Chat control: Germany will vote against current proposal

Germany's position on the controversial chat control proposal was unclear for a long time. In the evening, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) made it clear that Germany rejects the controversial compromise text of the Belgian Council Presidency.

The dissemination of photos and videos of child sexual abuse must be tackled at European level, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday evening. According to Nancy Faeser, it is appropriate to "hold online platforms accountable so that depictions of abuse are discovered, deleted and the perpetrators prosecuted". However, if the current proposal remains, the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany would have to vote no, said the SPD politician. "Because we must take targeted action and maintain the balance of the rule of law. Encrypted private communications of millions of people must not be monitored without cause. We in the German government have long agreed to this. There is also widespread criticism (of the surveillance plan) in the European Parliament."

However, it is important to further advance the good instruments of the planned regulation proposal: "With an EU center against child abuse, we can support the victims. We also want to give them the explicit right for the first time to find out whether images of abuse are still in circulation." According to the Federal Minister of the Interior, the dignity of children is repeatedly violated into adulthood if images of abuse remain available.

There had previously been clear criticism of the Belgian proposal for unprovoked surveillance, including from the ranks of the parliamentary groups in the coalition government. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) put his rejection of the Belgian Council Presidency's proposal on record at an early stage, but this could also have meant abstention in the event of disagreement within the coalition. The "general approach" is the negotiating mandate for the Council of the Member States of the European Union for the talks between the Council, the European Parliament and the EU Commission in the so-called trialogue. It remains to be seen whether a majority for the controversial proposal against Germany is possible.

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