I. BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION
1. On 11 May 2022, the Commission submitted to the Council and the European Parliament a proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse 1 , which aims to oblige online service providers, such as providers of hosting services and interpersonal communications services, to prevent the dissemination of, to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material (‘CSAM’), to prevent, detect and report the solicitation of children (‘grooming’), and to set up a new decentralised EU agency (the ‘EU Centre’) to support the implementation of the proposed Regulation, together with a network of national Coordinating Authorities and other competent authorities.
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II. MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PRESIDENCY COMPROMISE TEXT
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f) EU Centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse (Articles 40-82, Recitals 58-74a):
– The EU Centre keeps its core functions by assessing, processing and forwarding reports from the providers, advising and otherwise supporting national authorities, facilitating the cooperation with stakeholders and establishing the databases of indicators to support the voluntary activities of providers using the derogation under Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 and the issuance of blocking and delisting orders.
– The tasks of the EU Centre are expanded to assist more strongly in the risk assessment and mitigation process, and to develop or facilitate the development of technologies;
– The strengthening of aspects of prevention is introduced, including the preparation of dedicated national strategies by the Member States and a comprehensive communication and outreach strategy by the EU Centre;
– Clarifications about the cooperation between the EU Centre and Europol are
included;
– The possibility for the cooperation of the EU Centre with other EU agencies and bodies, third countries and international organisations is introduced;
– The Executive Board should not be established. Its tasks are conferred on the Management Board of the EU Centre;
(i) ) Entry into force and application (Article 89, Recital 78a)
– The Presidency text foresees that this Regulation will apply 24 months after its entry into force, some provisions related to reporting, the EU Centre, data collection and transparency reporting after 48 months and the amendment to Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 immediately.