If you are considering or actively email marketing to European B2B recipients you need to be aware of the different country email legislations. Many believe that the same law applies to the whole of Europe or that laws don’t apply to B2B communications. Well we are here to help with the minefield that is B2B European Email legislation…

From a B2B perspective, the rules surrounding email marketing are becoming less clear. Historically, unsolicited marketing to a B2C audience via email has only been lawful if recipients have given prior consent or ‘opted-in’ to receive information. In B2B, you have been able to market to individuals in a business context without opt-in consent providing you have an ‘unsubscribe’ button, however this differs by country.

Here’s an overview of individual countries’ interpretations of B2B European email legislation as it stands.

With 27 EU member states there is, at present, no consistency of data protection rules for use in a B2B context across the region. Some countries insist that B2B email activity should comply with existing, and more stringent, B2C regulations, some don’t.

In January 2012, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of outdated 1995 data protection rules to strengthen online privacy rights and, in their words, ‘to boost Europe’s digital economy’. The aim is to have a single law in place which will do away with the current fragmentation.

For the latest and more detailed information we would recommend visiting the Direct Marketing Association or the Institute of Digital and Direct Marketing.