The proposal being debated would harmonise EU laws with an “opt-in” approach to spam. Under this approach, direct marketers would need the consent of individuals before they could market to them by e-mail. Eleven of the fifteen EU member states are in favour of the opt-in approach, which would, in effect, ban spam in the EU.
However, the UK, France, Ireland and Luxembourg blocked the proposal. The UK’s new e-Minister, Douglas Alexander, argued that people should specify if they do not want to receive spam – the “opt-out” approach.
Austria, Italy, Denmark, Finland and Germany have already introduced laws based on the opt-in system. The ban on spam is also supported by European consumers’ associations. A European Commission report published earlier this year showed that spam was costing European citizens €10 billion (around £6 billion) per year.
However, the European Association of Direct Marketing challenges the Commission’s findings and says an opt-in system would harm small businesses in Europe which rely on e-mail as a valuable marketing tool.
The EU Telecoms Ministers will re-open the debate once the European Parliament has looked at the proposal. The Parliament previously backed the opt-out approach favoured by the UK. If the Parliament and the Council disagree then, according to a Commission spokesman, “there will have to be a negotiated solution.”