COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council 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
Date: 2026-07-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: child pornography, child protection, data protection, derogation from EU law, paedophilia, personal data, protection of communications, regulation of telecommunications, sexual violence, social media

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 3.7.2026  COM(2026) 357 final 2025/0429 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council 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  
 
2025/0429 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
the Council 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 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the Commission Proposal to the European 
Parliament and to the Council 19 December 2025 (document 
COM/2025/797 final – 2025/0429(COD): 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

21 January 2026 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

11 March 2026 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

N/A 

2 July 2026 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

Online child sexual abuse, including the dissemination of child sexual abuse material and the 
solicitation of children through online services, shows that digital communication services can 
be misused to commit, facilitate and perpetuate serious offences against children. Regulation 
(EU)  2021/1232  (hereinafter    ‘the  Interim  Regulation’)  established  a  temporary  derogation 
from  some  obligations  under  Directive  2002/58/EC1,  allowing  providers  of  certain  number-
independent  interpersonal  communications  services  to  continue,  on  a  voluntary  basis  and 
subject  to  strict  conditions,    using  specific  technologies  for  the  processing  of  personal  and 
other data, to the extent strictly necessary to detect and report online child sexual abuse and to 
remove online child sexual abuse material from their services.  

The  Commission’s  proposal  to  amend  the  Interim  Regulation  sought  to  avoid  a  legal  gap 
while negotiations  continued on  a long-term Regulation  to  prevent  and  combat child sexual 
abuse online2. It therefore provided for a further limited extension of the period of application 

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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, pp. 37–47). 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules to prevent 
and combat child sexual abuse, COM/2022/209 final.  

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of  the  Interim  Regulation,  without  otherwise  altering  its  substance  and  its  safeguards.  The 
purpose  of  that  extension  was  to  ensure  that  voluntary  activities  carried  out  in  compliance 
with Union law could continue without interruption until the long-term legal framework was 
agreed and becomes applicable. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The Council's position in first reading is the result of the recent interinstitutional exchanges on 
the  Commission  Proposal,  which  reflect  the  shared  objective  of  ensuring  continuity  of  the 
temporary framework for the future, pending the completion of the negotiations on the long-
term legal framework. 

In its address to the European Council of 18 June 2026, the European Parliament stressed the 
need to advance the Interim Regulation without further delay and explore the conditions for 
reaching political agreement at second reading. On this basis, the Permanent Representatives 
Committee,  on  26  June  2026,  provided  guidance  to  the  Council  Presidency  and  agreed  that 
the adoption of a Council position in first reading should be pursued as a matter of urgency. 

Against  this  background,  and  faithful  to  the  objectives  of  the  Commission  Proposal,  the 
Council adopted its position  in first reading on 2 July 2026. The Council position preserves 
the  substance  of  the  Commission  proposal  by  establishing  a  temporary  framework 
reproducing  the  rules  of  the  Interim  Regulation.  Ultimately,  this  position  restores,  without 
retroactive  effect,  the  derogation  from  Articles  5(1)  and  6(1)  of  Directive  2002/58/EC  that 
enables  the  voluntary  activities  concerned,  subject  to  specific  conditions  and  without 
prejudice to  the General Data Protection Regulation. It  aims to  avoid any further gap in  the 
temporary framework pending the finalisation of the negotiations of the long-term framework 
to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission accepts the position taken by the Council. 

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