Switzerland is going to the polls on May 15th to decide on an amendment to the country’s cinema law that would force streaming services to invest in local production.
Under the proposals streamers including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon would be required to invest 4% of their local revenue in Swiss productions. In addition, at least 30% of their programming would have to comprise of European originated content.
Neighbouring France has long placed an obligation on Canal Plus to contribute to French cinema and now has a requirement for 26% of revenue to be put into domestic production.
Italy is considering 20% in a similar piece of legislation, while Spain has a much lower 5%.
Switzerland has a long history of putting contentious issues to the people. The vote on the cinema law has been forced by youth factions belonging to right wing parties, who argue the industry already has sufficient subsidies, amid fears the streamers would simply put their prices up to match.
