Brussels, Belgium. Fidias Panayiotou was the only Cypriot member of the European Parliament to vote to reject the temporary reinstatement of the EU’s so-called Chat Control legislation. The measure was approved and will remain in force until April 2028.
Vote on temporary derogation
Chat Control is an informal term used for the EU’s Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (Csar). The July 9 vote concerned whether to reject the Council’s position supporting a renewed derogation from the ePrivacy Directive.
The derogation allows communication service providers to use technologies to detect and report suspected child sexual abuse material in private communications.
For the proposal to reject the Council’s position to pass, it required an absolute majority of the European Parliament’s 720 members, meaning at least 361 votes in favour.
Legislative timeline
The European Parliament had rejected an extension of the measure during its first reading in March. The previous derogation expired on April 3.
On July 2, the Council adopted its position and referred the file for a second reading. On July 7, the European People’s Party invoked Rule 170(6) to fast-track the file without committee consideration during the final sitting before the parliamentary recess.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola returned the file to the agenda at the EPP’s request. The vote was held on July 9, the Parliament’s final session before the recess.