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.”
