standards to achieve the purpose. The harmonisation of measures 
allowed for the development of holistic models of support, assistance and protection for 
child victims, increasing number of reported CSAE as well as cross-border cooperation 
among national authorities. 

Lessons Learned 

Lessons  learned  and  some  possible  measures  are  set  out  below.  They  should  not  be 
understood  as  exhaustive.  These  recommendations  should  be  understood  as  food  for 
thought based on the findings of this evaluation and should not prejudge any decision to 
review the Directive. There is an overall need to fully address child sexual abuse in both 
its  technological  developments  and  expanding  nature.  Better  support  must  be  given  to 
Member States in terms of assistance to victims and prevention strategies, as they require 
administrative efforts and high level of coordination between different actors. Information 
exchanges  must  be  improved,  and  there  has  to  be  greater  coherence  in  terms  of 
criminalisation,  investigation  and  prosecution.  There  must  be  consistency  with  recent 
legislative instruments. 

Investigation and prosecution 

The number of crimes prosecuted related to child abuse cases has significantly increased 
over  the  past  ten  years.  Some  stakeholders  suggest  that  the  Directive’s  implementation 
contributed to raising awareness about child sexual abuse, and thus improving reporting 
and  prosecution  of  offences.  In  addition,  some  stakeholders  consider  the  Directive 
contributed toward fostering and enhancing  Member States’ cooperation within the EU 
and  with  international  organisations  for  the  investigation  and  prosecution  of  criminal 
offences concerning child abuse. Further, consulted stakeholders suggested that, overall, 
the sanctions foreseen by the Directive are dissuasive, effective, and proportionate. 

Nevertheless, the Directive’s direct contribution to facilitate investigation and prosecution 
is  difficult  to  assess,  and the effectiveness  assessment performed in  this study  revealed 
several  that  several  challenges  related  to  investigation  and  prosecution  of  CSAE  cases 
exist. Those challenges relate to substantive and procedural law (including penalty levels, 
and investigative tools for law enforcement), as well as cooperation with third countries. 

Challenges to address: 

104 

 
 
 
•  Divergences in the criminalisation of offences across Member States; 

•  Low penalty levels for some  crimes, especially possession of CSAM  

•  Low prosecution levels targeting offenders;  

•  Lack of a common definition of the “age of sexual consent” across Member States;  

•  Difficulties to extradite into the EU citizens from the EU who have committed;  

•  Limited collaboration with third countries and cumbersome MLA processes; 

•  Jurisdiction issues, lack of trust towards data protection regimes in third countries, 

lack of hotlines in third countries; 

•  The criminal records stores in the European Criminal Records Information System 
(ECRIS) do not always contain information about child sexual abuse offences; 

• 

 Limited  resources  available  to  law  enforcement  agencies  to  investigate  large 
amounts of referrals 

        Possible actions: 

•  The Directive could  adapt the language and definitions in the Directive to more 
broadly encompass technological developments. It could ensure that the language 
and definitions  in  the Directive  are  future proof  with  regards to  potentially  new 
technological developments 

•  Ensure that knowingly obtaining access, acquiring and possessing CSAM for the 
sole purpose of reporting is not criminalised. Criminalise sexual chatting between 
adults and children below 16. Criminalise live-streaming as a stand-alone offense. 

•  Ensure that the transmission of information on convictions between Member States 
is possible even when there is no consent of the person concerned, if the law of the 
transmitting states allow it 

•  Assess the possibility of having a common register of sex offenders. Introduce a 
requirement to sex offenders to notify their travels. Foster interoperability between 
national sex offender registers. 

Assistance and support 

The  Directive  provides  specific  rights  concerning  assistance  and  protection  for  CSAE 
victims, which are detailed from Article 18 to  Article 20. Nevertheless,  Member States 

105 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
have not consistently ensured that these assistance and protection measures are provided 
to all child victims and their families. In addition, the study found that the CSAE Directive 
was  not  particularly  effective  in  considering  the specific  needs  of  vulnerable  groups  of 
children.  

However, evidence suggests that the Directive’s implementation appears to have ensured 
that  victims  of  child  abuse  do  no  suffer  additional  trauma  during  investigations  and 
proceedings thanks to the setting up of ad hoc rooms in several Member States. Further, 
several stakeholders identified the Barnahus model (that has been implemented in several 
Member States and enables an adapted response to the special needs of the child) as a best 
practice that should be further implemented. 

Challenges to address: 

•  Lack of coordination between the judicial system and the health sector, hampering 

CSAE victims’ access to these services; 

•  Lack of ad hoc legislation regulating CSAE cases occurring in the victim’ circle of 

trust; 

•  Criminal  court  proceedings  can  be  lengthy,  cumbersome,  time-consuming,  thus 
leading to additional trauma to CSAE victims. Interviews are not always conducted 
in a child-friendly manner; 

•  Limited medical and psychological support available for CSA victims; 

•  Uncertainty and differences across Member States around the statute of limitation; 

•  Assistance  and  protection  measures  for  vulnerable  children  (e.g.  children  with 

disabilities, young girls, children in migration) is scarce; 

•  Lack of robust compensation mechanisms for CSAE victims. 

Possible actions 

•  Clarify  compensation  claims  and  ensure  that  victims  can  obtain  compensation 

claims from the online dissemination of child abuse material; 

• 

Introduce  requirements  to  address  issues  related  to  the  lack  of  training  of 
professionals, judges and educators dealing with child abuse cases; 

•  Create Anti-Child Sexual Abuse Coordinators. 

• 

Introduce requirements and definitions that clarify statute of limitations for crimes. 

Prevention 

106 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
The  study  found  that  the  Directive’s  implementation  has  had  a  limited  effect  in 
contributing towards the prevention of child abuse in the offline and online environment. 
Although  stakeholders  agree  that  some  EU  funding  opportunities  associated  with  the 
Directive’s  implementation  have  facilitated  the  setting  up  of  national  initiatives  to 
preventing  child  abuse,  several  challenges  have  been  identified.  The  Directive’s 
contribution to prevention is difficult to establish in the absence of robust evaluative data. 

Challenges to address: 

• 

Initiatives targeting all aspects  of prevention remain  limited and are not  equally 
prioritized across Member States; 

•  Awareness-raising  campaigns  around  CSAE,  educational  programmes,  and  sex 

education in schools appear to be scarce; 

•  Lack of preventative measures targeting people who fear they might offend; 

• 

Intervention programmes for previous sex offenders are not always available across 
Member States, and, when thy exist, it is difficult to evaluate their effectiveness; 

•  Background checks for preventing previous child sex offenders from coming into 

contact with children are not always ensured. 

        Possible actions 

•  Ensure that employers are entitled to refuse hiring an offender; 

• 

• 

Introduce stricter measures to ensure the creation of prevention programmes and 
their monitoring; 

Identify specific cases of vulnerable children and establish a higher threshold of 
protection to vulnerable children. 

Reporting 

The study found that the Directive’s implementation has contributed towards encouraging 
reporting of child abuse cases by the society at large, professionals working with children, 
and the victims themselves, though several challenges remain.  

Challenges to address: 

•  Limited reporting channels for professionals having regular and direct contact with 

children; 

•  Reporting  procedures  are  not  always  adequate,  and  considerably  vary  across 

Member States; 

107 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Hotlines  struggle  with  funding  and  with  national  legislation  restricting  their 

activity; 

•  High underreporting rates by CSAE victims due to a variety of reasons (e.g. Lack 
of understanding of CSAE or relationship  with  the perpetrator), especially  from 
children  with  disabilities  (e.g.  most  reporting  systems  in  place  are  often 
inaccessible to deaf children). 

Possible actions: 

•  Design a clearer legal framework for hotlines; 

•  Ensure  that  Member  States  compile  a  statistical  database  on  child  sexual  abuse 

offences; 

•  Allow Member States to support undercover investigations and investigations in 

the dark web.

108 

 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX I:   PROCEDURAL INFORMATION 

1. Lead DG, Decide reference and, if relevant, Work Programme reference 

The  Directorate-General  for  Migrations  and  Home  Affairs  (“DG  HOME”)  is  the  lead  DG  for  the 
evaluation  of  the  Directive  2011/93/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13 
December  2011  on  combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child 
pornography. 

2. Organisation and timing 

The evaluation of the Directive 2011/93/EU was prepared in line with the procedural steps set forth 
under  the  Commission’s  Better  Regulation  Guidelines.  The  evaluation  roadmap  together  with  the 
context, the purpose and the scope of the evaluation and impact assessment was published for public 
consultation from 28 September 2021 to 26 October 2021, followed by a further public consultation 
from 20 April 2022 to 13 July 2022. 

The  evaluation  of  the  Directive  2011/93/EU  was  performed  in  cooperation  with  other  interested 
Commission  services  coordinated  under  the  Inter-Service  Steering  Group  (“ISSG”),  which  was 
established  early  in  the  evaluation  process  for  that  purposed.  The  ISSG  consist  of  representatives 
from DG JUST, DG CNECT, JRC, DG NEAR, DG SANTE, DG EMPL, DG BUDG, EEAS, SJ, DG 
ECHO, DG GROW, DG EAC, SG and DG RTD. 

Insert table to describe evaluation phase 

3. Exceptions to the better regulation guidelines 

None. 

4. Evidence, sources and quality 

The assessment takes account of the Directive impact from when it started to apply in 2011 until the 
end of 2021. The scope of the study also includes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 
2021. 

The  evaluation  findings  mainly  rely  on  an  external  evaluation  study  carried  out  by  the external 
contractor  Steer  which  develops  through  the  analysis  of  the  following  evaluation  criteria:  
effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance,  coherence,  and  EU  added  value  of  the Directive. 

The  evaluation  was  completed  by  additional  information  gathered  by  the  European Commission. 
The methodology used to address the objectives of the evaluation consist of a  mix  of  tools,  including 
inter  alia stakeholder  consultation,  desktop  research,  case studies, a workshop and a cost-benefit 
analysis. 

ANNEX II. METHODOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL MODELS USED 

The consultation aims to ensure that citizens and stakeholders, including those who will be directly 
affected by this initiative, can provide their views and input. This will also improve the evidence base 
underpinning  the  initiative.  The  consultation  targets  all  relevant  stakeholders:  including  but  not 

109 

 
 
limited  to  law  enforcement  agencies  and  other  public  authorities  concerned  with  combating  child 
sexual abuse, civil society both those dealing with child rights and more broadly, and also citizens. 
This will comprise a 12-week public consultation, expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2022 
in  all  EU  official  languages.  Replies  will  be  possible  in  all  official  EU  languages.  The  public 
consultation  will  be  accessible  via  the  Commission's  public  consultations  page  “Have  your  say”. 
Targeted consultations with law enforcement agencies, child welfare/protection entities, researchers 
active in this field and other key stakeholders to collect information and data. Regarding the current 
practices and legal framework, anticipated developments and needs and on the impact of the possible 
measures will be used as needed. At the end of this consultation process, an overall synopsis report 
will be drawn up covering the results of the different consultations. This report will be annexed to the 
impact assessment. 

On the impact assessment 

The evaluation of the Directive will inform the impact assessment that will be elaborated to support 
the  preparation  of  this  initiative.  It  will  look  at  the  potential  economic,  social  and  environmental 
impacts of this initiative as well as its potential impacts on fundamental rights. The assessment will 
support the preparation of this initiative and inform the Commission's decision on possible future 
efforts in this area. According to a tentative planning, the impact assessment should be completed in 
the fourth quarter of 2022. 

110 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX  III.  EVALUATION  MATRIX  AND,  WHERE  RELEVANT,  DETAILS  ON  ANSWERS  TO  THE 

EVALUATION QUESTIONS (BY CRITERION) 

Evaluation matrix 

In accordance with the Terms of Reference (ToR) (p. 7), the evaluation questions considered for this 
study aim to assess the Directive’s effectiveness (in terms of its results and impacts), efficiency (in 
terms of costs and potential for cost saving), relevance to EU needs, coherence with other EU, national 
and international policy interventions, and demonstrated EU added value. 

The  evaluation  matrix  developed  to  steer  the  analysis  relating  all  questions  and  sub-questions 
includes: 

•  Judgment criteria, intended as statements that need to be confirmed by the analysis;  

• 

Indicators and descriptors, i.e. quantitative, and qualitative data that support the analysis;  

•  Primary and secondary sources to feed the indicators. 

The tables below present the evaluation questions and related matrix designed for this study. 

111 

 
 
1. Effectiveness 

Question 

General 

1 A number of provisions of 
the Directive still remain to 
be fully implemented by the 
(in 
EU  Member  States 
particular  with  regard  to 
prevention).  What  are  the 
issues that have contributed 
incomplete 
to 
implementation?  

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

1.1:  To  what  extent  is  the 
progress/lack  of  progress 
towards 
this 
implementation  linked  to 
the provisions themselves? 

Directive’s 
The 
provisions  themselves 
have 
the 
affected 
Directive’s 
implementation  at  the 
Member State level. 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
the  Directive’s  provisions 
in national legislation.  

to  which 

Extent 
the 
Directive’s provisions have 
hampered or facilitated the 
Directive’s implementation 
at the Member State level.  

Secondary sources 

Directive 2011/93/EU 

Country  overview  reports  produces 
by EPCAT  

(2016), 
European  Commission 
Report assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the 
necessary  measures 
to 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 

in  order 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to 
the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council 
the 
implementation  of 
the  measures 
referred to in Article 25 of Directive 
2011/93/EU 

assessing 

European 
(2017), 
Parliament 
Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children 

112 

 
 
 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 
Implementation Assessment. 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
the 
reports 
Committee 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Concluding  observations  published 
by the Committee on the Rights of the 
Child on the periodic reports of State 
Parties to the UN Convention on the 
Rights of the Child 

Academic/research literature  

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

1.2:  What  factors  have 
hindered  or  facilitated  the 
effectiveness 
the 
implementation in practice 
of  the  Directive,  and  if  so 
to which extent? 

of 

There 
specific 
are 
factors that hindered or 
the 
facilitated 
effective 
Directive’s 
implementation.  

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
the  Directive’s  provisions 
in national legislation.  

Extent  to  which  specific 
factors  have  hampered  or 
the 
facilitated 

113 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

implementation 
Directive. 

of 

the 

(2016), 
European  Commission 
Report assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the 
to 
necessary  measures 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 

in  order 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to 
the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council 
the 
implementation  of 
the  measures 
referred to in Article 25 of Directive 
2011/93/EU 

assessing 

European 
(2017), 
Parliament 
Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children 
Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 
Implementation Assessment. 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

114 

 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Investigation and prosecution of crimes 

2 What is the number / share 
of cases?292 

2.1:  How  are  the  cases 
distributed across different 
Member States? 

2.2:  How  has  the  number 
of  cases  developed  over 
the past years? 

2.3: How is the number of 
cases  expected  to  develop 
in the future? 

These  EQs  are  rather 
descriptive 
than 
judgmental.  Therefore, 
no criteria are needed. 

Description of: 

Trends 

Drivers 

Outliers 

3  How  many  victims  and 
offenders are in scope of the 
Directive? 

are 

3.1:  How 
these 
numbers distributed across 
different Member States? 

Virtual study visits interviews 

If  available,  number  of 
reported, 
cases 
investigations, 
and 
prosecutions,  if  possible, 
differentiating between: 

Different  forms  of  crime 
covered  by  the  Directive 
(Art.  3-9)  including  online 
vs. offline 

Purely  domestic  cases  and 
cases  with  a  cross-border 
element 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted written outreach to specific 
stakeholders293 

Targeted interviews 

Secondary sources 

Statistical databases:294 

Eurostat  data  and  data  available  at 
national statistical offices 

If  available,  number  of 
victims, 
possible, 
if 
differentiating between: 

UNODC Database 

Policy reports: 

292 Questions 2 and 3 are not included in the ToR. However, the Study Team would suggest considering them as they would allow to gather evidence and information necessary towards 
a thorough understanding of key figures and trends related to CSAE cases. 
293 This would be a fallback in case statistical databases (e.g. Eurostat, UNODC) are not available or limited in the scope. 
294 There is a risk that very limited data will be available to analyse as these data are neither systematically collected by Member States nor centralised in a common database. The Study 
Team will try to retrieve as much data as possible from relevant databases/national authorities during the Data Collection Phase. Hence, the statistical analysis will be conditional to the 
availability of relevant statistics. This applies to all instances where statistical databases are mentioned.  

115 

 
 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

these 
3.2:  How  have 
numbers 
cases 
developed  over  the  past 
years? 

of 

are 
3.3:  How 
numbers 
expected 
develop in the future? 

these 
to 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

European Commission Reports to the 
Member  States,  the  Parliament,  and 
the Council 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee reports  

Different  forms  of  crime 
covered  by  the  Directive 
(Art.  3-9)  including  online 
vs. offline 

Purely  domestic  cases  and 
cases  with  a  cross-border 
element 

Cases  reported  and  cases 
investigated  

If  available,  number  of 
offenders, 
possible, 
if 
differentiating between: 

Different  forms  of  crime 
covered  by  the  Directive 
(Art. 3-9) 

Purely  domestic  cases  and 
cases  with  a  cross-border 
element 

Cases  reported  and  cases 
investigated  

First  time  offenders  and 
persons reoffending 

116 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Age  groups  of  offenders 
(including children) 

Gender of offenders 

-- 

4 Has the implementation of 
the  Directive  resulted  in  a 
shift 
significant 
(increase/decrease)  in  the 
number  of  sexual  crimes 
prosecuted  as  covered  by 
the Directive’s provisions? 

5  How  effective  has  the 
Directive been in  imposing 
criminal  penalties  that  are 
dissuasive?  

-- 

Directive’s 
The 
implementation 
has 
resulted in a shift in the 
number 
sexual 
of 
crimes  prosecuted  as 
covered 
the 
Directive’s provisions. 

by 

by 
States 

The  criminal  penalties 
the 
established 
to 
Member 
tackle  CSAE 
(as  a 
result of the Directive’s 
implementation)  have 
had a deterrent effect. 

117 

of 

the 

If  available,  trends  in  the 
number 
prosecuted 
sexual  crimes  - as  covered 
Directive’s 
by 
are 
provision 
that 
investigated 
and/or 
prosecuted  at  the  national 
level  since  the  Directive’s 
implementation. 

– 

Secondary sources 

 UNODC Database  

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

to  which  CSAE 
Extent 
offences 
related 
and 
criminal  penalties  have 
changed 
the 
Directive’s implementation  

since 

Extent  to  which  observed 
changes  can  be  linked  to 
the Directive. 

Extent  to  which  national 
penalties 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
the 
reports 
Committee 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Data provided by national competent 
authorities and Eurojust 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Academic/research literature  

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Virtual study visits interviews 

-- 

been 

6  How  effective  has  the 
Directive 
in 
harmonising the offences of 
child 
pornography 
material 
involving 
described in Article 2(c)(iii) 
of the Directive? 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States’  legislations  in  the 
area  of  child  pornography 
are  harmonised,  including 
of  material 
type 
the 
covered therein. 

The 
Directive’s 
implementation 
has 
contributed 
to 
the 
harmonisation 
of 
in  national 
offences 
legislation  relating  to 
child  pornography  as 
defined  in  Article  2(c) 
of the Directive.  

118 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

of 

facilitated 

7  To  what  extent  has  the 
the 
implementation 
Directive 
in 
practice the investigation of 
offences  and  initiation  of 
criminal 
proceedings 
regarding crimes of CSAE?  

7.1: To what extent has the 
implementation  of 
the 
Directive ensured that law 
enforcement  have  access 
to 
tools  and 
resources  to  initiate  and 
take 
forward 
investigations  relating  to 
CSAE? 

the  right 

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
contributed 
to 
enhancing national law 
enforcement’s  access 
to appropriate tools and 
initiate 
resources 
to 
pursue 
and 
investigations  relating 
to CSAE. 

119 

tools 

Extent  to  which the use of 
investigative 
to 
initiate  and  take  forward 
to 
investigations 
CSAE  has  changed  since 
Directive’s 
the 
implementation, 
with 
particular regard to: 

related 

Interception 
communications 

of 

Covert 
including 
surveillance 

surveillance 
electronic 

of 

Monitoring 
bank 
accounts  or  other  financial 
investigations 

Concealed  identity  on  the 
internet. 

Extent  to  which  resources 
available  to  national  law 
enforcement  authorities  to 
initiate  and  take  forward 
investigations 
to 
CSAE  has  changed  since 
Directive’s 
the 
implementation. 

related 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the 
to 
necessary  measures 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 

in  order 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to 
the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council 
the 
the  measures 
implementation  of 
referred to in Article 25 of Directive 
2011/93/EU 

assessing 

(2017), 
Parliament 
European 
Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children 
Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 
Implementation Assessment. 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 

from 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Extent  to  which  available 
tools  and  resources  have 
proved 
in 
reaching their objectives.  

successful 

on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

7.2: To what extent has the 
the 
implementation  of 
Directive 
that 
ensured 
prosecution  for  crimes  set 
out in Article 15(2) of the 

At  the  Member  State 
level, there is (or there 
is  not)  sufficient  time 
after  the  victim  has 
the  age  of 
reached 

Extent  to  which  Member 
the 
States 
implemented 
necessary  measures 
for 
crimes to be prosecuted for 
a  sufficient  period  of  time 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

120 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

the 

victim 

Directive  is  enabled  for  a 
sufficient  period  of  time 
after 
has 
reached the age of majority 
and  which  commensurate 
with  the  gravity  of  the 
offence concerned? 

majority  to  prosecute 
crimes  –  as  set 
in 
Article  15(2)  of  the 
the 
Directive  –  and 
time 
to 
period 
prosecute is  (or is  not) 
commensurate with the 
gravity  of  the  offence 
concerned. 

after the victim has reached 
the age of majority – as set 
out  in  Article  15(2)  of  the 
Directive.  

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

to  which 

Extent 
the 
definition  of  “sufficient 
is 
period 
consistent 
the 
Member States. 

across 

time” 

of 

Extent  to  which  consulted 
stakeholders  agree  that  the 
set  out  by 
timeframe 
national 
is 
appropriate. 

legislations 

7.3: To what extent has the 
Directive been effective in 
ensuring  that  international 
travel  (carried  out  for  the 
purpose 
sexually 
of 
abusing children) is not an 
to  prosecuting 
obstacle 
abuse 
exploitation 
or 
committed abroad? 

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
contributed  to  remove 
travel 
international 
(carried  out  for 
the 
purpose  of  sexually 
abusing children) as an 
obstacle to prosecuting 
abuse  or  exploitation 
committed abroad.  

Extent  to  which  Member 
States’ provisions to ensure 
that  international  travel  is 
not an obstacle to prosecute 
CSAE are harmonised.  

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

121 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

fostered 

7.4: To what extent has the 
Directive 
and 
enhanced 
international/regional 
in 
cooperation 
investigation 
and 
prosecution  of  criminal 
offences  concerning 
the 
sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation  of  children 
and child pornography? 

Directive’s 
has 
to 
and 

The 
implementation 
contributed 
enhancing 
fostering 
international/regional 
in 
cooperation 
investigation 
and 
prosecution of criminal 
offences 
concerning 
CSAE.  

Extent  to  which  Member 
States cooperate with other 
Member  States  and  Third 
investigate 
Countries 
to 
and 
prosecute  CSAE 
related crimes.  

Extent  to  which  consulted 
stakeholders 
that 
agree 
international/regional 
cooperation to fight against 
CSAE increased as a result 
of 
Directive’s 
the 
implementation. 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

122 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

-- 

8  To  what  extent  has  the 
Directive taken into account 
gender  specific  needs  as 
well as the specific needs of 
of 
vulnerable 
during 
children 
investigations 
and 
prosecutions of crimes? 

groups 

has 
The  Directive 
taken 
account 
into 
gender  specific  needs 
of  children  during  the 
investigation 
and 
prosecution of crimes.  

needs 

has 
The  Directive 
taken  into  account  the 
specific 
of 
vulnerable  groups  of 
the 
children  during 
investigation 
and 
prosecution of crimes. 

Extent  to  which  identified 
gender  specific  needs  of 
during 
children 
and 
investigations 
prosecutions  are  reflected 
in 
the  Directive’s 
provisions and (ii) national 
provisions.  

(i) 

of 

Extent  to  which  identified 
vulnerable 
needs 
during 
children 
investigations 
and 
prosecutions  are  reflected 
the  Directive’s 
in 
provisions and (ii) national 
provisions.  

(i) 

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews  

Assistance and protection to victims 

9  To  what  extent  has  the 
contributed 
Directive 
towards 
the 
support,  and 
assistance, 

enhancing 

9.1: To what extent has the 
Directive been effective in 
facilitating access by child 
victims  to  assistance  and 
legal 
support, 
remedies  and  appropriate 

including 

Child  victims’  access 
and 
to 
assistance 
including 
support, 
legal 
and 
specialist 
appropriate 
protection  measures 

remedies 

123 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures  to  ensure  that 
child  victims  of  CSAE 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

protection  of  victims  of 
CSAE? 

specialist 
measures? 

protection 

has  been  facilitated  by 
the Directive. 

to  support, 
have  access 
assistance, and protection. 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Extent 
victims  have  access 
assistance and protection. 

to  which  child 
to 

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
the 
reports 
Committee 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Reports  produced  by  Eurochild  and 
UNICEF 

EU Strategy for a more effective fight 
against child sexual abuse (2020) 

Reports  of  the  2019  and  2020  EU 
Forum on the rights of the child 

Reports of EU Forum on the rights of 
the child 

EU Strategy on victims’ rights (2020-
2025) 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

124 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

ensured 

9.2: To what extent has the 
Directive 
that 
victims  of  CSAE  do  not 
trauma 
suffer  additional 
and 
from 
harm 
participating  in  criminal 
investigations 
and 
proceedings?   

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
helped 
that 
ensure 
victims  of  CSAE  do 
not  suffer  additional 
trauma  and  harm  from 
participating 
in 
criminal  investigations 
and proceedings.  

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures  to  ensure  that 
are 
CSAE 
supported/protected  when 
in  criminal 
participating 
investigations 
and 
prosecutions.  

victims 

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives. 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Combating sexual abuse of Children 
Directive  2011/93/EU,  European 
Implementation  Assessment,  April 
2017,  

Reports  produced  by  Eurochild  and 
UNICEF 

EU Strategy for a more effective fight 
against child sexual abuse (2020) 

Reports  of  the  2019  and  2020  EU 
Forum on the rights of the child 

EU Strategy on victims’ rights (2020-
2025) 

125 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

9.3:  How  effective  is  the 
Directive 
in  protecting 
specific groups of children 
(children  with 
specific 
gender  needs,  children 
with  disabilities,  children 
in 
of 
situations 
vulnerability, etc.)? 

The 
implementation 
helped 
specific 
children. 

Directive’s 
has 
in  protecting 
of 

groups 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures 
implemented 
across  Member  States  to 
enhance  the  protection  of 
children  against  CSAE, 
the  Directive’s 
since 
implementation. 
In 
particular: 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
the 
reports 
Committee 

from 

126 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Measures 
children  with 
gender needs 

targeting 
specific 

monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

Measures 
children with disabilities 

targeting 

Measures 
children 
care  

targeting 
institutional 

in 

Directive  2011/93/EU,  European 
Implementation  Assessment,  April 
2017,  

Reports  produced  by  Eurochild  and 
UNICEF 

Measures 
children in migration  

targeting 

EU Strategy for a more effective fight 
against child sexual abuse (2020) 

Measures 
targeting 
of 
children 
trafficking  for  the  purpose 
of sexual exploitation 

victims 

Reports  of  the  2019  and  2020  EU 
Forum on the rights of the child 

Reports of EU Forum on the rights of 
the child 

of 
in 

Extent  to  which  identified 
vulnerable 
needs 
children 
of 
terms 
assistance  and  protection 
are  reflected 
the 
Directive’s  provisions  and 
(ii) national provisions. 

in  (i) 

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

127 

EU Strategy on victims’ rights (2020-
2025) 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

9.4: Are there areas where 
assistance 
and 
protection of child victims 
is regarded as lacking? 

to 

There are gaps in terms 
of  the  assistance  and 
protection  provided  to 
children  victims  of 
CSAE.  

Extent  to  which  there  are 
for  which 
areas/needs 
additional 
protection 
measures are needed. 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

EU 

Family 

Violence, 

International 
policy 
and 
documents  (WHO  Fact  Sheet  on 
Child  Maltreatment,  OECD  Report 
on 
UK 
Government  Tackling  Child  Sexual 
Abuse  Strategy,  Combating  sexual 
of  Children  Directive 
abuse 
2011/93/EU, 
European 
Implementation  Assessment,  April 
2017, The Internet Watch Foundation 
Annual Report) 

Reports  and  studies  produced  by 
Lucy Faithfull Foundation 

Reports  produced  by  Eurochild  and 
UNICEF 

128 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

EU Strategy for a more effective fight 
against child sexual abuse (2020) 

Reports  of  the  2019  and  2020  EU 
Forum on the rights of the child 

Annual reports by the EU co-funded 
by INHOPE network of hotlines 

Reports of EU Forum on the rights of 
the child 

EU Strategy on victims’ rights (2020-
2025) 

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews 

-- 

10 To what extent were law 
justice 
enforcement  and 
trained 
professionals 
to 
their  awareness, 
increase 
knowledge 
skills 
required  to  implement  the 
Directive’s  objectives  with 

and 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
trainings  aimed  at  raising 
increasing 
awareness, 
knowledge,  and  building 
law 
capacity 
justice 
enforcement  and 

of 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Directive  2011/93/EU,  European 
Implementation  Assessment,  April 
2017 

The  Directive  directly 
to 
contributed 
have 
increasing 
awareness, 
increased 
knowledge  and  skills 
of 
law  enforcement 
authorities  and  justice 
professionals operating 
at  the  national  level 

129 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

regard 
victims? 

to  assistance 

to 

to 
regard 
with 
assistance to victims of 
CSAE.  

Prevention 

11  To  what  extent  has  the 
of 
implementation 
the 
practice 
in 
Directive 
(both 
contributed 
and 
quantitatively 
the 
qualitatively) 
prevention  of  CSAE  in  the 

to 

11.1:  To  what  extent  was 
the Directive successful in 
promoting  the  setting  up 
and  access  to  intervention 
to  persons 
programmes 
they  might 
who 
to 
offend,  as  a  means 

fear 

The 
Directive’s 
implementation 
has 
to 
contributed 
promoting  the  setting 
up 
to 
and 
intervention 
programmes 

access 

for 

130 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

about 
professionals 
assisting victims of CSAE. 

Trend in the number of law 
enforcement  and  judicial 
authorities 
that  attended 
CEPOL  trainings  aimed  at 
awareness, 
raising 
increasing  knowledge,  and 
building  capacity  of  law 
enforcement  and 
justice 
about 
professionals 
assisting  victims  of  CSAE 
since 
the  Directive’s 
implementation.  

to  which 

the 
Extent 
identified 
training 
measures  and  programmes 
have  been  effective 
in 
achieving their objectives. 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
at 
measures 
preventing people who fear 
they  might  offend  from 

aimed 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

offline  environment  (e.g. 
through 
and 
training programmes)? 

education 

prevent first-time offences 
against children? 

persons  who  fear  they 
might  offend,  as  a 
means to  prevent  first-
time  offences  against 
children.  

committing  a 
offence against children.  

first-time 

to  which 

Extent 
the 
programmes 
identified 
have  proved  successful  in 
reaching their objectives.   

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews  

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Academic/research literature  

access 

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
contributed 
to 
promoting  the  setting 
up 
to 
and 
intervention 
for 
programmes 
offenders,  as  a  means 
repeated 
to  prevent 
offences 
against 
children 

The 
implementation 
contributed 
promoting 

Directive’s 
has 
to 
specific 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures 
targeting  child 
sex offenders who continue 
to  be  at 
re-
offending.  

risk  of 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures aimed at stopping 
child  sex  offenders  from 
holding 
professional 
positions that bring them in 
regular  and  direct  contact 
with children.  

131 

risk  of 

11.2:  To  what  extent  was 
the Directive successful in 
promoting  the  setting  up 
and  access  to  intervention 
programmes  or  measures 
to offenders who continue 
re-
to  be  at 
offending,  as  a  means  to 
prevent  repeated  offences 
(e.g. 
against 
from 
stopping 
holding 
professional 
positions that bring them in 
regular  and  direct  contact 
with children?) 

children 
them 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

aimed 

at 
measures 
offenders 
stopping 
from 
holding 
professional  positions 
in 
that  bring 
regular 
direct 
contact with children. 

them 

and 

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews  

11.3:  To  what  extent  has 
the 
been 
Directive 
successful 
in  promoting 
the setting up of prevention 
initiatives  that  take  into 
consideration 
gender 
specific  needs  of  children 
as  well  as  the  specific 
needs of vulnerable groups 
of children to prevent that 
they become victims)? 

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
contributed 
to 
encouraging  Member 
set 
States 
up 
to 
initiatives 
prevention 
into 
take 
that 
consideration  gender 
specific 
of 
children 
the  specific 
needs  of  vulnerable 
groups of children.  

needs 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
intervention  programmes 
at 
targeted 
specifically 
gender specific needs. 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
intervention  programmes 
specifically  targeted  at  the 
of 
specific 
vulnerable 
of 
children. 

needs 
groups 

132 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews  

Virtual study visits interviews 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

11.4:  To  what  extent  has 
the 
been 
Directive 
successful 
in  promoting 
the setting up of prevention 
at 
initiatives 
specific 
of 
professionals  dealing  with 
children  as  well  as  at  the 
society 
(e.g. 
at 
families of children)? 

targeted 
categories 

large 

Directive’s 

The 
implementation 
contributed 
to 
encouraging  Member 
take 
States 
to 
action 
appropriate 
raising 
aimed 
at 
of 
awareness 
professionals  dealing 
with children as well as 
at  the  society  at  large, 
measures 
including 
targeted at the families 
of children.   

awareness 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
prevention actions aimed at 
of 
raising 
professionals  dealing  with 
children  as  well  as  at  the 
society  at  large,  including 
measures  targeted  at  the 
families of children.  

to  which 

Extent 
the 
programmes 
identified 
have  proved  successful  in 
reaching their objectives.  

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the 
to 
necessary  measures 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 

in  order 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to 
the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council 
the 
the  measures 
implementation  of 
referred to in Article 25 of Directive 
2011/93/EU 

assessing 

(2017), 
Parliament 
European 
Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children 
Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 
Implementation Assessment. 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 

from 

133 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by  ECPAT  and  WeProtect  Global 
Alliance 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Annual  Report  of  hotlines  produced 
by the INHOPE Network 

UNODC Database  

12  To  what  extent  has  the 
of 
implementation 
the 
practice 
Directive 
in 
(both 
contributed 
and 
quantitatively 
qualitatively) 
the 
prevention  of  CSAE  in  the 
online environment? 

to 

12.1:  To  what  extent  has 
the  Directive  prompted 
Member States to take the 
necessary  measures 
to 
ensure the prompt removal 
of web pages containing or 
disseminating CSAM? 

Directive’s 
and 

The 
introduction 
implementation 
prompted 
Member 
States to take measures 
to  ensure  the  prompt 
removal  of  web  pages 
or 
containing 
disseminating CSAM.  

134 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures 
the 
prompt  removal  of  web 
or 
pages 
disseminating CSAM.  

to  ensure 

containing 

Extent  to  which  Member 
collaborate  with 
States 
Third 
Countries, 
international organisations, 
and  internet  providers  to 
pages 
remove 
web 
containing 
or 
disseminating CSAM.  

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Data provided by private companies 

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews  

Virtual study visits interviews 

12.2:  To  what  extent  has 
the  Directive 
helped 
disrupt  and  prevent  the 
uploading,  access  to  and 
dissemination  of  CSAM 
(e.g. block access?)? 

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
to 
contributed 
and 
disrupting 
the 
preventing 
uploading,  access 
to 
and  dissemination  of 
abuse 
sexual 
child 
material online.  

135 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
the 
measures 
upload, 
disruption 
access,  and  dissemination 
of CSAM.  

to  ensure 

of 

Extent  to  which  Member 
collaborate  with 
States 
Third 
Countries, 
international organisations, 
and  Internet  providers  to 
prevent 
the  uploading, 
access, or dissemination of 
CSAM.  

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

successful 

13  To  what  extent  was  the 
Directive 
in 
promoting  the  adoption  of 
to  prevent  or 
measures 
prohibit  the  dissemination 
of  material  advertising  the 
commit 
opportunity 
the 
CSAE  offences  and 
travel 
organisation 
arrangements  with 
the 
purpose  to  commit  these 
offences? 

of 

to 

-- 

Directive’s 
The 
has 
implementation 
contributed 
to 
promoting the adoption 
of measures to prevent 
the 
or 
prohibit 
dissemination 
of 
material advertising the 
opportunity  to  commit 
CSAE offences.  

aimed 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
measures 
at 
preventing  or  prohibiting 
of 
the 
dissemination 
the 
material  advertising 
opportunity 
commit 
to 
CSAE offences.  

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

Extent  to  which  Member 
collaborate  with 
States 
Third 
Countries, 
international organisations, 
and  Internet  providers  to 
prevent  or  prohibit 
the 
dissemination  of  material 
advertising the opportunity 
to commit CSAE offences. 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
prevention measures aimed 
at preventing or prohibiting 
the  organisation  of  travel 
the 
arrangements  with 
purpose  to  commit  these 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations  transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

•  Country  overview 
produced by ECPAT 

reports 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the 
to 
necessary  measures 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 

in  order 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to 
the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council 
the 
the  measures 
implementation  of 
referred to in Article 25 of Directive 
2011/93/EU 

assessing 

(2017), 
Parliament 
European 
Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children 
Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 
Implementation Assessment. 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

136 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

offences  (e.g.  drawing  up 
and  reinforcement  of  a 
code  of  conduct  and  self-
regulatory  mechanisms  in 
the  tourism  industry,  the 
setting-up  of  a  code  of 
ethics or ‘quality labels’ for 
organisations 
tourist 
combating 
sex 
child 
tourism,  or  establishing  an 
explicit  policy  to  tackle 
child sex tourism)  

Extent  to  which  identified 
proved 
have 
measures 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

to 
about 

Extent  to  which  Member 
States  have  implemented 
raise 
measures 
awareness 
and 
facilitate  the  reporting  of 
sexual  abuse  and  sexual 
exploitation of children and 
help children in need. 

Extent  to  which  Member 
introduced 
States  have 
reporting 
specific 
obligations  and  categories 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews  

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

National  legislations transposing the 
Directive in the Member States 

Country  overview  reports  produced 
by ECPAT 

(2016), 
European  Commission 
Report assessing the extent to which 
the  Member  States  have  taken  the 

Directive’s 

The 
implementation 
contributed  to  raising 
awareness 
and 
implementing 
measures  to  encourage 
reporting. 

137 

-- 

been 

14  How  effective  has  the 
Directive 
in 
facilitating 
awareness-
raising  and  other  measures 
that encourage reporting?  

 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

of  stakeholders  addressed 
education 
(e.g. 
healthcare 
professionals, 
social 
professionals, 
workers, etc.). 

have 

Number  of  Member  States 
introduced 
that 
hotlines  to  facilitate  the 
reporting  of  sexual  abuse 
and  sexual  exploitation  of 
children  and  help  children 
in need.  

to  which 

Extent 
the 
programmes 
identified 
have  proved  successful  in 
reaching their objectives.  

have 

taken 

Number  of  Member  States 
the 
that 
necessary  measures 
to 
ensure  the  confidentiality 
rules  imposed  by  national 
law 
certain 
professionals  whose  main 
to  work  with 
duty 
children  do  not  constitute 
an 
the 
possibility of reporting. 

obstacle 

on 

to 

is 

necessary  measures 
comply with Directive 2011/93/EU 

in  order 

to 

European  Commission 
(2016), 
Report  from  the  EU  Commission  to 
the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council 
the 
the  measures 
implementation  of 
referred to in Article 25 of Directive 
2011/93/EU 

assessing 

(2017), 
Parliament 
European 
Combating  sexual  abuse  of  children 
Directive  2011/93/EU  -  European 
Implementation Assessment. 

Council  of  Europe’s  Lanzarote 
Committee 
the 
reports 
monitoring rounds on the Convention 
on the protection of children against 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse 

from 

Academic/research literature 

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews  

Virtual study visits interviews 

138 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Extent  to  which  identified 
measures 
proved 
have 
successful in reaching their 
objectives.  

2. Efficiency 

Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

and 

15  If  identifiable,  what 
are the costs and benefits 
non-
(monetary 
monetary) 
associated 
with compliance with the 
Directive  in  the  Member 
States,  in  particular  to 
assist with investigations, 
prevention  of  CSAE  and 
assistance and support to 
victims? 

15.1:  What  activities  do  the 
stakeholders295 
relevant 
undertake  to  comply  with  the 
various  provisions  of 
the 
Directive? 

These  EQ  are  rather 
descriptive 
than 
judgmental. 
Therefore, no criteria 
are needed. 

15.2:  What  types  of  costs  to 
these  stakeholders 
to 
implement  these  activities  and 
what  is  the  magnitude  of  these 
costs? 

incur 

15.3: How have these different 
types  of  costs  developed  over 
the  past  years?  How  are  they 
expected 
the 
to  develop 
future? 

in 

Costs  and  benefits  should 
be assessed with regard to: 

Secondary sources 

Monetary costs: 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

Substantial 
costs 

compliance 

Statistical databases  

Administrative burden 

Non-monetary costs: 

Challenges 
transparency 
protection 

concerning 
data 
and 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

Targeted  written  outreach 
specific stakeholders296 

to 

Targeted interviews 

Emotional costs 

Virtual study visits interviews 

295 See the preliminary remarks at the beginning of this table. 
296 This would be a fallback in case statistical database (e.g. Eurostat, UNODC) are not available or limited in the scope. 

139 

 
 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

15.4:  What  types  of  monetary 
benefits  does  the  compliance 
with Directive provide for (e.g. 
cost reductions? 

15.5: How have these different 
types  of  benefits  developed 
over the past years? 

How  are 
develop in the future? 

they  expected 

to 

16 Can significant cost or 
benefit  differences  be 
between 
identified 
Member States as regards 
the  achievement  of  the 

16.1:  To  what  extent  do  costs 
and  benefits  with  regard  to  the 
compliance  with  the  Directive 
differ  between 
(groups  of) 
Member States? 

to 

Costs  and  benefits 
with  regard 
the 
compliance  with  the 
Directive 
vary 
between  (groups  of) 

140 

Monetary benefits: 

Reduction  of  the  societal 
costs of crime 

for 
Reduction  of  costs 
and 
investigation 
assistance, 
prosecution, 
support,  and  protection,  as 
prevention 
well 
compared 
the 
Directive was established 

to  before 

as 

Non-monetary benefits: 

Increased 
security 

Increased 
confidence 

safety 

and 

trust 

and 

Reduced 
committing an offence 

risk 

of 

Monetary costs 

Secondary sources 

Non-monetary costs 

Monetary benefits 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

in 

the  question 
aims 
above?  And  if  so,  what 
causes them? 

16.2: How do these costs differ 
between  the  various  provisions 
of the Directive? 

Member  States  to  a 
significant extent. 

have 

16.3:  How 
these 
differences  developed  over  the 
they 
past  years?  How  are 
the 
expected 
future? 

to  develop 

in 

17 How are the costs and 
distributed 
benefits 
different 
among 
stakeholders 
the 
at 
national and EU level? 

17.1:  To  what  extent  do  costs 
and  benefits  with  regard  to  the 
compliance  with  the  Directive 
differ  between 
(groups  of) 
stakeholders  in  the  Member 
States and at EU level? 

17.2: How do these costs differ 
between  the  various  provisions 
of the Directive? 

to 

Costs  and  benefits 
with  regard 
the 
compliance  with  the 
Directive 
vary 
between  (groups  of) 
stakeholders 
a 
to 
remarkable extent. 

297 Ibid.  

141 

Non-monetary benefits 

Statistical databases 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted  written  outreach 
specific stakeholders297 

to 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Monetary costs 

Secondary sources 

Non-monetary costs 

Monetary benefits 

Non-monetary benefits 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

Statistical databases 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Online survey 

Targeted  written  outreach 
specific stakeholders298 

to 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Monetary costs 

Secondary sources 

Non-monetary costs 

Monetary benefits 

Non-monetary benefits 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

Statistical databases 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

Targeted  written  outreach 
specific stakeholders299 

to 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

these 
17.3:  How 
differences  developed  over  the 
past years? 

have 

17.4:  What  are  the  root  causes 
for these differences? 

18.1:  To  what  extent  are  the 
costs 
the 
to  comply  with 
Directive proportionate in view 
of  the  overall  benefits  of  the 
Directive  (e.g.  the  extent  to 
which 
the 
it 
objectives)? 

achieves 

18.2: How have these costs (and 
the  extent  to  which  they  are 
proportionate)  developed  over 
the past years? 

costs 

are 
The 
by 
considered 
to  be 
stakeholders 
proportionate in  view 
of  the  effects  of  the 
Directive,  as  well  as 
in view of the effects 
it  would  have  if  the 
Directive  would  not 
been 
have 
implemented 
/ 
implanted differently. 

These  EQ  are  rather 
descriptive 
than 
judgmental. 
Therefore, no criteria 
are needed. 

142 

of 

the  costs  of 
18  Are 
the 
compliance  with 
the 
provisions 
Directive  proportionate 
to  the  benefits  brought 
about  as 
the 
and 
prevention 
combating  CSAE?  Can 
any  costs  be  identified 
that are out of proportion 
with 
benefits 
achieved? 

regards 
of 

the 

298 Ibid.  
299 Ibid.  

 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

18.3:  To  what  extent  are  there 
certain types of costs that can be 
considered out of proportion in 
view  of  the  overall  benefits  of 
the Directive (e.g. the extent to 
which 
the 
it 
objectives)? 

achieves 

(groups 
incur 

of) 
18.4:  Which 
these 
stakeholders 
disproportionate costs and what 
the root causes for this?  

18.5: How have these costs (and 
the  extent  to  which  they  are 
disproportionate) 
developed 
over the past years? 

costs 

are 
The 
by 
considered 
to  be 
stakeholders 
in 
unproportionate 
view of the effects of 
the  Directive,  as  well 
as  in  view  of  the 
effects  it  would  have 
if the Directive would 
been 
not 
have 
implemented 
/ 
implanted differently. 

These  EQ  are  rather 
than 
descriptive 
judgmental. 
Therefore, no criteria 
are needed. 

19  Is  there  any  evidence 
that  the  implementation 
as 
the  Directive 
of 
regards 
the  prevention 
and  combating  of  CSAE 
caused 
unnecessary 
administrative burdens? 

19.1:  To  what  extent  are 
the 
specific 
aspects 
causing 
provisions 
administrative burden and what 
does it cost? 

of 

These  EQ  are  rather 
descriptive 
than 
judgmental. 
Therefore, no criteria 
are needed. 

How 
19.2: 
administrative 

has 

the 
burden 

143 

Monetary costs 

Secondary sources 

Non-monetary costs 

Monetary benefits 

Non-monetary benefits 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

Statistical databases 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

developed  over  the  past  years 
and  how  is  it  expected  to 
develop in the future? 

20.1: How much funding and to 
whom  do  the  Member  State 
provide  funding  to  ensure  the 
implementation 
the 
of 
Directive’s provisions? 

These  EQ  are  rather 
descriptive 
than 
judgmental. 
Therefore, no criteria 
are needed. 

20.2: How has the provision of 
funding developed over the past 
years? 

20.3: To what extent is the level 
of funding and its development 
to  comply  with  the  Directive 
appropriate in view of the actual 

The  Member  States 
have 
devoted 
sufficient  funding  to 
full 
ensure 

the 

of 

funding 
the 

20  Have  Member  States 
to 
prioritized 
full 
ensure 
the 
implementation  of 
provisions 
the 
Directive, also when such 
is 
implementation 
outsourced 
to  private 
parties,  external  actors, 
non-governmental 
organisations etc.? 

300 Ibid.  
301 Ibid. 

144 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted  written  outreach 
specific stakeholders300 

to 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Monetary costs 

Secondary sources 

Non-monetary costs 

Monetary benefits 

Non-monetary benefits 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

Statistical databases 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted  written  outreach 
specific stakeholders301 

to 

 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

needs (of victims, stakeholders) 
and the prevalence of crime? 

implementation of the 
Directive. 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews  

to 

Are 

there 
21 
opportunities  to  simplify 
the  provisions  of 
the 
reduce 
Directive 
unnecessary 
costs 
without  undermining  the 
existing objectives set out 
by  the  provisions  of  the 
Directive? 

21.1:  To  what  extent  can  the 
Directive be simplified in order 
to reduce unnecessary costs? 

existing 
Possible 
policy  measures  that 
may  contribute 
to 
reduce 
substantially 
compliance  costs  and 
/  or  administrative 
burden 
for  various 
stakeholders. 

Monetary costs 

Secondary sources 

Non-monetary costs 

Monetary benefits 

Non-monetary benefits 

the 

See 
identified above including: 

secondary 

sources 

Statistical databases 

Policy reports 

Primary sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

Virtual study visits interviews  

3. Relevance 

145 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

cover 

22  How  well  does  the 
Directive 
the 
present  and  upcoming 
technological 
advancements 
digital world? 

the 

in 

-- 

The  Directive  is  no  longer 
(fully)  appropriate  to  cover 
present 
upcoming 
technological  advancements 
in the digital world. 

and 

Level  of  “flexibility”  of  the 
Directive to cover technological 
changes in the digital world.  

Number and type of observed or 
technological 
expected 
advancements 
the  digital 
in 
world  with  a  possible  (direct  or 
indirect) impact on CSAE. 

Extent  to  which  the  Directive 
effectively  covers  present  and 
technological 
upcoming 
advancements 
the  digital 
world. 

in 

Secondary Sources 

policy 

EU 
documents: 

and 

legislative 

Directive 2011/93 

EU Strategies: Better Internet for 
Children (2012) 

Relevant studies and reports: 

Bracket  Foundation  paper  on 
Artificial  intelligence  combating 
online sexual abuse of children, 

ECPAT  Thematic  Paper  on 
private  sector  Accountability  in 
combating 
sexual 
Exploitation of Children 

the 

IWF Annual reports 

INHOPE 2020 Annual reports of 
hotlines 

Transparency 
Facebook,  Google, 
TikTok 

reports 

from 
Instagram, 

Primary Sources 

146 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews 

23 How relevant is  the 
Directive to EU citizens 
and more specifically to 
children  and  affected 
stakeholders? 

23.1: To what extent do 
the  original  provisions 
of  the  Directive  still 
the 
correspond 
of 
present 
children within the EU? 

to 
needs 

The  EU  landscape  relevant 
to the fight against CSAE has 
evolved  since  the  entry  into 
force  of  the  Directive  and 
such  changes  reflect  in  new 
needs of children. 

23.2: To what extent do 
the  original  provisions 
of  the  Directive  still 
correspond 
the 
present  needs  of  law 
and 
enforcement 

to 

The  EU  landscape  relevant 
to the fight against CSAE has 
evolved  since  the  entry  into 
force  of  the  Directive  and 
such  changes  reflect  in  new 

147 

Extent  of  change  in  the  EU 
policy  context  since  the  entry 
into force of the Directive. 

Secondary Sources 

EU policy documents: 

Extent of change in the observed 
needs of children. 

Extent  of  change  in  the  EU 
policy  context  since  the  entry 
into force of the Directive. 

EU  Strategies:  Victims'  rights 
(2020); fight against child sexual 
abuse  (2020);  Security  Union 
(2020);  Gender  Equality  (2020-
2025); rights of the child (2021). 

Proposal  for  a  “Digital  Services 
Act” (2020) 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

judicial 
within the EU? 

authorities 

needs  of  law  enforcement 
and judicial authorities. 

Extent of change in the observed 
needs  of  law  enforcement  and 
judicial authorities. 

EU Action Plan on Human Rights 
and Democracy 2020-2024 

Conclusions on combating CSAE 
(2019)  AND  setting  the  EU's 
priorities  for  EMPACT  2022  - 
2025 

Relevant studies and reports: 

EP 
(2017)  Combating  CSA 
Directive 2011/93/EU - European 
Implementation Assessment  

ECPAT  International  reports  on 
country overviews 

INHOPE  Annual 
hotlines 

reports  of 

IWF Annual Reports 

WHO (2020), Fact Sheet on Child 
Maltreatment 

Primary Sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews 

148 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

the 

23.3:  To  what  extent 
observed 
have 
changes, 
any, 
affected  the  relevance 
of the Directive? 

if 

The  Directive  is  no  longer 
(fully)  relevant  vis-à-vis  (i) 
the  evolution  of  the  policy 
context  and  (ii)  the  changes 
in  the  nature  of  online  and 
offline CSAE in the EU. 

Extent to which the Directive is 
able to respond to the new needs 
emerged. 

Number  and  type  of  needs  that 
are not covered by the Directive.  

Secondary sources 

Directive 2011/93 

Primary Sources 

Online survey 

Targeted interviews 

4. Coherence 

Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Data sources 

The  Directive 
is  coherent 
with  other  EU  measures  that 
safeguard 
the  fundamental 
rights of children. 

24 To what extent is the 
Directive coherent with 
other  EU 
relevant 
legislative frameworks, 
including measures that 
the 
safeguard 
fundamental  rights  of 
children? 

24.1: To what extent is 
the  Directive  coherent 
Directive 
with 
2012/29/EU  on 
the 
protection of victims of 
Directive 
crime, 
2011/36/EU 
on 
trafficking 
in  human 
beings,  the  European 
strategy  for  a  Better 
Internet  for  Children, 
the  Gender  Equality 
2020-2025, 
Strategy 
the  proposed  Digital 
Services Act? 

149 

there 

to  which 

Extent 
is 
coherence/consistency  as  to  (i) 
objectives  and  provisions,  (ii) 
definitions, 
(iii)  stakeholders 
concerned. 

Secondary sources 

policy 

EU 
documents: 

and 

legislative 

Directive 2012/29/EU  

Directive 2011/36/EU  

EU strategies: Better Internet for 
Children, Gender Equality (2020-
2025) 

Proposed Digital Services Act 

Primary sources 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Data sources 

Targeted interviews 

Online survey 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

EU 
policy 
documents:  

and 

legislative 

EU  strategy  on  the  rights  of  the 
child 

European Child Guarantee 

Primary sources 

Targeted interviews 

Online survey  

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

policy 

EU 
documents: 

and 

legislative 

The  Directive 
is  coherent 
with other initiatives relating 
to the Rights of the child. 

there 

to  which 

Extent 
is 
coherence/consistency  as  to  (i) 
objectives  and  provisions,  (ii) 
definitions, 
(iii)  stakeholders 
concerned. 

24.2: To what extent is 
the  Directive  coherent 
with  initiatives  relating 
to  the  Rights  of  the 
child,  such  as  the  EU 
strategy on the rights of 
the 
the 
European 
Child 
Guarantee? 

child 

and 

24.3: To what extent is 
the  Directive  coherent 
with other criminal law 
instruments 
the 
related areas? 

in 

The  Directive 
with  other  criminal 
instruments 
area. 

is  coherent 
law 
the  related 

in 

150 

there 

to  which 

Extent 
is 
coherence/consistency  as  to  (i) 
objectives  and  provisions,  (ii) 
definitions, 
(iii)  stakeholders 
concerned. 

 
 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Data sources 

Council  Framework  Decisions: 
2005/212/JHA,  2008/841/JHA, 
2009/948/JHA 

Primary sources 

Targeted interviews 

Online survey 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

policy 

EU 
documents: 

Directives: 
2012/29/EU  

and 

legislative 

2011/36/EU 

and 

Council  Framework  Decisions: 
2001/500/JHA, 
2001/220/JH, 
2005/212/JHA, 
2004/68/JHA, 
2009/948/JHA 

EU Strategies: Better Internet for 
Children, Gender Equality (2020-
2025), rights of the child 

Proposed Digital Service Act 

-- 

25  How  do 
these 
policies  and  legislation 
affect 
(positively  or 
the 
negatively) 
implementation  of  the 
there 
Directive? 
further 
for 
scope 
integration  with  other 
EU policy objectives? 

Is 

The 
complementarities 
between  the  Directive  and 
other policies and legislation 
to  an  effective 
contribute 
implementation 
the 
of 
Directive. 

Extent 
to  which  other  key 
actions directly contribute to the 
implementation of the Directive 
the  availability  of  EU 
(e.g. 
funding to improve investigative 
training 
tools  would 
contribute to the implementation 
of  Article 
the 
Directive). 

15(2) 

and 

of 

The  Directive  can  be  further 
integrated  with  other  EU 
policy objectives.  

to  which 

further 
Extent 
integration 
of  Directive’s 
objectives  with  other  policy 
objectives is possible.  

151 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Data sources 

-- 

26 To what extent is the 
Directive coherent with 
broader 
initiatives  at 
regional and the global 
level 
at 
combating child sexual 
sexual 
abuse 
and 
exploitation 
(e.g. 
Lanzarote 
Convention)? 

aimed 

The  Directive 
is  coherent 
with other broader initiatives 
at  regional  and  the  global 
level  aimed  at  combating 
child sexual abuse and sexual 
exploitation. 

there 

to  which 

Extent 
is 
coherence/consistency  as  to  (i) 
objectives  and  provisions,  (ii) 
definitions, 
(iii)  stakeholders 
concerned. 

European Child Guarantee 

Secondary sources: 

International initiatives:  

(1989) 

UN Convention on the Rights of 
and  Optional 
Child 
Protocol  on  the  sale  of  children, 
child  prostitution  and  child 
pornography (2000) 

CoE  Lanzarote  Convention 
(2007) 

Primary sources 

Targeted interviews 

Online survey  

-- 

there 

any 
27  Are 
existing or forthcoming 
legislative 
developments that may 
be 
the 
purpose  of  achieving 
the 
laid 
objectives 
down  by  the  Directive 
and  what  is  the  impact 

relevant 

for 

or 

forthcoming 
Existing 
legislative 
developments 
are/may  be  relevant  for  the 
better 
purpose 
identifying  and  punishing 
offences related to CSAE, (ii) 
protecting  CSAE 
better 

(i) 

of 

Degree  of  consistency  and 
possible  synergy  between  the 
objectives  of  the  Directive  and 
legislative 
the 
developments. 

identified 

Extent  to  which  the  identified 
legislative developments impact 

Virtual study visits interviews 

Secondary sources 

EU 
policy 
documents:  

and 

legislative 

EU Strategies: on victims’ rights 
(2020-2025); for a more effective 
fight  against  child  sexual  abuse 

152 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Data sources 

those 
of 
objective pursued? 

on 

the 

victims, (iii) preventing cases 
of CSAE. 

the  objectives  pursued  by  the 
Directive. 

(2020); on gender equality (2020-
2025) 

Relevant studies and reports: 

Reports of the 2019 and 2020 EU 
Forum on the rights of the child 

Proposal  on  a  Directive 
to 
combat violence against women 

5. Added value 

Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

-- 

from 

28 What is the additional value 
resulting 
the 
implementation  in  practice  of 
the Directive, compared to the 
situation prior to its entry into 
force in 2011? 

Compared to the situation 
prior  to  its  entry  into 
force, 
the  Directive 
contributed to (i) enhance 
the legislative frameworks 
of 
the  Member  States 
regarding the fight against 
CSAE, and (ii) strengthen 
the  fight  against  CSAE 
across Europe. 

the 
Level  of  harmonisation  of 
national  regulatory  frameworks  in 
the  Member  States  since  the  entry 
into force of the Directive. 

enhanced 

Extent  to  the  implementation  of  the 
Directive 
cross-border 
the  fight  against 
cooperation 
CSAE  compared  to  the  situation  in 
the EU prior to its entry into force. 

in 

29 What is the additional value 
the 
resulting 

from 

-- 

The implementation of the 
provided 
Directive 

the 
Level  of  harmonisation  of 
national  regulatory  frameworks  in 

153 

Secondary sources  

Relevant studies and reports:  

EP (2017), Combating  sexual 
abuse  of  Children  Directive 
2011/93/EU, 
European 
Implementation Assessment  

Primary sources  

Online survey  

Targeted interviews  

Secondary sources 

 
Question 

Sub-questions 

Judgment criteria 

Indicators 

Sources 

implementation  in  practice  of 
the  Directive,  compared 
to 
efforts 
that  Member  States 
acting  on  their  own  initiative 
would have put in place at the 
national and/or regional level? 

additional value to the one 
that  would  have  been 
created by Member States 
alone  in  the  fight  against 
CSAE. 

the  Member  States  since  the  entry 
into force of the Directive. 

Number and type of areas identified 
the 
as  specific  value  added  by 
Directive’s implementation  

Relevant studies and reports: 

Country  overview 
produced by ECPAT 

reports 

EP (2017), Combating  sexual 
abuse  of  Children  Directive 
European 
2011/93/EU, 
Implementation Assessment 

INHOPE  Annual  reports  of 
hotlines 

Primary sources 

Online survey  

Targeted interviews 

154 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
155 

 
 
 
ANNEX IV. OVERVIEW OF BENEFITS AND COSTS [AND, WHERE RELEVANT, TABLE ON SIMPLIFICATION AND BURDEN REDUCTION] 

156 

 
Table 1. Overview of costs and benefits identified in the evaluation302 

Citizens/Consumers  

Businesses 

Administrations 

[Other…] _ specify 

Quantitative   Comment 

Quantitative  

Comment  Quantitativ

Comment   Quantitati

Comment 

e 

ve 

[Cost or Benefit description]: 

the 

Provide 
monetary 
value 

Provide  the 
monetary 
value 

Where 
no 
quantification 
possible, 
is 
please 
provide 
ranges 
explain 
reasons why 

or 
the 

Provide the 
monetary 
value 

Where 
no 
quantification 
possible, 
is 
please  provide 
or 
ranges 
the 
explain 
reasons why 

Provide 
the 
monetary 
value 

Where 
no 
quantificatio
n is possible, 
please 
provide 
or 
ranges 
explain 
the 
reasons why 

the 

type 

Mark 
of 
cost/benefit,  each  on  a 
separate line: 

Type: 
Choose 
one-off 
or 
recurren
t 

Costs: 

Direct  compliance  costs 
costs, 
(adjustment 
administrative 
costs, 
regulatory charges) 

Enforcement costs:  (costs 
associated  with  activities 
the 
linked 
to 
an 
implementation 

of 

is 

no 

Where 
quantificati
on 
possible, 
please 
provide 
ranges 
or 
explain  the 
reasons why 

302 Where there is a prior impact assessment, the table should contain as a minimum the costs/benefits identified in the IA with  the information gathered on the actual cost/benefit. As available, the table 
should include the monetisation (€) of the costs/benefits based on any quantitative translation of the data (time taken, person days, number of records/equipment/staff etc. affected or involved represented in 
monetary value  – see Standard cost model, for example). For all information presented, it should be included in the comments section whether it relates to all Member States or is drawn from a subset. An 
indication of the robustness of the data should be provided in Annex II on Methodology and analytical models used. 

157 

 
 
                        
 
 
such 

as 
initiative 
inspections 
monitoring, 
and adjudication/litigation) 

Indirect  costs 
(indirect 
compliance  costs  or  other 
indirect  costs 
such  as 
transaction costs) 

Benefits: 

Direct  benefits  (such  as 
improved  well 
being: 
in  pollution 
changes 
health, 
levels, 
employment; 
market 
efficiency) 

safety, 

Indirect  benefits  (such  as 
wider  economic  benefits, 
macroeconomic  benefits, 
social 
impacts, 
environmental impacts)  

158 

 
 
 
 
 
TABLE 2:  Simplification and burden reduction (savings already achieved)  

Report any simplification, burden reduction and cost savings achieved already by the intervention evaluated, including the points of comparison/ where 
available (e.g. REFIT savings predicted in the IA or other sources).  

Citizens/Consumers/Workers 

Businesses 

Administrations 

[Other…] _ specify 

Quantitative   Comment 

Quantitative   Comment 

Quantitativ
e 

Comment  

Quantitati
ve 

Comment 

Title303 [Select among:  (i) direct compliance cost savings (for example adjustment cost savings, administrative cost savings, savings from regulatory 
charges); (ii) enforcement cost savings (for example cost savings associated with activities linked to the implementation of an initiative such as monitoring, 
inspections  and  adjudication/litigation);  (iii)   indirect  cost  savings  (if  possible  -  for  example  indirect  compliance  cost  savings  or  other  indirect  cost 
savings such as transaction cost savings).  

Type:  One-off 
(select) 

/  recurrent 

the 

Provide 
estimated 
monetary  and 
quantitative 
value  

(point value or 
range) 

If 
no 
monetisation/quan
tification 
is 
possible, 
please 
explain  here  the 
reasons.  
Qualitative 
analysis 
simplification 
benefits  provides 
important 
information 
and 
should be inserted 
here.   

on 

159 

 
               
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Identify further potential simplification and savings that could be achieved with a view to make the initiative more effective and efficient without prejudice 
to its policy objectives304. 

PART II: II Potential simplification and burden reduction (savings) 

Citizens/Consumers/Workers 

Businesses 

Administrations 

[Other…] _ specify 

Quantitative  

Comment 

Quantitative  

Comment 

Quantitati
ve 

Comment   Quantitati

Comment 

ve 

Description:… 

Type:    One-off  /  recurrent 
(select) 

303    Each simplification/saving should be included on a separate line.  
304    This assessment is without prejudice to a possible future Impact Assessment. 

160 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX V. STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTATION - SYNOPSIS REPORT  

This annex presents the consultations activities undertaken as part of the ‘Study supporting the evaluation and impact assessment of the European Union 
(EU) Directive 2011/93 of 13th December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography and the impact 
assessment  of  the  possible  options  for  its  amendment’.  It  includes  information  concerning  objectives  of  the  different  consultations,  the  stakeholders 
involved, the consultation methods and tools used, as well as the results achieved. 

CONSULTATION METHODS AND STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED  

As part of this study, various consultations, both with key stakeholders and the public at large, were carried out. The aim of these consultations was to 
inform the study with factual evidence concerning possible problems and additional measures necessary at the EU level in the area of child sexual abuse 
and exploitation (CSAE). A wide range of stakeholders operating at the international, EU and the national levels were consulted, using a combination of 
different consultation tools.  

1. Scoping interview 

During the kick-off meeting (KoM), the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) indicated that the stakeholders proposed in the 
technical offer for these interviews may have been not in a position to provide meaningful inputs. Hence, it was agreed with DG HOME to conduct one 
scoping interview with the DG HOME Team in charge of the study. 

2. Online survey  

An online survey was deployed using the EUSurvey tool. The survey targeted National Competent Authorities, law enforcement and judicial authorities, 
hotlines and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the 26 Member States where the CSAE Directive applies. The survey focused on the extent to which the 
Member States (MS) have implemented the Directive, on the national measures and practices in place that go beyond the Directive, the identification of 
any problems/gaps, as well as any best practices in the fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation. The survey ran for five weeks, from 28 April 2022 
to  2  June  2022.  In  total,  67  responses  were  received  from  22  Member  States:  18  from  National  Competent  Authorities,  15  from  CSOs,  13  from  law 
enforcement authorities, 11 from judicial authorities, 10 from hotlines. 

The results of the online survey are presented in section 3.2. of Annex II (Stakeholders consultation – synopsis report) of the Study. 

The table below provides an overview of the stakeholders involved in the online survey. 

161 

 
Table 1 – List of respondents to the online survey  

162 

 
MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

DE 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

LT 

LU 

LV 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

NCA 

Judicial authorities 

Law enforcement 
authorities 

CSO 

Hotlines 

1 

0 

1 

1 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

2 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 
1 

0 

3 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

1 

0 
0 

0 

7 

0 

1 

1 

1 

0 

1 

1 

0 

1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 
0 

1 

3 

163 

0 

1 

2 

0 

0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

2 
0 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

1 

0 

0 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 
0 

0 

0 

 
MS 

SE 

SI 

NCA 

Judicial authorities 

Law enforcement 
authorities 

1 

2 

0 

0 

1 
Source: Author’s own elaboration 

1 

CSO 

1 

1 

Hotlines 

0 

1 

3. Targeted interviews 

In total, 35 individual interviews were conducted during both the evaluation and the impact assessment phases of the study. The table below provides an 
overview of the stakeholders interviewed. 

Table 2 – List of stakeholders consulted  

Evaluation phase 

Impact assessment phase 

Category 
EU bodies/agencies 

International bodies 

EU-level CSOs 

International-level CSOs  

Interviews with EMPACT actors 

Third-country organisations 

Academia  

Prison, detention and restorative justice specialists 

Education institutions and teachers 

Information and communications technologies (ICT) industry 

Source: Author’s own elaboration 

164 

5 

4 

4 

7 

1 

2 

1 

3 

2 

1 

1 

0 

0 

1 

0 

2 

1 

0 

0 

0 

 
The interviewees were selected in agreement with the Commission. The interviews were conducted online, for most part via Teams. The interviews focused 
on the features of the fight against CSAE at the European and international level, current and future needs and challenges, main policy developments, 
synergies and overlaps between relevant EU initiatives, good practices, as well as recommendations and suggestions for future EU policy intervention.  

The results of the interviews are presented in section 3.3 of Annex II (Stakeholders consultation – synopsis report) of the Study. 

4. Case study interviews 

N/A 

5. Workshop 

Performed after the submission of this report.  

6. Public Consultation  

In the context of the study, a PC in all EU official languages concerning the evaluation of the CSAE Directive and a preliminary discussion on the objectives 
of a policy intervention to review it was carried out via the Commission’s tool EU Survey.305 The PC ran between 20 April 2022 and 13 July 2022. Overall, 
50 responses were received from stakeholders in 23 countries, including 18 Member States (AT, BE, CZ, DE, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, HU, IT, MT, 
NL, PT, SE and SI) and five third countries (Canada, Iran, Thailand, UK and US).  

Regarding  the  profile  of  the  respondents,  20  answered  the  survey  as  individuals  (19  EU  citizens  and  one  non-EU  citizen),  while  the  remaining  30 
respondents  answered  on  behalf  of  an  organisation  (seven  public  authorities,  two  business  association,  one  company/business  organisation,  20  non-
governmental organisations - NGOs). The size of the concerned organisations was the following: seven large (250 or more employees), seven medium (50 
to 249 employees), six small (10 to 49 employees) and 10 micro (1 to 9 employees) organisation. 

In  addition  to  the  replies  to  the  PC  questionnaire,  20  written  contributions  were  received,  including  eleven  contributions  from  CSOs,  three  from 
representatives of business organisations, four from ICT companies, one from a legal expert and one from an EU citizen.  

The results of the PC have informed the study and are presented in section 3.6 of Annex II (Stakeholders consultation – synopsis report) of the Study.

305 Public Consultation “Combating child sexual abuse - review of EU rules”. Available at: link.  

165