When German MEP Axel Voss took over Europe's plans to overhaul copyright rules for the internet age, he cast himself as a steady pair of hands that could broker a compromise on one of the bloc's most controversial reforms.

"I try to approach the issue without emotion," Voss said shortly after he became rapporteur for the file.

But as Parliament's plenary prepares for its second vote on the reform, the 55-year-old conservative has become something else — a lightning rod for controversy in a lobbying war between a tech industry that opposes parts of the reform, and a creative sector that supports it.

Much of the ire directed at Voss comes from the former group which, backed by giants like Google and Facebook, resists an expansion of online monitoring duties and new rights for publishers. Tech industry representatives argued that he was at times too slow to inflect his positions on controversial points when compromise was needed. Publishing industry representatives disagreed, saying Voss worked diligently to forge compromise in a lobbying fight that brought in everyone from former Beatle Paul McCartney to ex-Fugees star Wyclef Jean.

But even some members of his own party, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, voiced criticism of Voss, who some said has drifted away from his party's positions.

Now Voss — who has never held office in Berlin — has another chance to prove his critics wrong. MEPs are due to vote in plenary Wednesday on a series of amendments to the reform. If Voss' version of the European Commission's original text prevails, he will have won over his critics in one of Europe's most controversial legislative battles.

To boost his chances, he's chosen a strategy of appeasement. He added amendments to his original compromise that removed small tech businesses from facing certain obligations for big platforms to strike licensing agreements with rights holders. He's also attempted to explain how new obligations for member countries would work when it comes to mediation between big platforms like YouTube and rights holders when they flag infringements on the site.

It's been a substantial effort — one that Voss, days before the vote, was not sure would succeed. "I'm not sure this is working," he said. "But I'm confident it might be the best approach."

Tech's bête noire

Despite his outreach, critics kept coming back to the allegation that Voss is not willing enough to find compromise — with tech industry representatives being most vocal. They argued that through months of negotiations, Voss had remained unreceptive to their arguments about so-called upload filters, or automatic content monitoring tools.

"[Voss] has every freedom to present a middle-of-the-road approach" — German MEP Julia Reda

Such tools, they asserted, would lead to unintended consequences if used too widely — like taking down artistic nudes instead of pornographic material.

"We have communicated these points with Mr. Voss on several occasions," said Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, the director general of Digital Europe, a Brussels-based tech lobby that represents Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and others. "Unfortunately, we regret that not many of these considerations have been taken on board — even when they are supported by many other stakeholders, experts and academia."

Publishers disagreed. Voss had in fact done his best to accommodate all viewpoints, several representatives argued. “He has gone all-out to try and find a middle way and to retain a balance. It’s no secret that he and his own group supported the neighboring right. He did try to inject clearer wording [on hyperlinks and protecting individual users],” said Angela Mills Wade, the executive director of the European Publishers Council. (Axel Springer, co-owner of POLITICO's European edition, is a member of the European Publishers Council.)

Many online platforms already use automatic content monitoring tools. On YouTube, for example, Content ID automatically flags music videos protected by copyright. The current debate centers on how extensively such filters should be used. For the publishing sector, it focuses on how to potentially monetize the posting of snippets or excerpts of protected content.

Lobbyists also argued that Voss gave more time and consideration to publishing groups than he did to the digital sector.

By backing a new "right" for publishers and ruling in favor of more monitoring duties for platforms, he came out on the side of the pro-reform camp. The result, they said, was that the copyright compromise Voss had spent months brokering in committee was defeated in a July plenary vote, as major political groups — including his own — split into rival camps.

"He has every freedom to present a middle-of-the-road approach," said Julia Reda, a German MEP who was in charge of the file for Parliament's Greens, and advocated vocally against the current text. "It was frustrating how the shadow meetings [on finding a compromise] went."

Voss himself pushed back strongly against such criticisms.

He attributed the vote's defeat to what he called aggressive lobbying supported by tech giants, which "misled" the public over the substance of the law.

"They're not interested in getting a better balance," he told POLITICO, referring to the industry. "They are misleading the whole internet community saying filters are bad."

Voss also stated that representatives of some of the large tech firms had not approached or suggested to meet with him directly, hampering his understanding of their views.

Drifting away

In a heated argument, it can be tempting to blame the mediator. But outside of Brussels, observers described another factor in Voss' failure to win the first copyright vote: He fell out of sync with his own party.

Critics call Voss a Europapolitiker ("Europe politician"), a byword for an outsider to German politics.

While Voss originally backed the position of the European People's Party — which observers say originally stemmed from his home party, the Christian Democratic Union — party members say their views on ancillary copyright and upload filters evolved as they learned more about the subject. Voss, however, dug in on the most controversial subjects.

Inside the CDU, critics call Voss a Europapolitiker ("Europe politician"), a byword for an outsider to German politics.

Voss' distance from his party came to a head when a coalition of CDU members wrote a letter ahead of the July copyright vote pushing the European People's Party to reject Voss' compromise — a surprising reversal that heralded the defeat of his first compromise.

“I, frankly, just don’t get him,” said one CDU politician who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It’s not that he comes across like a sheriff ... He’s always open to talking and hearing new ideas. But then you speak with him for hours, and at the end, his position hasn’t changed at all.”