IATE term of the week: cross-border portability

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Cross-border portability

The term “cross-border portability” has been a major topic of discussion since 2015, especially in the past few weeks.
It is defined as “the ability of users of subscription-based online content services also to access those services when located temporarily in a country other than that of the subscription”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of the digital single market strategy, on 9 December 2015, the Commission presented a legislative proposal, which will give EU citizens the possibility to travel temporarily in another Member State, without restrictions on online services which they have purchased or subscribed to in their home country.

In 2017, a trilogue agreement was reached by the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council and a new regulation was adopted and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The main aim of the regulation is to ensure the cross-border portability of subscription  on several content service providers.
It is important to note that the temporary presence in other Member States means ‘for a limited period of time’, and covers situations such as leisure, travel, work mobility, business-travel or learning mobility and that some verification measures are applied.
The verification criteria might  include ID card, payment details, or IP address.

1 April: a very significant day for cross-border portability

From 1 April, new rules will make it possible for EU citizens to access their online subscriptions and content (TV series, films, songs) when staying in another country.
Under the new regulation, everyone who has paid  the right to watch, listen or read online content from a provider in their home country, will be allowed to do so in any other EU country where they are staying for a limited period of time. For example, if you live in Italy and you go to visit a friend in Greece, you will be able to access the service you subscribed to with no restrictions.

This measure is part of a bigger range of EU actions, which share a common aim: make communication and content access easier all over Europe, including the end of roaming (2017) and the end of geo-blocking.We will be back with the latest EU terminology next Friday!


Written by Flaminia Paternoster, Communication and Terminology Trainee at TermCoord