The EU is warning that a spike in people watching Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic is putting Europe’s broadband network under strain.

The bloc’s Internal Market and Services Commissioner Thierry Breton raised the issue with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings by phone yesterday.

It comes after the European Commission called on users to act responsibility during the pandemic – with domestic broadband connections only designed to cope with evening surges in traffic.

With more and more people working from home as the pandemic takes hold, peak usage hours are now being extended for longer periods throughout the day.

Commissioner Breton is urging all internet users to stream content in standard definition rather than HD when possible in order to give the network some breathing space.

Important phone conversation with @ReedHastings, CEO of @Netflix

To beat #COVID19, we #StayAtHome

Teleworking & streaming help a lot but infrastructures might be in strain.

To secure Internet access for all, let’s #SwitchToStandard definition when HD is not necessary.

— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) March 18, 2020

He is due to talk to the Netflix CEO again in the coming days; however, one of the options they reportedly discussed was the streaming giant automatically switching to standard definition during peak hours.

“Streaming platforms, telecom operators and users; we all have a joint responsibility to take steps to ensure the smooth functioning of the internet during the battle against the virus propagation," he said in a statement.

The European Commission is set to launch a new mechanism to allow different EU countries to monitor and report that status of the internet traffic.