Nick Vivarelli, writing for Variety, reports in an exclusive that the European Union has all but agreed streaming services must “dedicate at least 30% of their on-demand catalogs to local content.”

He quotes Roberto Viola, head of the European Commission department that regulates communications networks, content and technology: “We just need the final vote, but it’s a mere formality.”

According to Nick, in additon:

“Netflix, Amazon and other streamers will be required to fund TV series and films produced in Europe by commissioning content, acquiring it or paying into national film funds through a small surcharge added to their subscription fee.”

The Guardian reported that the EU was contemplating a ‘Netflix Quota’ back in April 2018.

My take: this law makes streamers play by the same rules as national broadcasters. I predict streamers in Canada will face either GST, a production levy, or both within the year. As to quotas, it’s never going to happen in Canada, since no politician will die on that hill. (The closest we came was 40 years ago.) Mathematically, it would be easy for streamers to offer 30% Canadian content in their catalogs by releasing anything ever produced in Canada and/or reducing the number of non-Canadian titles on offer.