Guides

Is B2B cold email legal in Europe?

It depends on the country. You can cold email companies without consent in the UK, Ireland and Latvia, and generic or role-relevant business addresses in France.

Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy need prior consent for business email too. GDPR applies on top for any named person, but each country's ePrivacy law decides whether you may send without consent.

Checked on 2 November 2026

Check an address

The verdict will appear here.

Country by country

United Kingdom

Allowed to limited companies, LLPs and Scottish partnerships with a way to opt out. Sole traders and most partnerships in England, Wales and Northern Ireland need consent. UK GDPR applies to a named person's details.

PECR 2003 regulation 22(1) and ICO Guide to PECR, electronic mail marketing (checked on 3 October 2026)

More: United Kingdom guide

Ireland

Allowed to a company's address until it tells you to stop, and to a work address when the message relates solely to the person's business role. Sole traders count as individuals.

S.I. No. 336/2011 (Irish ePrivacy Regulations), Regulation 13(4) (checked on 17 October 2026)

More: Ireland guide

Latvia

Allowed to registered companies such as an SIA or an AS. Sole traders need prior free and explicit consent. A named work address is still personal data under the GDPR.

Information Society Services Law, section 9(6); Data State Inspectorate guidance on commercial communications (checked on 2 November 2026)

More: Latvia guide

France

Allowed to generic company addresses, and to a named professional when the message relates to their job and they were told their address could be used for prospecting. Everything else needs prior consent.

CNIL, La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique (checked on 3 October 2026)

More: France guide

Germany

Prior express consent, business addresses included. The one exception is existing customers.

UWG section 7(3), English translation (checked on 3 October 2026)

More: Germany guide

Netherlands

Prior consent, for businesses too, unless the company published the address specifically for receiving commercial offers.

Telecommunicatiewet, artikel 11.7 lid 3 onderdeel a (geldend van 15-08-2026) (checked on 17 October 2026)

More: Netherlands guide

Spain

Prior consent, for company addresses too. Existing customers can be emailed about similar products or services.

LSSI, article 21.2 (checked on 2 November 2026)

More: Spain guide

Italy

Prior consent, for company addresses too. Existing customers can be emailed about similar products or services.

Privacy Code (d.lgs. 196/2003), article 130(4) (checked on 2 November 2026)

More: Italy guide

How GDPR fits in: Is cold email legal under GDPR?

For developers

curl https://precleared.dev/api/v1/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "recipient_email": "jane@example.co.uk",
    "sender_country": "GB",
    "pitch": "Bookkeeping software for small firms",
    "address_source": "published",
    "company_number": "01234567",
    "recipient_country": "GB"
  }'

Over MCP, call contact_check with the same fields at https://precleared.dev/mcp.

Common questions

Does GDPR allow B2B cold email?

GDPR lets you cold email business contacts on legitimate interests, but each country's ePrivacy law decides whether you may send without consent.