“The European Commission and the Danish Council Presidency tried until the very end to establish, under the pretext of combating child abuse, a system that would in essence amount to blanket mass surveillance and the weakening of end-to-end encryption. From the outset it was clear that such a plan would constitute a blatant violation of Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Even the Legal Service of the Council of the EU warned of massive intrusions into citizens’ privacy and deemed it a breach of fundamental human rights.
Accordingly, there was strong parliamentary resistance from the AfD and the entire ESN Group. In line with widespread public protest, we have fought resolutely to ensure that people’s fundamental freedoms are not sacrificed to a centralized European control mechanism. Today’s change of course by the federal government is the result of the persistent efforts of citizens and Members of Parliament alike. The political pressure has paid off—an important day for fundamental rights in Europe.”
