The European Commission has proposed legislation in the EU to provide a uniform legal and competition framework for video-streaming services provided via the Internet. The regime includes changes to advertising, the introduction of a quota on the provision of European content, and other provisions to deal with the protection of minors and with hate speech.

Since the current version of the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) was adopted in 2010, media consumption has changed dramatically, largely as a result of developments in the Internet and mobile devices combined with an increase in the available bandwidth. Fewer people, in particular the younger generation, are watching traditional television; instead they are watching films, video and other audiovisual content via the Internet, or on their mobile devices.