Proposed Amendments to Article 7

Original Text from Commission Draft:

Member States shall lay down in their legislation that unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail must be clearly and unequivocally identifiable as such as soon as it is received by the recipient.

Amendment from the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy:

a) Member States shall lay down in their legislation that unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail must contain at the beginning of its subject line the following text string:

#/#

so as to be immediately and unequivocally identifiable as such as soon as it is received by the recipient, whatever the language or mail software used.

b) Member States shall provide for an opt-out system for consumers to have their electronic adresses removed from mailing lists.

Amendment from the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection:

Member States shall lay down in their legislation that unsolicited commercial communication by e-mail must be clearly and unequivocally identifiable as such as soon as it is received by the recipient. Member States shall lay down in their legislation that providers of electronic commercial communications shall provide the means for the recipient to discontinue receiving unsolicited electronic commercial communications.

Member States shall also lay down in their legislation that Information Society service provider render accessible to their recipients information about their privacy policy according to the Directives on the protection of personal data (95/45/EEC and 97/66/EEC).

Amendment from the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media:

Member States shall lay down in their legislation that commercial communication transmitted by electronic mail must be solicited. Commercial communications sent by electronic mail can be considered as "solicited" in the case when their recipient has communicated his/her address for this purpose or in full awareness that it may be used in this way; and when the commercial communication conforms with conditions to which prior agreement has been given.

Current draft of the Committee for Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights:

Amendment 70 (Mr David W. MARTIN):

Except in relation to regulated professions, Member States shall lay down in their legislation that unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail must be clearly and unequivocally identifiable as such as soon as it is received by the recipient.

Amendment 71 [38 in Committee Report] (Ms. Astrid THORS)

1. Member States shall lay down in their legislation that unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail must be clearly and unequivocally identifiable as such.

2. Member States shall take measures to ensure that consumers can have themselves entered in an opt-out register, which service providers must check regularly.

3. In their legislation, Member States shall require service providers to inform their customers about data protection in accordance with Directives 95/46/EEC and 97/66/EEC.

1. In addition to other requirements established by Community law, Member States which permit unsolicited commercial communication by electronic mail shall ensure that such commercial communication by a service provider established in their territory shall be identifiable clearly and unambiguously as such as soon as it is received by the recipient.

2. Without prejudice to Directive 97/7/EC and Directive 97/66/EC, Member States shall take measures to ensure that service providers undertaking unsolicited commercial communications by e-mail consult regularly and respect the opt-out registers in which natural persons not wishing to receive such commercial communications can register themselves.

from the Committee for Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, concerning the Common Position adopted by the Council

"With regard to consumers, Parliament voted to strengthen the text in respect of the practice - termed 'spamming' in English - of sending commercial e-mail messages. While the Commission simply proposed that such messages should be easily identifiable as such, Parliament added the requirement for Member States to make sure that consumers can avoid receiving such messages by having themselves entered in an opt-out register."

"Unsolicited commercial communications: The common position incorporates the Parliament amendment on opt-out registers by making it mandatory for providers who send unsolicited commercial communications to consult and respect available registers. That does not prevent Member States with an opt-in system from keeping it at national level. It should be noted that the derogation in the annex from the principle of home country control, with regard to authorisation of unsolicited commercial communications, has been maintained. However, the Article 21 review clause specifically refers to the possibility of removing that derogation. In this connection, there will have to be a look at the way in which the codes of conduct now being drawn up have been applied."