Can I cold email? B2B rules by country

All countries / Netherlands

Is B2B cold email legal in Netherlands?

Only in specific cases when you write to a named person at a company. The same applies to generic addresses such as info@.

Named person at a company
jane.doe@company.nl
Only in specific cases
Generic company address
info@company.nl
Only in specific cases
Sole trader or personal mailbox
jane@gmail.com
Consent first

Article 11.7 of the Telecommunications Act requires provable prior consent of the subscriber or user. No consent is needed only for contact details the recipient has designated and published for that purpose, used in line with that purpose.

What you have to do

  • Use only an address the business itself published for receiving this kind of message, and stay within that purpose
  • State your real identity and a valid address or number to stop the messages in every email
  • Existing customers: allowed for your own similar products if they could object when the address was collected

An address simply being visible on a website is not the same as being designated for commercial offers.

Checked against the law or regulator ยท checked 2026-10-10

Check a whole lead list Check one draft email for Netherlands