"Regarding the fight against terrorism, the two ministers reaffirmed their commitment to defend at the upcoming Justice and Home Affairs Council on October 13-14 their proposals on interior security as outlined in the French-German initiative," the statement carried by the French Interior Ministry read.
The ministers, who have joined forces after their countries were targeted in a string of Islamist attacks, said they would continue demanding that the European Commission draft a "legislative initiative" on "issues of encryption, file interoperability to boost information cooperation at the European level."
If adopted, an EU-level encryption law will give security and intelligence agencies access to encrypted communications via WhatsApp, Telegram and other mobile messaging services that use end-to-end encryption.
