Can you send a cold B2B e-mail to a distributor in Europe? The 2026 map, country by country

A manufacturer with a shortlist of distributors across Europe usually asks one question first: can I simply e-mail them? The answer changes at every border, and the reason sits in EU law itself. Article 13(1) of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) requires prior consent for marketing e-mail. Article 13(5) then applies that rule to subscribers who are natural persons and asks Member States to "also ensure" that the legitimate interests of other subscribers — companies — "are sufficiently protected". How is left to national law, so each country chose its own model for business recipients: prior consent (opt-in) or a right to refuse (opt-out).

Below is the result for the 30 countries in this map: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom (Cresques itself offers markets in EU and EEA countries). Every line comes from our country page for that market, which cites the national law or the regulator's guidance behind it.

Putting it simply: a short, relevant first e-mail to a distributor's general address is lawful in 14 of these markets, provided you say who you are and offer an easy way to opt out. In 12 it needs the recipient's prior consent, companies included, so the first contact has to be a letter, a trade fair or an introduction. In the remaining 4 the answer depends on a national opt-out register you must check first, or on a point the law leaves open.

Where a first e-mail to a company is allowed

In these 14 markets the consent rule protects natural persons, and a company can be written to without asking first. The exemption is for the company, not its staff: several of these laws do not settle whether firstname.lastname@ counts as a person's address, so the safe target is the general address the distributor publishes, with named contacts after a reply.

• Belgium — Art. XII.13, Code of Economic Law, and the Royal Decree of 4 April 2003 — only to impersonal addresses (info@, sales@) with an offer aimed at businesses; named addresses need consent, and the sender must prove the exemption applies.
• Croatia — Art. 50(4), Electronic Communications Act (NN 76/22) — no consent needed for legal persons; identify yourself and give a valid opt-out address (Art. 50(3)); a sole trader (obrt) needs consent.
• Estonia — § 103¹, Electronic Communications Act — allowed to a legal person's contact details if every message offers a clear, free and simple way to refuse.
• Finland — § 202, Act on Electronic Communications Services (917/2014) — allowed unless the organisation has prohibited it; a free, easy opt-out in every message.
• France — Art. L34-5, Code des postes et des communications électroniques, and CNIL guidance — generic company addresses need no consent; to a named professional the subject must relate to their role, and they must have been told, when the address was collected, that it could be used for prospecting and be able to object free of charge.
• Hungary — § 6 Grt. and § 162(2) Eht. — consent only for natural persons; a company's generic address until it objects; the regulator NMHH treats a company's contact person like the company (guidance, not statute), while sole traders need consent.
• Iceland — Art. 94, Electronic Communications Act No. 70/2022 — general company addresses only; show your name and address; treat named addresses as needing consent.
• Ireland — Reg. 13, S.I. No. 336 of 2011 — to a company until it objects, or to a work address about the recipient's business; identify yourself and give a valid opt-out address.
• Latvia — Section 9, Information Society Services Law — consent only for natural persons; give a valid address for refusals and honour them.
• Lithuania — Art. 81, Law on Electronic Communications — no consent for legal persons; offer a clear, free and easy way to refuse.
• Norway — § 15, Marketing Control Act — company addresses such as post@ are fine; an employee's own work address is not.
• Slovenia — Art. 226(4)–(5), ZEKom-2 — the consent rule covers natural persons only; identify yourself and give a valid opt-out address.
• Sweden — §§ 19–20, Marketing Act (2008:486) — consent only for natural persons, sole traders included; every message needs a valid opt-out address.
• United Kingdom — PECR, reg. 22 — allowed to corporate subscribers; do not hide your identity, give a valid opt-out address; sole traders and partnerships need consent.

Where it needs conditions

Here a first e-mail to a company may be lawful, but only after you check a national opt-out register — or the law, as far as we could verify it, leaves the answer open.

• Bulgaria — Art. 6, Electronic Commerce Act — no unsolicited e-mail to addresses in the KZP opt-out register for companies, or to consumers without consent; check every address first and write only to generic addresses.
• Luxembourg — Art. 11, Law of 30 May 2005 — consent for natural-person subscribers; whether it also covers staff as "users" is unclear, so the answer is open; use a generic address or a letter.
• Portugal — Arts. 13.º-A(2) and 13.º-B, Lei 41/2004 — allowed to a company until it refuses, but every sender must check the DGC opt-out list first; treat named employees as needing consent.
• Slovakia — § 116(15), Act No. 452/2021 Coll., against § 4(6), Act No. 22/2004 Coll. — the electronic communications act allows e-mail to a company's published contact details with identification and an opt-out, but the e-commerce act bans commercial e-mail the recipient did not ask for, with no business exception; until the two are reconciled, write or phone first.

Where it needs prior consent

In these 12 markets a company is protected like an individual: without consent there is no lawful marketing e-mail, however short and relevant. Where these laws make an exception, it is for existing customers and similar products, which does not help with a distributor you have never dealt with.

• Austria — § 174(3), TKG 2021 — no business exception; the Economic Chamber counts even a cooperation request to a potential partner as advertising.
• Cyprus — s. 106, Law 112(I)/2004, and art. 5 of the 2005 Order on legal persons (Κ.Δ.Π. 34/2005) — a company may receive marketing e-mail only if it has said it wishes to.
• Czechia — § 7, Act No. 480/2004 Coll. — ÚOOÚ: no distinction between natural and legal persons; addresses found on websites may not be used.
• Denmark — § 10(1), Marketing Practices Act — covers "anyone", info@ included, and senders established outside Denmark.
• Germany — § 7(2), UWG — prior express consent, business recipients included; enforced through civil claims (§ 8 UWG).
• Greece — Art. 11, Law 3471/2006 — the HDPA treats harvested addresses, info@ included, as unlawful sources.
• Italy — Art. 130, Codice in materia di protezione dei dati personali — companies included; consent is needed even for addresses on public websites.
• Malta — Reg. 9, S.L. 586.01 — prior consent in writing, natural or legal person.
• Netherlands — Art. 11.7, Telecommunicatiewet — legal persons covered since 1 October 2009; the only business exception is an address a company has published for receiving such messages.
• Poland — Art. 398, Electronic Communications Law (PKE), since November 2024 — companies are protected as end users; a breach is a petty offence (art. 448), and UKE can fine the sender (art. 446(5)).
• Romania — Art. 12, Law 506/2004 — paragraph 4 extends the rule to legal persons.
• Spain — Art. 21, LSSI (Ley 34/2002) — "recipient" means any natural or legal person.

What changes in practice

Where e-mail is closed, the same message travels by other roads, and the country pages name the same ones each time:

• A letter by post to the managing director, in the local language, with a one-page product sheet and a specific reason your range fits what the distributor already sells.
• The sector's trade fair, with a stand or a planned visit.
• An introduction through an association, a chamber of commerce, a buying group or an existing partner.
• A fast, complete reply to any enquiry. Once a distributor has written to you, e-mail correspondence is fine; the prohibitions concern the unsolicited first message. In Denmark, ask for consent in that exchange before sending marketing by e-mail, and keep a record.

Where e-mail is open, the conditions barely change from country to country: identify your company fully, write about what the distributor actually sells, give a working way to opt out in every message, and record every refusal so it is never overridden. If you write to a named person, data protection law applies to that personal data as well.

Each Cresques country page puts the rule next to the evidence. It shows the lawful first contact with its legal basis, what local distributors expect, the steps to enter the market and, for the 29 EU and EEA markets, the contract award notices on TED that show who already sells your product category there. For Great Britain the equivalent record is Find a Tender, which Cresques does not read today. Cresques does not send e-mail on anyone's behalf; it tells you which door is open.

Rules change

Poland moved its rule into a new Electronic Communications Law in November 2024, Lithuania dropped prior consent for legal persons on 22 April 2026, and Norway's Consumer Authority updated its e-mail guidance in May 2026. On 5 November 2026 we moved Slovakia from allowed to with conditions, after rechecking the e-commerce act alongside the electronic communications act. This map reflects our country pages as of 5 November 2026. Before you rely on a line, open the country page and check its sources and date.

The map at a glance

This is general information, not legal advice.