The market for video-on-demand services is primarily determined by US providers: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney + offer a wealth of productions – US series and films are disproportionately often found on streaming providers. There are also European alternatives such as realeyz and Sooner, but so far these only cover niches – and above all they want to inspire discerning cineastes with arthouse and indie productions. In order to draw more attention to European works, the EU has passed a directive that imposes a film quota on streaming services. Now the first member state has drawn up a corresponding draft law that could also put Apple in a mess.
EU names precise rules
The EU directive is already two years old, the Commission recently named more details: In the future, 30 percent of the films and series will be European productions; the number of titles will be used as the basis for calculation. Individual episodes of a series are not counted as titles, but individual seasons are – the EU wants to ensure that providers do not just produce a few European series that have a particularly large number of episodes.
Ireland with first bill
Countries such as Spain, France and Greece were in favor of the film quota – Ireland rejected such a regulation (see). Since June of this year, however, a new government has been in office – and the minister responsible for media, Catherine Martin (Green Party), is now pushing ahead: the one presented Law obliges streaming providers to adhere to the 30 percent quota. It does not necessarily have to be an EU country: British productions can also be claimed.
Apple in distress
Martin also explicitly mentioned Apple TV + – and stated that the service would be discontinued throughout Europe if Apple does not adhere to the quota:
The project brings Cupertino into distress: So calculate MacRumors suggest that the provider, as of today, would need 17 additional European productions in its portfolio in order to meet the quota.