AroundTheStream guide
Europe’s VPN Problem: Why Streaming Catalogs Don’t Always Change 🇪🇺
Switching your VPN to another European country but still seeing the same catalog? An EU rule in force since 2018 may explain why.
You connect your VPN to Spain, Germany or Italy, open your streaming service… and the catalog barely changes — or does not change at all. Before blaming your VPN, there is an important European rule you should know about.
The EU rule behind it
The key piece of legislation is Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 on cross-border portability of online content services. It was adopted on 14 June 2017 and has applied across the EU since 1 April 2018. Its purpose is simple: when subscribers are temporarily in another EU country, they should still be able to use the online content service they normally access in their country of residence.
What does that mean in practice?
Imagine your streaming subscription is based in . You travel to Spain and connect from a Spanish IP address. Instead of automatically switching you to the Spanish catalog, the service can continue providing the content associated with your French subscription.
