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Live·Scanning your messages is voluntary until April 2028·a deal on the EU Centre on 29 September, none on private messages; next round not yet scheduled

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How many governments oppose Chat Control? It depends on the question

Who Decides? Pavel Kadlec -
On the public record of 10 October 2026, one, four or nine EU governments oppose Chat Control, depending on the question. Four questions, four answers, with the document behind each.

Where things stand

LIVE · EU CHAT CONTROL
1.0 IN FORCE until April 2028
2.0 IN NEGOTIATION · EU Centre agreed on 29 September, private messages still open
9 of 27 governments against mandatory scanning · where all 27 stand
The negotiators, ministers and lawyers, by name
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The record today

  1. All 27 records checked: no government has changed its position, and the Council paper for the 20 October meeting is not out yet.
  2. A Council paper on “a possible detection package” is listed for 20 October, when the counsellors meet again on the regulation. It is not public.
  3. The Commission’s list of organisations under Regulation 2026/1881, due on 1 October, is still not published.
  4. No new Council paper on the regulation since 1 October; the outcome of the 5 October meeting is still unpublished.
  5. Romania’s president designates Luca-Alexandru Niculescu for prime minister. Latvia’s president asks Kulbergs to form the next government.
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Where the 27 governments stand

Nine against. 2.1 points short of a blocking minority.

Nine governments are on record against mandatory scanning of private messages: 32.9 % of the EU population. Blocking a Council vote takes at least four governments and more than 35 %. Belgium or Portugal would each close the gap; neither has said anything decisive.

Share of the EU populationMore than 35 % blocks a Council vote

  • Against 9
  • Unclear 3
  • Conditional 1
  • Supports 14

Conditional: Germany does not oppose mandatory detection where it supplements voluntary scanning. Each position rests on a document; the latest change was Slovenia, from Against to Unclear, on 9 September 2026.

Every government and the document behind it →Data: CSV · JSON

Map of the 27 EU governments by position on mandatory scanning of private messagesAustria: Against. 2.03 % of the EU populationBelgium: Unclear. 2.63 % of the EU populationBulgaria: Supports. 1.42 % of the EU populationCroatia: Supports. 0.86 % of the EU populationCyprus: Supports. 0.22 % of the EU populationCzechia: Against. 2.42 % of the EU populationDenmark: Supports. 1.32 % of the EU populationEstonia: Against. 0.3 % of the EU populationFinland: Against. 1.24 % of the EU populationFrance: Supports. 15.18 % of the EU populationGermany: Conditional. 18.47 % of the EU populationGreece: Supports. 2.3 % of the EU populationHungary: Supports. 2.11 % of the EU populationIreland: Supports. 1.2 % of the EU populationItaly: Against. 13.19 % of the EU populationLatvia: Supports. 0.41 % of the EU populationLithuania: Supports. 0.64 % of the EU populationLuxembourg: Against. 0.15 % of the EU populationMalta: Supports. 0.13 % of the EU populationNetherlands: Against. 4.02 % of the EU populationPoland: Against. 8.29 % of the EU populationPortugal: Unclear. 2.38 % of the EU populationRomania: Supports. 4.21 % of the EU populationSlovakia: Against. 1.21 % of the EU populationSlovenia: Unclear. 0.47 % of the EU populationSpain: Supports. 10.86 % of the EU populationSweden: Supports. 2.34 % of the EU population

Hover or tap a country for its page. Grey: not in the EU. Source: Brussels Record, governments page; map: Natural Earth.

This week

On Tuesday 29 September the presidency and the European Parliament held the sixth trilogue on the child sexual abuse regulation. They agreed on the tasks of the future EU Centre, the Parliament’s rapporteur said in a statement on 30 September, but not on scanning private messages. Agence Europe, MLex and Patrick Breyer also report an agreement in principle on detection orders for public content, which the Parliament’s statement does not mention. No date has been set for the next round; Patrick Breyer expects a final attempt at a political deal in November, with technical talks on private messages continuing through October. Justice and home affairs ministers met in Luxembourg on 1 and 2 October; the Council’s main results of both days do not mention the regulation. Justice and home affairs counsellors met in Brussels on 5 October on the outcome of the trilogue and the next steps; no outcome has been published. The paper for that meeting, WK 15082/26, “Outcome of the 6th trilogue on 29 September 2026 and way forward”, is listed in the Council’s register but is not public. The counsellors meet again on 20 October on the state of play and the next steps; a Council paper for a meeting that day, “Technical discussion on a possible detection package”, is also listed but not public.

Read the note →The Parliament’s statement →Agence Europe’s report →The Council’s call for 5 October →Read the three questions →Open the tracker →

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