Overview

• Denmark’s Council presidency is advancing a narrowed draft that would scan images, videos and URLs on users’ devices before encryption.
• Germany has not agreed a government line, with the interior ministry open to the measure and the justice ministry citing legal and fundamental‑rights concerns.
• A Council decision once penciled in for 14 October was postponed, and movement now hinges on whether Berlin signals support.
• The European Parliament backs only narrowly targeted, court‑approved searches rather than general automated scanning.
• Signal says it would leave the EU rather than weaken end‑to‑end encryption, while WhatsApp, Bitkom, eco and press and lawyer groups sharply criticize the proposal.