European Parliament Rejects Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail Ban
The European Parliament last week rejected legislation that would have prohibited direct marketers from sending Europeans unsolicited commercial e-mail without their express permission.
The measure, which would have established a uniform opt-in system throughout the European Union’s 15 member nations, was sent back to a legislative drafting committee for reworking following its rejection by the 488-member parliament, 129-204, with an unusually high number of abstentions, 155.
The measure, if passed, would put Europe at odds with the United States and its opt-out policy and less stringent data-protection rules.
After the vote Edna McKay, spokeswoman for the European Socialists, told Reuters news service that “many parliamentarians felt the issue needed to be discussed a lot more” and the draft legislation “wasn’t clear enough.”
“The Direct Marketing Association is encouraged and delighted that the European Parliament has understood that [an opt-in program] is an ineffective way to deal with what is bothering them,” said Charles Prescott, senior vice president, international business development and government affairs.
Prescott continued, “The experience of both our American legislators and the [direct marketing] business rules is that the way you make and preserve e-mail as a useful commercial tool is to adopt self-regulation and empower consumers to opt-out” from receiving unsolicited e-mails while punishing those who hide their identity and misuse the medium.
Although 5 of the EU’s 15 members — Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Italy, have their own opt-in systems, the other 10-member nations have opt-out programs similar to those of the U.S.
The legislation could only become law after the approval of the European Parliament, the European Commission, which drafted the measure, and all 15 of its member-nations.
The Federation of European Direct Marketing (FEDMA), noting that last year European direct marketers doubled their business by nearly a billion euros, to about $2 billion U.S. dollars, is opposed to the legislation which has been endorsed by various European-based consumer groups.
