EU citizens will be able to access their TV and music subscriptions when traveling within the EU

The European Parliament approves new regulations that will allow portability and access to online services from other countries in the European Union such as Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, Spotify or Deezer.

EU citizens who subscribe to online audiovisual services will soon be able to access content from other EU countries as well. Subscribers in a Member State are often unable to access the audiovisual content to which they subscribe, such as films, television series, sporting events, music and video games, when they move within the Community territory.

The new regulations, approved by the plenary session on Thursday and informally agreed between Parliament and the Council in February, eliminate these restrictions and will allow European citizens to watch television, listen to music or play games through services such as Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, Spotify or Deezer, while they are temporarily abroad.

The regulations passed with 586 votes in favor, 34 against and 8 abstentions.

Data protection

Online content providers may take “proportionate and reasonable” measures to check that the subscriber does not live permanently in another Member State, as copyright requirements may vary from country to country.

Possible methods to verify residency include checking identification documents, bank accounts or credit cards, a tax return, the postal address or the IP address from which the subscriber accesses the service.

Operators will need to ensure that any processing of personal data is proportionate and introduce security guarantees, especially for the verification of IP addresses.

The rules will apply only to online content subject to payment of a fee but providers of free services will also be able to offer portability of their content across the EU, provided they meet residency verification requirements.

The bill must now be formally adopted by the EU Council of Ministers. Member States will then have nine months from the entry into force of the regulation to begin applying it.

According to a Commission survey carried out in 2016, 64% of Europeans used the internet to access video games, images, movies or music (67% in the case of Spain). Many of them want to continue doing it while traveling through Europe. These figures are expected to increase when Europeans begin to pay less to access the Internet from their mobile devices, starting next June 15, as roaming surcharges disappear.