Critics have railed against what they call the “chat control” legislation, warning it would break encryption and open the door to mass state surveillance. Privacy rights groups and technology firms including WhatsApp, Elon Musk’s X and messaging app Signal all issued statements in recent days.
The Danish presidency of the Council of the EU has made it its priority to land a deal among EU capitals, and it has gotten major countries on board, including France. Copenhagen had hoped to get an agreement on the bill next week Tuesday, when EU home affairs ministers meet in Luxembourg, but the item has been pulled off the agenda, the diplomats and official said.
Germany — traditionally privacy-minded, because of its postwar suspicion of surveillance — remained deeply split on Wednesday, with its coalition government divided.
German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said on X that Germany “will not agree” to mass scanning legislation. The Interior Ministry, which ultimately leads work on the legislation, remained silent ahead of Wednesday’s ambassadors meeting.
The divisions run deep in Germany, even splitting parties inside the government coalition.
Ralph Brinkhaus, digital spokesperson for the ruling CDU party in the German Bundestag, told POLITICO’s Berlin Playbook that he is “very dissatisfied“ with the current proposal, while the party’s justice spokesperson in the Bundestag, Günter Krings, lauded it as “good and long overdue.” CDU party whip Jens Spahn said he’s open to a compromise that does not affect “the security and confidentiality of individual communications.”