Greece holds 2.30 % of the EU population. Its government supports mandatory scanning of private messages, or the widest scanning scope in Council, since 26 Jun 2026.
Supports Last checked 22 October 2026
What the government has said
“Greece entered a positive scrutiny reservation on the presidency's detection compromise and, with Germany, France and Latvia, urged speed.”Council minutes of 10 and 26 June 2026, as recorded in the German cables
Receipt: Council minutes, 10 and 26 Jun 2026, via netzpolitik.org
No public national statement found. Wanted detection negotiated now rather than after the agreed parts (June 2026).
How it voted in the Council
- Negotiating mandate, 26 November 2025
- yes The Council position adopted in Coreper: voluntary scanning only, no detection orders. Coreper does not publish votes; the split was reported the same day by the Czech news agency CTK.
- Chat Control 1.0, 23 July 2026
- yes The vote that brought back the temporary rules: voluntary scanning of private messages allowed until 3 April 2028.
A government can oppose mandatory scanning and still vote for the voluntary regime. The two are listed separately for that reason. Council votes need 15 states with 65 % of the population; four states with more than 35 % block.
How its MEPs voted
On 9 July 2026 the European Parliament voted on a motion to reject the Council text that brought back voluntary scanning, Chat Control 1.0. Rejection needed 361 votes and got 314, so the text passed. Of the 21 MEPs elected in Greece, 6 voted to reject it, 9 voted against rejection, 0 abstained and 6 did not vote.
- 6 for rejection, that is against voluntary scanning
- 9 against rejection, letting the text pass
- 0 abstained
- 6 did not vote
The government line above concerns mandatory scanning; this vote concerned the voluntary regime. They are different questions, which is why both are shown. Source: roll-call vote 195775 as published by the European Parliament and compiled by HowTheyVote.eu; all 27 delegations side by side on the governments page.
Who decides in Greece
- Minister
- Michalis Chrysochoidis, Minister of Citizen Protection (since Jan 2024). Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis. Greece’s line is known only from Council minutes
- Ministry in charge
- Ministry of Citizen Protection; Ministry of Justice
- Permanent representation
- Ambassador Ioannis Vrailas, Permanent Representative (Coreper II, since 10 Jan 2020); Ambassador Efthymios Costopoulos, Deputy Permanent Representative (Coreper I, since Sep 2023)
Source: www.minocp.gov.gr/en/the-ministry/minister-of-civil-protection/
Timeline
- Council vote on Chat Control 1.0, the temporary rules. Greece: yes.
- European Parliament votes on rejecting Chat Control 1.0; the motion fails, the text passes. MEPs elected in Greece: 6 for rejection, 9 against, 0 abstained, 6 did not vote. source
- Recorded as supports. Receipt: Council minutes, 10 and 26 Jun 2026, via netzpolitik.org source
- Council negotiating mandate adopted in Coreper. Greece: yes.
Sources
This page is one of 27 records behind Where the 27 governments stand. Together the governments against hold 32.9 % of the EU population; a blocking minority needs more than 35 %.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Data for all 27: JSON · CSV. Found a mistake? Tell us; we correct openly and say what changed.
Cite as: Brussels Record, “Greece: position on Chat Control”, last checked 22 October 2026, https://brusselsrecord.com/member-states/greece/
