http://www.teleactivities.net/ebusiness/articles/eu-spam.htm
Per 31 October 2003 spamming will be prohibited in all EU member states, but it is completely unclear what authority should supervise the spam-ban. The European Commission doesn't have a ready-made answer, and is currently asking privacy-authorities and telecommunications ministries what approach they prefer.
The new Privacy Directive prohibits the sending of unsolicited e-mail but doesn't regulate the practicalities of penalties, damage claims or prosecution of cross-border violations. To make matters even more complicated, the Directive leaves the level of privacy protection of legal persons up to member states. Therefore, in some countries all e-mail addresses will be protected, in other states the spam-ban is limited to natural persons. On top of that, the directive bans commercial spam, but does allow for a ban on all unsolicited electronic communications, including those for charity and political purposes.
Seven EU member states already have anti-spam legislation; Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Greece, Italy and Spain. In Europe-at-large, spam is also banned in Hungary and Norway. Punishments differs widely. In Austria for example, spammers can be fined to a maximum of 36.330 Euro, while in Italy spammers risk prison sentence, next to the obligation to pay damages of 500 to 5000 euro per spammail. [more]