The new EU Regulation on Geo-Blocking

On February 27, 2018, the European Council adopted a regulation to ban unjustified geo-blocking in the single market (EU Regulation 2018/302). The regulation entered into force on March 22, 2018 and will apply – in time for the Christmas business – from December 3, 2018 onwards. The new regulation is another element of the EU’s strategy of building a free and secure digital single market. It follows other measures taken by the EU before, such as the ban on roaming charges, the modernization of data protection laws and the allowance of cross-border portability of online content. The present article outlines the key aspects of the new regulation.

The EU is consistently pursuing its strategy of building a free and secure digital single market. In addition to the end of roaming charges, the modernization of data protection laws and the allowance of cross-border portability of online content, on February 27, 2018 the European Council adopted a regulation to ban unjustified geo-blocking in the single market (EU Regulation 2018/302). The regulation entered into force on March 22, 2018 and will apply – in time for the Christmas business – from December 3, 2018.