October 20, 2026

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October 20, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
EU-UK Summit Hangs On Youth Scheme And Carbon Market LinkBlack Sea Shipping Attacks Put EU Maritime Hub To The TestStock Options Split Governments Over EU Inc 28th Regime MandateCouncil Seals Return Regulation With Return Hubs And Entry BansParcel Handling Fee Lands By 1 November On Low-Value EU ImportsIndia Trade Agreement Heads Into The Council’s Signing QueueBosnia EU Accession Stays Frozen After A Record Low Turnout VoteForeign Investment Screening Regulation Binds Every StateImporters Face EU Deforestation Regulation On 30 DecemberMînzatu Pushes The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy Toward 2030EU Budget Fraud Protection Shifts To National Anti-Fraud ServicesCohesion Policy Row Splits Fitto And Regions Over The 2028 BudgetIn-Game Virtual Currencies Draw EU Action Against Nine StudiosAnnual Euro Area Inflation Hits 3.8 percent As Energy Prices ClimbFRTB Market Risk Rules Await Parliament Scrutiny Before 2027EDIP Defence Funding Backs Eight Plants Making Missile FuelInnovation Act Lets Start-Ups Borrow Against Patents And IP RightsPublic Procurement Act Replaces Three Directives With One RuleGeorgia EU Candidate Status Frays After Parliament Sanctions CallIndonesia EU CEPA Signing Hinges On GSP Deadline And Text LanguageEU-UK Summit Hangs On Youth Scheme And Carbon Market LinkBlack Sea Shipping Attacks Put EU Maritime Hub To The TestStock Options Split Governments Over EU Inc 28th Regime MandateCouncil Seals Return Regulation With Return Hubs And Entry BansParcel Handling Fee Lands By 1 November On Low-Value EU ImportsIndia Trade Agreement Heads Into The Council’s Signing QueueBosnia EU Accession Stays Frozen After A Record Low Turnout VoteForeign Investment Screening Regulation Binds Every StateImporters Face EU Deforestation Regulation On 30 DecemberMînzatu Pushes The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy Toward 2030EU Budget Fraud Protection Shifts To National Anti-Fraud ServicesCohesion Policy Row Splits Fitto And Regions Over The 2028 BudgetIn-Game Virtual Currencies Draw EU Action Against Nine StudiosAnnual Euro Area Inflation Hits 3.8 percent As Energy Prices ClimbFRTB Market Risk Rules Await Parliament Scrutiny Before 2027EDIP Defence Funding Backs Eight Plants Making Missile FuelInnovation Act Lets Start-Ups Borrow Against Patents And IP RightsPublic Procurement Act Replaces Three Directives With One RuleGeorgia EU Candidate Status Frays After Parliament Sanctions CallIndonesia EU CEPA Signing Hinges On GSP Deadline And Text Language

Chat Control Negotiations Leave Private Message Scanning Unsettled

Admir Mehmedi
Capitals Correspondent, Justice and Fundamental Rights

Hamburg: The Chat Control negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council produced no agreement on scanning private messages at their sixth trilogue on 29 September 2026, and the file is heading into a new round of Council talks. Negotiators did settle the tasks of the future EU Centre on child sexual abuse, according to Parliament rapporteur Javier Zarzalejos. Detection in private communications remains the main obstacle in the Chat Control negotiations.

Zarzalejos welcomed the agreement on the EU Centre in a statement on 30 September. Agence Europe, MLex and digital rights campaigner Patrick Breyer report that negotiators also reached an agreement in principle on detection orders for public content. Parliament statement does not mention that point, and netzpolitik.org reports agreement only on the Centre, so the full outcome is not yet clear.

The Council has published no official result of the trilogue. Its only record so far is a presidency overview, document 13051/26. Justice and home affairs counsellors are due to meet on 20 October at 14:30 on the state of play and next steps, and a police working party meets the same morning on a possible detection package, according to the Brussels Record tracker.

The two institutions enter the next stage of the Chat Control negotiations from opposite positions. Parliament wants detection of private content only as a last resort, targeted at specific users, approved by a judge and with end-to-end encryption fully protected. The Council mandate of 26 November 2025 rejects mandatory detection orders and keeps scanning voluntary.

Vote arithmetic matters for any final deal in the Chat Control negotiations. The tracker counts nine governments on record against mandatory scanning of private messages, representing 32.9% of the EU population, which is 2.1 points short of the 35% needed for a blocking minority. Germany, Belgium or Portugal could each close that gap alone, although the Council does not vote inside trilogues and no date has been set for a vote on the outcome.

Time pressure on the Chat Control negotiations is real. The interim law allowing voluntary scanning, Regulation (EU) 2026/1881, entered into force on 31 July 2026 and expires on 3 April 2028, so providers would again lose their legal basis without a permanent text. The Irish presidency ends on 31 December 2026, and no date is confirmed for a seventh trilogue, although Breyer has reported that November is expected.

The Commission first proposed the child sexual abuse regulation on 11 May 2022, and the Council document register shows how long the file has been in play. If the Irish presidency cannot close a deal, the dossier would pass to the Lithuanian presidency in January 2027 and then to Greece in July 2027.

For now, lawmakers and ministers have to decide whether detection orders can coexist with strong encryption. The next steps in the Chat Control negotiations will show whether a compromise on private messages is possible before the Irish presidency ends, or whether the fight rolls into 2027.

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