Can you use your streaming subscriptions in another EU country?
Yes, if you pay for the service and you are only visiting. Under Regulation (EU) 2017/1128, a paid online content service must work in another EU country as it does at home: same content, same devices, no extra charge. Free services may choose to join in but do not have to, the rule stops at the edge of the EU and the EEA, and the mobile data you use to watch is a separate matter.
See the Europe packWhat a paid subscription must give you in another EU country
The regulation on cross-border portability of online content services obliges the provider of a paid service, such as Netflix, DAZN or Spotify Premium, to let a subscriber who is temporarily in another member state use it in the same manner as at home. Article 3 spells out what that means: the same content, on the same range and number of devices, for the same number of users and with the same functionalities. The provider cannot charge anything extra for it. Legally, the service is treated as if you were still watching in your country of residence, which is why the provider needs no extra rights abroad.
The regulation names music, games, films, entertainment programmes and sports events, and the Commission's Your Europe page adds e-books. Payment does not have to go straight to the streaming company: the regulation also counts a service you pay for through a package that combines a telephone or internet contract with a content service, such as the TV platform bundled with your fibre and mobile. Any clause that bans portability or limits it to a set period is unenforceable.
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Free apps can say no
Services you do not pay for are outside the obligation. Article 6 lets a free provider choose to offer portability, on condition that it checks your country of residence like a paid one would, and tells its users first. Many free services do not, because they never ask where you live, and the free tier of a paid app, such as Spotify Free, falls under these rules rather than the paid ones. The regulation also says that paying a mandatory public broadcasting fee does not count as paying for an online content service.
Your Europe gives an example that is easy to recognise: someone in Sweden who watches a public broadcaster's programmes through a free app finds it does not work on holiday in Italy, and that is allowed. So before a trip, check which of your apps are paid subscriptions and which are free. The paid ones you can count on; the free ones, including some TV channel apps from home, depend on the provider.
Where the rule applies, and where it does not
The regulation covers the EU member states. Through the EEA Agreement it also applies in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as EFTA has confirmed. It does not cover the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Andorra or Turkey, among others: there, what you can watch depends only on the provider's own terms. Netflix, for example, says that outside the European Union the titles available to you may be different, while inside it you get the same content as at home.
The rule also only works in one direction. It lets you take your own country's subscription with you; it does not let you sign up for another country's service. Your Europe uses the case of an Estonian resident who wants a Spanish football app that requires a Spanish address: that is legal, because the provider is not obliged to serve residents of other countries. Roaming has a similar map, explained in our guide to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Temporary, with no day count
The regulation defines temporarily present as being in another member state for a limited period of time, and sets no number of days. Your Europe explains that the rules are designed for stays such as holidays and business trips, that someone who commutes every day from France to Germany keeps access in both, and that there is no limit on access abroad as long as you live in an EU country. If you move to another country for a longer period, it advises checking the conditions with your provider.
Its example of what can go wrong is a student from Belgium on a three-month Erasmus placement in Spain. Her music service cut her off, saying she no longer lived in Belgium. She complained, the provider checked her residence, saw the stay was temporary and restored full access. Netflix's own help describes portability within the EU as giving you the same content as at home for a limited period of time, so on a long stay that is the clause to keep an eye on.
How the service knows where you live
Providers must check your country of residence when you sign up and when the contract is renewed, using no more than two means from a fixed list: an identity card or electronic ID, payment details such as your bank account or card, where a decoder or set-top box is installed, payment of a licence fee, an internet or telephone contract, the local electoral roll, local taxes or a utility bill. Your billing address, a declaration of your address and an IP address check can only be used together with one of those.
If the provider has reasonable doubts during the contract, it can check again, and then an IP check alone is allowed. If you refuse to provide the information and it cannot verify where you live, it does not have to give you access abroad. The data collected can only be used for that check and must be destroyed once it is done. In practice, keeping a payment method from your home country on the account usually settles the question.
Picture quality depends on the network, and so does the data
Article 3 does not oblige the provider to match the delivery quality you get at home, unless you agreed otherwise, but it does forbid any action to reduce quality on purpose, and the provider must tell you in advance what quality to expect abroad. Your Europe sums it up: the quality also depends on the network you use, whether that is Wi-Fi or a mobile network.
The data is a separate matter. Your Europe points out that watching over a mobile network in another EU country counts towards the data in your mobile contract, and the regulation itself notes that network operators may charge for the connection. With your home plan, roaming within the EU works as explained in our Roam like at home guide, fair use limits included. A travel eSIM with a fixed allowance is the other option, and then the numbers below matter.
A match or a series on your phone, in gigabytes
Netflix says its Automatic setting on a phone gives about 4 hours of viewing per GB, and Save Data about 6. That puts a 50-minute episode at around 0.2 GB on Automatic. Disney+ publishes about 2 GB an hour on Automatic, its default, and about 0.6 GB an hour on Save Data, so a two-hour broadcast comes to roughly 4 GB or 1.2 GB. Our guides to Netflix and to Prime Video and Disney+ have the rest of the settings.
DAZN does not publish data per hour. Its help gives recommended speeds, 3 Mbps for standard definition, 9 for 720p and 16 for 1080p, and says it picks the best quality your device and connection allow, so a match on good 4G or 5G can be heavy. Prime Video gives no figure either. For those, watch 15 minutes, read the phone's counter and multiply. Downloading at home is the cheapest option, although Netflix warns that downloaded titles may not be available in another country, so check one plays once you land. For trips across several countries, Snoozim's Europe pack works in 33 of them.
Can I watch Netflix in another EU country?
Yes. Paid subscriptions must work in another member state as they do at home, and Netflix says that within the EU you get the same content as in your home country.
Does the rule apply in the UK or Switzerland?
No. It covers the EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Elsewhere, access depends on each provider's own terms.
Is there a time limit?
The regulation sets no number of days. It covers temporary stays while you live in an EU country, and contract clauses that limit portability to a set period are unenforceable.
Do free streaming apps have to work abroad?
No. Free services can choose to offer portability, but they are not obliged to.
Can the provider charge me extra to watch abroad?
No. The regulation forbids additional charges for using the service in another member state, although the mobile data you use is billed by your network provider.
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