Netflix roaming proposal will allow users access home content

Subscribers to online video streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Video and Sky will be able to access the services when visiting other countries within the European Union under proposals agreed by member states on Thursday.

The law was presented by the the European Commission last December as part of its efforts to create a single market for such online services across the 28-member bloc.

The proposal on portability of digital content will become law after it is approved by the European Parliament.

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Consumers with subscriptions to services such as Sky TV Now or Netflix in would be able to view content they have paid for when they are “temporarily“ in other countries within the EU.

“This means that citizens who are in another member state for purposes such as holidays or business trips can enjoy for example music, films, games or sporting events just like at home,“ said Henk Kamp, minister for economic affairs in the Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency and managed the proposal.

What constitutes “temporarily“ was left open, but member states specified that it is a “limited amount of time“.

The European Commission hopes that the proposal will enter into force in 2017.

While Netflix is already available in many European countries, content is tailored to local tastes so that an Irish user in Germany, for example, might not currently have access to the Irish catalogue without connecting through a server that appears to be located in France.

Twenty per cent local content

Under other proposals published by the European Commission, video-on-demand providers such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple iTunes would be forced to dedicate at least 20 per cent of their catalogues to European content.

The European Commission is seeking to increase the EU's film and TV industry with the 20 per cent quota as part of a wider overhaul of the EU's broadcasting rules presented in Brussels.

However an Irish law expert says that the proposed quota will not have an impact on services like Netflix and Amazon.

Dr Eoin O'Dell, a lecturer on law and freedom of expression in Trinity College Dublin told RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Thursday that the online video streaming services already have at least 20 per cent European content.

Dr O’Dell said: “it’s not going to make much difference, they already have 20 per cent local content, this is just putting it in law as a marker. The service won’t change for existing users.”

Netflix is well-known as one of the world’s largest movie and TV series streaming services, with more than 75 million subscribers.

While it began life as a DVD-by-mail service in 2007, it quickly transformed to movie streaming, becoming a billion-dollar company in the process.

Since its expansion to Europe in 2012, both profit and audience figures for Netflix have risen exponentially in line with growing acclaim for originally-produced series such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Irish users

In Ireland, the US-based media giant currently has around 200,000 subscribers who avail of its current one-screen (€ 7.99), two-screen (€ 9.99) or four-screen (€ 11.99) packages.

Irish customers who were among the first subscribers to Netflix when it came to Ireland had been paying a a steady fee of €7.99 a month until May, thus avoiding numerous price hikes in between.

From this month however, original subscribers had the option to increase their monthly payment by €2 to € 9.99 a month to continue with their full HD service, or stick with the €7.99 tariff, but receive standard definition content only and viewing on one screen at a time.

Netflix said the EU measures will not really help European production flourish.

“Our members around the world love European programming, that‘s why our investment in European programming, including Netflix original titles created in Europe, is growing,” said Netflix spokesman, Joris Evers.

Dr O’Dell said that it will take four years for the legislation to go through and that an agency equivalent to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland will have powers to implement the new rules.

The European Commissions’s call is part of a proposed update to the 28-nation bloc’s Audiovisual Media Services directive.

Other measures include, a requirement that video-sharing platforms including YouTube adopt "better" measures to protect minors from violent content, and people of all ages from clips that act as an incitement to hatred.

It also calls for the creation of new symbols or phrases that would warn viewers of potentially harmful video content, such as bad language, sex or drugs, that would be used across the EU by both broadcasters and internet-based platforms.

It also calls for the ability for TV broadcasters to have more flexibility as to when they show advertisements.

Additional reporting: Agencies