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For Sale Mar 27, 2026 at 7:35 PM

Netflix Loses First Round in Battle Against EU Rules Requiring Streamers to Fund Productions in Belgium

Posted by mrjohnnymac18

Netflix Loses First Round in Battle Against EU Rules Requiring Streamers to Fund Productions in Belgium
Variety
Netflix Loses First Round in Battle Against EU Rules Requiring Streamers to Fund Productions in Belgium
Netflix has lost the first round in its battle against EU rules requiring streamers to fund local productions in French-speaking Belgium.
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AgentElman Mar 27, 2026 +116
Just make a Tintin series
116
Kevbot1000 Mar 27, 2026 +41
A live action TinTin series could honestly kick ass.
41
[deleted] Mar 27, 2026 -10
[deleted]
-10
nicbongo Mar 28, 2026 +3
Too old, wrong hair. 
3
brb1006 Mar 27, 2026 +4
I'm pissed that the TinTin Movie left Netflix a few years ago. Rewatching it for the first time after learning more about Herge's contributions to the BD Comic Industry made me really appreciate how much effort was put into that movie.
4
Dotcaprachiappa Mar 28, 2026 +1
There's so many great Belgian IPs they could use instead of fighting it
1
JackandFred Mar 27, 2026 +43
There’s already similar rules in France, so I assume it will hold up in whichever countries put in place those rules (eu ones at least)
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sergiocamposnt Mar 27, 2026 +55
Honestly, those French laws are great and every country should do something similar. That's how Netflix spent tons of money on Lupin and Emily in Paris. Netflix enters a country, and earns a lot of money. So the minimum they should do is invest part of this money in local production.
55
aVHSofPointBreak Mar 27, 2026 +11
Very interesting; I didn’t realize that. There’s been a lot of French action films I’ve really enjoyed (like the Lost Bullet series, AKA, Wages of Fear) on Netflix. Are those the result of this stipulation as well?
11
sergiocamposnt Mar 27, 2026 +11
Absolutely. At least 20% of the profit that Netflix makes in France must be spent on French productions.
11
Intensityintensifies Mar 28, 2026 -1
Net or gross profit?
-1
iterationnull Mar 27, 2026 -2
Canada is bringing this in and Americans are pissed.
-2
NDZ188 Mar 27, 2026 +15
Bringing? We already have laws requiring investment into Canadian productions.
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iterationnull Mar 27, 2026 -4
Not from Netflix we don’t
-4
bannedagainomg Mar 28, 2026 +1
Yes you do, it was changed some years ago but put on hold because streamers tried to appeal it. It was in place for broadcast companies for ages, streamers just got around it for a while.
1
QuintoBlanco Mar 27, 2026 +6
Obviously this is not just about Belgium, but there are many comic book IPs that originated in Belgium. It actually would make sense to produce a bunch of shows in Belgium from a commercial point of view.
6
Luci-Noir Mar 27, 2026 +1
Yeah there makes sense for a lot of things where it makes but some others where it doesn’t. Like if a country just doesn’t have the necessary soundstages or something it doesn’t.
1
spambearpig Mar 27, 2026 +14
I’d watch a show about waffles
14
Seagoon_Memoirs Mar 28, 2026 +1
we have otan and the eu
1
SarahArabic2 Mar 27, 2026 +30
Belgium is taking steps to protect the Belgium film industry… honestly that should be a requirement for every country, good on them.
30
bannedagainomg Mar 28, 2026 +1
A lot of countries already have similar laws, just didnt apply to streaming services because they wasnt even around when it was put in place so they got around it. This is mroe like closing loopholes that should have been closed long ago, many places already have some are a lot slower to change.
1
Muchaton Mar 28, 2026 +1
That's a welcome surprise 
1
KansanJohnBrown24 Mar 27, 2026 -5
Yeah if only the U.S. could get their head of their ass and do the same thing we wouldn’t have a crumbling film industry that’s decaying more and more by the day.
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bannedagainomg Mar 28, 2026
You guys dont have the same problem tho, there is not a foreign media company coming into the US drowning out the local market and just taking their money elsewhere. Yours might be a bit harder to solve.
0
firedrakes Mar 27, 2026 -15
wow really? dumbest take ever. btw those gov sub loss a gov money. dv but i am right on lost of money thru
-15
BungeeGump Mar 27, 2026 +4
Can anyone explain why Netflix has to invest into Belgium specifically? Any why this isn’t just a money grab? The article doesn’t provide much detail.
4
UneducatedUnemployed Mar 28, 2026 +2
it's just requiring they reinvest some of the profits back into the region (literally less than 10%). seems very reasonable. netflix makes a billion dollars in belgium? reinvest $100mil or get out. market access is not a right - there has to be benefits for both sides, not just siphering money into american exec's pockets.
2
HuntMore9217 Mar 28, 2026 +1
> there has to be benefits for both sides tax not enough benefit?
1
UneducatedUnemployed Mar 28, 2026 +4
not when they cheat on their taxes and use tax shelters. and again, is reinvesting 10% really so onerous?
4
wartopuk Mar 28, 2026 +1
Do you have any actual evidence of tax fraud? Also, netflix has 2.3 million subscribers in Belgium, which means their income is anywhere between 18.1 million (Remember belgium has 21% VAT) and 38.1 million euros, depending on how the plans break down. This is net after tax, not profit. the 9.5% would work out to: 1.7 million to 3.6 million euros based on their after VAT income. This is not adjusted for profit. It's unclear how much profit Netflix is making in Belgium after everything they pay for there, like content licensing, marketing, infrastructure costs, etc. Netflix's global average profit is 24%. Meaning from the above numbers, if belgium is average, they only clear 4.3 million euros to 9.1 million euros. 1.7 to 3.6 million euros additional out of that leaves them with much tighter margins and that's not how businesses operate and actually stay sustainable. So to be clear, at the upper end, Belgium is already collecting 10.1 million Euros in VAT. They're also benefiting from any of the things that Netflix is doing in the country already. So any marketing campaigns they spend money on in Belgium both provide income for Belgium companies and the VAT off those goes to the government, and any content they license from Belgium companies also provides income for those companies and that VAT off that goes to the government. They've now turned around and said, at that level, the'd want another 3.6, or a 36% increase in contribution from Netflix. If the government told you tomorrow they were going to increase your taxes 36% how long would it take you to sue?
1
UneducatedUnemployed Mar 28, 2026 +1
1. tax shelters and tax fraud are functionally the same; 2. i appreciate the breakdown; 3. 24% margin is fuckin thick. most businesses operate much lower than that. besides, they put a ton of money into continued expansion/ growth, driving down that number; 4. that's not taking into account the million different types of funky accounting available to corporations operating at this scale; 5. i didn't realise i was talking to mr tim netflix over here. why are you hugging this corporation's sack?
1
wartopuk Mar 28, 2026 +1
1. They're not. Their income goes to Amsterdam. Amsterdam has 25% corporate tax, they'ren not hiding anything. 2. No problem 3. So then you'd see their available income from Belgium as being even lower than that? Makes the Belgium ask even more difficult for them. 4. Again, do you have any evidence of fraud or are you just parroting /r/trustmebro nonsense? 5. I'm not procorporation, I'm anti-ignorance and trustmebro listnook garbage and you're today's big w*****.
1
UneducatedUnemployed Mar 28, 2026 +1
to use another example, why should cobalt miners in the congo reinvest in the country? aren't those jobs (generating dollars a day! how bigly!) enough?
1
HuntMore9217 Mar 28, 2026 +2
i might be wrong but those companies pay taxes, fees or even royalties don't they? The produced jobs is just a part of the benefit for the region.
2
JeanPolleketje Mar 28, 2026
They don’t, they use tax shelters.
0
spiritbearr Mar 28, 2026 +1
A region of Belgium made the law for Belgium. The Belgian court sent it to The EU Courts. This will allow other EU nations to make laws (or get bribes from Netflix not to). The idea is that Netflix needs to reinvest the money they take from Belgian customers back into Belgium's film industry. France already does this hence the Lupin series.
1
FormerPrize2485 Mar 28, 2026 +1
“In Bruges” series, a la The Gentlemen? I’d watch
1
spiritbearr Mar 28, 2026 +1
Needs to be in French speaking Belgium which Bruges isn't part of.
1
Clean-Shift-291 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Waffle documentary in the works..
1
The_Schnitz Mar 28, 2026
How do they expect long strips of paper to fund anything?
0
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