October 18, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Costa Seizes The 2028-2034 Budget Talks After Ireland StallsRome And Madrid Move To Lift Their Schengen Border Checks SoonProtect Aid Workers Turns Into A Permanent Global EU MechanismEnd-Of-Life Vehicles Regulation Sets 2032 Recycled Plastic QuotaCustoms Handling Fee Set At €2 For Small Parcels Bought OnlineCyprus Gas Pipeline Dispute Tests Brussels And AnkaraUS Russian Diesel Waiver Strains EU Pressure On MoscowSmaller European Commission Idea Tests Leaders’ AppetiteECB Interest Rate Hold Looms Before a Likely December HikeOrganic Farming Regulation Faces Its Decisive Trilogue RoundPort Towage Flag Rules Put Spain France And Italy On A Two Month ClockEquality And Competitiveness Conclusions Go To Ministers In LuxembourgMcEntee Hosts Informal Trade Ministers Meeting To Open New MarketsPassenger Rights Enforcement Deal Hits Strasbourg PlenaryPressure Grows To Trigger EU Blocking Statute Over ICC CurbsParcel Fee Due 1 November As EU Customs Reform Takes ShapeICCAT Annual Meeting Preparation Puts EU Bluefin Gains To The TestPost-2030 Energy Targets Reach Ministers On 29 October In LuxembourgOperation Aspides Needs Ten Ships While Capitals Pledge Only TwoMoldova Accession Talks Reach Halfway With Two More Clusters OpenCosta Seizes The 2028-2034 Budget Talks After Ireland StallsRome And Madrid Move To Lift Their Schengen Border Checks SoonProtect Aid Workers Turns Into A Permanent Global EU MechanismEnd-Of-Life Vehicles Regulation Sets 2032 Recycled Plastic QuotaCustoms Handling Fee Set At €2 For Small Parcels Bought OnlineCyprus Gas Pipeline Dispute Tests Brussels And AnkaraUS Russian Diesel Waiver Strains EU Pressure On MoscowSmaller European Commission Idea Tests Leaders’ AppetiteECB Interest Rate Hold Looms Before a Likely December HikeOrganic Farming Regulation Faces Its Decisive Trilogue RoundPort Towage Flag Rules Put Spain France And Italy On A Two Month ClockEquality And Competitiveness Conclusions Go To Ministers In LuxembourgMcEntee Hosts Informal Trade Ministers Meeting To Open New MarketsPassenger Rights Enforcement Deal Hits Strasbourg PlenaryPressure Grows To Trigger EU Blocking Statute Over ICC CurbsParcel Fee Due 1 November As EU Customs Reform Takes ShapeICCAT Annual Meeting Preparation Puts EU Bluefin Gains To The TestPost-2030 Energy Targets Reach Ministers On 29 October In LuxembourgOperation Aspides Needs Ten Ships While Capitals Pledge Only TwoMoldova Accession Talks Reach Halfway With Two More Clusters Open
October 18, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Costa Seizes The 2028-2034 Budget Talks After Ireland StallsRome And Madrid Move To Lift Their Schengen Border Checks SoonProtect Aid Workers Turns Into A Permanent Global EU MechanismEnd-Of-Life Vehicles Regulation Sets 2032 Recycled Plastic QuotaCustoms Handling Fee Set At €2 For Small Parcels Bought OnlineCyprus Gas Pipeline Dispute Tests Brussels And AnkaraUS Russian Diesel Waiver Strains EU Pressure On MoscowSmaller European Commission Idea Tests Leaders’ AppetiteECB Interest Rate Hold Looms Before a Likely December HikeOrganic Farming Regulation Faces Its Decisive Trilogue RoundPort Towage Flag Rules Put Spain France And Italy On A Two Month ClockEquality And Competitiveness Conclusions Go To Ministers In LuxembourgMcEntee Hosts Informal Trade Ministers Meeting To Open New MarketsPassenger Rights Enforcement Deal Hits Strasbourg PlenaryPressure Grows To Trigger EU Blocking Statute Over ICC CurbsParcel Fee Due 1 November As EU Customs Reform Takes ShapeICCAT Annual Meeting Preparation Puts EU Bluefin Gains To The TestPost-2030 Energy Targets Reach Ministers On 29 October In LuxembourgOperation Aspides Needs Ten Ships While Capitals Pledge Only TwoMoldova Accession Talks Reach Halfway With Two More Clusters OpenCosta Seizes The 2028-2034 Budget Talks After Ireland StallsRome And Madrid Move To Lift Their Schengen Border Checks SoonProtect Aid Workers Turns Into A Permanent Global EU MechanismEnd-Of-Life Vehicles Regulation Sets 2032 Recycled Plastic QuotaCustoms Handling Fee Set At €2 For Small Parcels Bought OnlineCyprus Gas Pipeline Dispute Tests Brussels And AnkaraUS Russian Diesel Waiver Strains EU Pressure On MoscowSmaller European Commission Idea Tests Leaders’ AppetiteECB Interest Rate Hold Looms Before a Likely December HikeOrganic Farming Regulation Faces Its Decisive Trilogue RoundPort Towage Flag Rules Put Spain France And Italy On A Two Month ClockEquality And Competitiveness Conclusions Go To Ministers In LuxembourgMcEntee Hosts Informal Trade Ministers Meeting To Open New MarketsPassenger Rights Enforcement Deal Hits Strasbourg PlenaryPressure Grows To Trigger EU Blocking Statute Over ICC CurbsParcel Fee Due 1 November As EU Customs Reform Takes ShapeICCAT Annual Meeting Preparation Puts EU Bluefin Gains To The TestPost-2030 Energy Targets Reach Ministers On 29 October In LuxembourgOperation Aspides Needs Ten Ships While Capitals Pledge Only TwoMoldova Accession Talks Reach Halfway With Two More Clusters Open

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.

Comments