Netflix France vice president of content Pauline Dauvin warned that France’s newly expanded investment obligations for streamers risk turning cultural diversity into a “checklist,” arguing that rules designed to expand creative production could threaten editorial freedom and weaken the country’s production ecosystem.

In an opinion piece published in Le Monde and titled “More obligations, less diversity: why we defy France’s new rules,” Dauvin says the streamer is appealing new “diversity” obligations introduced earlier this year because they impose a rigid editorial model on subscription streaming services.

Since 2021, France has imposed some of Europe’s most ambitious investment obligations on global streaming platforms under the implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Under France’s current framework, subscription-based services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ must invest 20% of their local revenues in French and European films and series. The new expanded rules now require streamers to double their investment in three genres: animation, documentaries and live performances.

The head of Netflix France says the new diversity subquota could set a precedent for more prescriptive regulations targeting streamers, moving the system away from audience demand and creative judgment and toward “regulatory micromanagement.”

“These rules go too far… When regulation takes priority over editorial freedom, diversity becomes an exercise in compliance, to the detriment of audience expectations,” he argues.

Dauvin points to Netflix’s track record in documentaries and animation, citing documentary projects that have generated debate, as well as animated titles such as “Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight,” “Arcane” and Alain Chabat’s “Blue Eye Samurai.”

If subquotas are applied, the creative freedom behind those projects is now “at risk,” he says. “It abruptly doubles our mandated investment in these genres, applies only to streaming services, and sets a rigid editorial model that ignores what audiences actually watch,” he says.

The letter comes as Netflix is ​​escalating its fight against French regulations on streaming services on multiple fronts. As reported last week VarietyThe American streaming giant is calling for limits on the mandatory investments it must make in French content, warning that the current system is increasingly difficult to sustain as platforms take on an increasing share of the financing of the country’s production.

Netflix now invests more than 250 million euros ($286 million) each year in French series, films and documentaries, making it “one of the main private partners” in the country’s creative production, Dauvin said. Since launching in France in 2014, the company has produced more than 160 local films and series, including “Lupin,” “Under Paris,” “Class Act” and “Ad Vitam,” and has contributed more than €2 billion ($2.2 billion) to the French creative economy, supporting tens of thousands of jobs.

The legal challenge follows a failed informal appeal and was brought by Netflix to France’s Council of State along with other streaming services. Dauvin emphasizes that the call is not about evading Netflix’s responsibilities or dismantling France’s cultural exception, but rather about defending “fair, proportionate and non-discriminatory” rules.

The French call also comes against a broader European backdrop of growing legal and political battles over the extent to which streamers should be required to fund local production.

Earlier this year, Netflix lost the first round of a challenge in Belgium against rules requiring streaming platforms to invest in local French-language content in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The case, which has been closely followed across Europe, highlighted the growing tension between global platforms and national or regional authorities seeking to secure more funding for local production.

Netflix has argued that without adjustments, American platforms could end up taking on a huge share of French creative funding by the end of the decade, even as they continue to seek a shorter window to access theatrically released films.

Dauvin warns that heaping obligations on streamers could be detrimental to the French film and television landscape. “In a market where inflation and production costs are already rising, that is the recipe for a fragile ecosystem: fewer bold bets, more requirements to comply with the rules, and a growing dependence on a handful of services to carry an unsustainable share of the load,” he writes.

In the context of these discussions, Netflix has also been pushing for earlier access to newly released movies. Under France’s current window rules, Netflix has a 15-month window and has been pushing to reduce it to 12 months. Those strict window regulations are the reason why Netflix cannot present films in competition at Cannes, since the festival requires a theatrical release for each Palme d’Or candidate.