European Union member states needed to do more to tackle spam and protect online privacy, the European Commission said on October 8. Despite a more pro-active stance from several EU countries to uphold the bloc's ban on spam, a report funded by the Commission found that results varied "considerably", the EC said.

The study's results highlighted the need to push ahead with the proposed reform of telecoms rules, passed by the European Parliament in May 2009, the Commission said.

"Today's figures show that several EU countries are doing more to enforce online privacy rules. However, spam is an area where we can and must improve for the benefit of internet users in the EU ," European information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding said in the statement.

"Although since 2002, European law has prohibited spam and spyware, on average 65 per cent of EU citizens are still affected by spam on a regular basis. We need to step up our fight against spammers and make sure that the EU adopts legislation that provides for strong civil and criminal sanctions against spammers."

While citizens can complain if they become a victim of spam, spyware or malware in almost all EU countries, the way it was tackled in individual member states varied.

"An analysis of more than 140 enforcement cases from 22 member states shows considerable differences between the number of cases per country and the fines imposed," the EC said.

"The highest numbers of cases were reported in Spain (39), Slovakia (39) and Romania (20). The highest fines were imposed in The Netherlands (one million euro), Italy (570 000 euro) and Spain (30 000 euro). However, spammers in countries such as Romania, Ireland, and Latvia received modest fines ranging from hundreds to several thousand euro."

"The reform of the EU's telecoms rules proposed by the Commission (and currently being finalised by the European Parliament and the Council) would provide conditions for a better enforcement of privacy rules," the Commission said.

In Bulgaria, spam prevention will be handled by a new directorate at the Commission for Consumer Protection, which would establish and maintain an opt-out list for judicial entities in a move to lower spam received by companies. The list would be publicly available and registration would be free of charge.