# Watching your streaming subscription while travelling in the EU

> EU Regulation 2017/1128 lets you use paid streaming subscriptions while visiting another EU country. Who it covers, how checks work, what to do if blocked.

Updated 2026-10-07 · 8-minute read · HTML: https://checkwebsitenow.com/guides/streaming-abroad-eu-portability

## The short answer

If you pay for an online streaming service in your EU home country and you are only visiting another EU country, the provider must let you use it there just as you do at home, at no extra cost.

This right comes from Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 on cross-border portability (the right to take your subscription with you). It has applied in all EU countries since 20 March 2018. Through the EEA Agreement it has also applied in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway since 1 August 2019.

This guide explains who is covered, what counts as a temporary stay, how providers check where you live, what the rule does not cover, and what to do if a service still blocks you.

## Who and what is covered

The regulation protects consumers, meaning people who use a service for private purposes. You need a contract with the provider, and the service must be lawfully offered to you in your home country.

It covers online content services. The text names two types: audiovisual media services, such as on-demand film and TV services, and services whose main feature is access to works or broadcasts. The introduction of the regulation lists music, games, films, entertainment programmes and sports events as examples.

Paid services must offer portability. Free services may choose to offer it, but only if they verify where you live in the same way, and they must tell their users about that decision.

Your home country is legally called the Member State of residence: the EU country where you have your actual and stable residence.

## What counts as a temporary stay

The regulation says you are temporarily present when you are in another EU country for a limited period of time. It does not set a fixed number of days. Its introduction names leisure, travel, business trips and learning mobility, such as a study exchange, as typical reasons.

Providers cannot shorten this right by contract. Any contract term that forbids portability or limits it to a specific time period is unenforceable, which means it cannot be used against you.

The right is about visits, not moves. If you settle in another country, your home country changes, and you may need to update your account or subscription. A provider with reasonable doubts about where you live may repeat its check during the contract.

## What the provider must give you

While you are temporarily in another EU country, Article 3 of the regulation requires the provider to let you use the service in the same way as at home. In practice that means:

- the same content, so the catalogue of your home country
- the same range and number of devices
- the same number of users
- the same range of functions
- no extra charges for using the service abroad

## What about picture quality?

Picture quality is a special case. The provider does not have to match the quality it promises at home, unless you agreed otherwise. The network where you are staying may simply be slower.

But the provider must not reduce the quality on purpose, and it must tell you in advance, based on the information it has, what quality to expect abroad.

## How providers check where you live

When you sign up and when you renew, a paid provider must check your home country. Article 5 allows it to use no more than two means from a fixed list, and the means must be reasonable, proportionate and effective. The list includes:

- an identity card or an electronic ID
- payment details, such as a bank account or card number
- where a set-top box or decoder is installed
- payment of a licence fee, for example for public broadcasting
- an internet or phone contract that links you to the country
- registration on a local electoral roll or payment of local taxes, if that information is public
- a utility bill that links you to the country
- your billing or postal address, your own declaration of your address, or an IP address check (a check of which country your connection comes from)

## Limits that protect your data

The three means in the last item of that list are weaker. A provider may only use them together with one of the stronger means, unless your postal address appears in a public official register.

Providers may use the data only for this check. They must not pass it to rights holders or other third parties, and they must destroy it as soon as the check is complete. If a provider repeats the check during the contract, an IP check may only record whether you are inside or outside your home country, not where exactly you are.

If you do not provide the information and the provider therefore cannot verify your home country, it does not have to give you portability.

## What the rule does not cover

Portability is a narrow right. A related law, the Geo-blocking Regulation (EU) 2018/302, does not widen it: that law excludes audiovisual services and, for electronically supplied services, those whose main feature is access to copyright-protected works. That is why streaming services may still offer different catalogues in different countries. Portability does not help in these cases:

- Trips outside the EU and EEA. Netflix, for example, says your choices may be different when you travel to a country outside the European Union.
- The United Kingdom. The UK's official legislation website lists the regulation as revoked in UK law after Brexit.
- Switzerland, because it is neither in the EU nor in the EEA.
- Free services that have not chosen to offer portability.
- Permanent moves to another country.
- Business or professional use, because the regulation protects consumers.

## Before and during your trip

A few small steps make portability work more smoothly. The examples come from Netflix's help pages; other services publish similar travel advice.

- Read your provider's travel help page. Netflix, for example, says it provides the same content as in your home country within the EU for a limited period of time.
- If you often travel to the same place, follow your provider's advice for regular viewers. Netflix asks people with a second home to stream briefly from their main location about once a month.
- Keep your payment method valid. Netflix notes that gift cards and other cash payment methods vary by country and may not work where you travel.
- Do not rely on downloads. Netflix says titles downloaded to your phone or tablet may not be available while you are in a different country.
- If something fails, take a screenshot of the message and note the time, the country you are in and the app you used.

## If the service still blocks you

First rule out simple causes. A VPN or proxy might be switched on, sometimes inside antivirus software, which Netflix names as a cause of its VPN error. The service may also be free and outside the rule, or you may be in a country the rule does not cover.

If none of that applies, contact customer support in writing. You can copy and adapt this message:

"Hello, I am a subscriber who lives in [home country] and I am temporarily staying in [country] until [date]. The service shows: [exact message]. Under Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 on cross-border portability, I should be able to use my subscription here in the same way as at home, at no extra cost. Please enable access or tell me which verification you need."

If the provider does not help and is based in another EU country, the European Consumer Centre in the country where you live can explain your rights and help settle the dispute. The network covers the EU, Iceland and Norway.

## A VPN as the last option

Inside the EU, a paid subscription should not need a VPN at all. A VPN mainly comes up outside the EU, or for free services that do not offer portability.

Think twice before using one. Streaming services set their own rules: Netflix's terms say you may watch primarily in the country where you set up your account and forbid getting around its content protections. Netflix also shows an error when it notices a VPN or proxy, and it does not support VPNs on its ad-supported plan or for live events.

Also check the law of the country you are visiting, because some countries restrict VPNs. Our guide on VPN legality and safety explains this. If you still decide a VPN fits your case, our comparison at [/vpn](https://checkwebsitenow.com/vpn) lists providers by documented criteria.

## Compare VPN providers

If a VPN fits your case, see our [VPN comparison](https://checkwebsitenow.com/vpn): free steps first, then providers ordered by documented criteria, never by commission. Our VPN comparison at [/vpn](https://checkwebsitenow.com/vpn) may contain affiliate links. They are labelled as ads and never change a provider's points or order.

## Common questions

### How long can I stay abroad and still use my subscription?

The regulation does not name a number of days. It speaks of a limited period of time, and it makes contract terms that limit portability to a specific period unenforceable. What matters is that you are visiting, not moving.

### Does this work for free TV apps and media libraries?

Only if the provider chooses to offer portability. Free services are not obliged to, but they may opt in if they verify where you live. Check the provider's help pages.

### Does the rule apply in the UK or in Switzerland?

No. The UK's official legislation website lists the regulation as revoked in UK law, and Switzerland is neither in the EU nor in the EEA.

### Can the provider charge me extra for watching abroad?

No. Article 3 says the provider must not impose any additional charges for using the service while you are temporarily in another EU country.

### Why does the catalogue look different on holiday inside the EU?

For a paid service it should not. Possible causes are a failed residence check, a VPN or proxy that is switched on, or a free service that has not opted in. Contact support with the exact message.


## Related error messages

- [451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons](https://checkwebsitenow.com/errors/http-451)
- [403 Forbidden](https://checkwebsitenow.com/errors/http-403)
- [Cloudflare error 1009: Country or region banned](https://checkwebsitenow.com/errors/cloudflare-1009)

## More guides

- [Website blocked in your country or just down? How to tell the difference](https://checkwebsitenow.com/guides/geoblocking-or-outage): The signs of a country block (HTTP 451, Cloudflare 1009, region messages) versus an outage, a five-minute self-test, and when a VPN helps or does not.
- [Is using a VPN legal and safe? What it fixes and what it doesn't](https://checkwebsitenow.com/guides/is-a-vpn-legal-and-safe): Where VPNs are legal or restricted, why legal is not the same as allowed by a service, what a VPN hides, how to judge a provider and when to switch it off.

## Sources

- [EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 on cross-border portability of online content services](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/1128/oj)
- [EFTA EEA-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 in the EEA (Joint Committee Decision 158/2018, in force 1 August 2019)](https://www.efta.int/eea-lex/32017R1128)
- [legislation.gov.uk: Regulation (EU) 2017/1128, shown as revoked in the UK](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2017/1128/contents)
- [EUR-Lex: Geo-blocking Regulation (EU) 2018/302, Articles 1(3) and 4(1)(b)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/302/oj)
- [Netflix Help: Using Netflix outside of your home](https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24853)
- [Netflix Help: 'You seem to be using a VPN or proxy'](https://help.netflix.com/en/node/277)
- [Netflix Terms of Use, sections 1.5 and 1.8](https://help.netflix.com/legal/termsofuse)
- [European Commission: European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net)](https://commission.europa.eu/topics/consumers/consumer-rights-and-complaints/resolve-your-consumer-complaint/european-consumer-centres-network-ecc-net_en)

Last updated: 2026-10-07. Check a website now: https://checkwebsitenow.com/?check=example.com