Is cold email legal in Belgium? B2B rules for 2026

Only to impersonal company addresses. Belgium's Code of Economic Law (art. XII.13) requires prior consent for advertising by email, and a royal decree of 4 April 2003 exempts impersonal addresses of legal persons, such as info@ or sales@, when the offer is aimed at legal persons. A named employee's address (firstname.lastname@company) is a natural person's address and needs consent, and sole traders are natural persons too, so in our reading the exemption does not cover them. We found no Belgian guidance naming LinkedIn, but the economy ministry counts chat as electronic mail.

Checked on 15 October 2026 against the law text and the regulator's guidance. This is not legal advice.

Belgium is stricter than France and looser than Germany, where every business recipient needs consent. For other countries, see cold email laws by country.

At a glance

What does the law say?

Article XII.13 §1 of the Code of Economic Law (CDE/WER), in French and Dutch:

"L'utilisation du courrier électronique à des fins de publicité est interdite, sans le consentement préalable, libre, spécifique et informé du destinataire des messages."

"Het gebruik van elektronische post voor reclame is verboden zonder de voorafgaande, vrije, specifieke en geïnformeerde toestemming van de geadresseerde van de boodschappen."

Our translation: "The use of electronic mail for advertising is prohibited without the prior, free, specific and informed consent of the addressee of the messages."

Every advertising email must also explain the right to object and offer an electronic way to use it (§2); you may not hide where a message comes from (§3); and "La preuve du caractère sollicité des publicités par courrier électronique incombe au prestataire": the sender must prove the advertising was solicited (§4).

The company exemption is in the royal decree of 4 April 2003, art. 1, 2°: no consent is needed "auprès de personnes morales si les coordonnées électroniques qu'il utilise à cette fin sont impersonnelles", from legal persons if the contact details used are impersonal.

What do the authorities say?

The government's Report to the King, published with the decree, draws the line for named addresses:

"Par contre, lorsqu'une personne morale attribue à ses employés des adresses de courrier électronique liées à son nom de domaine (p. ex. nom.prénom@company.be), il s'agit d'adresses de personnes physiques, peu importe qu'elles les utilisent à des fins professionnelles ou privées."

Our translation: "By contrast, where a legal person gives its employees email addresses linked to its domain name (e.g. surname.firstname@company.be), these are addresses of natural persons, whether they use them for professional or private purposes." The report concludes that advertising to them needs the prior consent of the people concerned. For info@, contact@ or sales@, it adds that the products offered "doivent viser des personnes morales, et non des personnes physiques", must be aimed at legal persons. SPF Economie (FPS Economy), the federal economy ministry, repeats the rule in its 2019 spam brochure (question 13).

The Data Protection Authority (APD/GBA) warns in its Recommendation 01/2026 on direct marketing that a functional address can in some cases be personal data, so controllers should "être prudents" before relying on the exemption (APD).

Company, employee or sole trader?

• Company addresses: opt-out only if impersonal and only for offers aimed at companies. Our reading: a functional address one person uses alone is risky.
• Named employees and sole traders: prior consent. For sole traders that is our reading, since the exemption covers only "personnes morales".
• Existing customers: natural and legal persons alike, but companies in the same group count as third parties.

Can you send LinkedIn messages to Belgian prospects?

We found no guidance naming LinkedIn. The closest text is SPF Economie's 2019 brochure (question 5), which says "courrier électronique" covers "l'e-mail classique mais également l'utilisation du « chat »", and that advertising sent that way must meet all legal requirements, "dont le principe du consentement préalable", including prior consent (SPF Economie).

Our reading: a LinkedIn message is a form of chat, so a sales DM to a named person needs consent.

How does GDPR apply?

Under the APD's Recommendation 01/2026, where the email consent rule applies, to natural persons, consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR is the only basis unless the existing-customer exception applies: the controller "ne pourra fonder son traitement que sur la base du consentement". Prospects, it adds, "ne peuvent en principe raisonnablement s'attendre à recevoir une communication de marketing direct", which weakens any legitimate-interest argument.

An earlier APD decision (10/2025) took the opposite view, legitimate interest rather than consent; the recommendation is newer and, in our reading, should weigh more. For legitimate interest elsewhere, see GDPR and B2B email under legitimate interest.

Sanctions

Sending advertising email in breach of XII.13 is a level 3 offence (art. XV.120): a criminal fine of €26 to €25,000, or 6% of annual turnover if higher (art. XV.70). In bad faith it is level 4 (art. XV.121): up to €50,000 or 6%. Belgian criminal fines are also raised by surcharges ("décimes additionnels"); SPF Economie's 2019 brochure gives a factor of 8. The Economic Inspection can also warn, settle, refer cases to the prosecutor or impose administrative fines, and the APD is competent too.

We found no published fine for B2B email. In the nearest APD cases, the data broker Infobel was fined €40,000 for selling personal data for direct marketing, cut to €5,000 on appeal, in a case about a private individual (199/2025), and a case about a recruitment firm contacting a "zakelijk e-mailadres", a business address, ended in an erasure order, not a fine (121/2023).

Checklist: B2B email to Belgium

1. Without consent, write only to impersonal addresses, about offers aimed at companies.
2. Get consent before emailing named employees or sole traders, and keep proof: the burden is on you.
3. In every email, explain the right to object, give an electronic way to use it, and never hide who you are.
4. Do not share consent or customers across your group.
5. Tell people where you got their data, at the latest in the first message (GDPR art. 14).
6. Keep a suppression list and honour objections at once.
7. Before calling, check the "Ne m'appelez plus" / "Bel me niet meer" list.

How Leo handles Belgian leads

Revexa builds Leo, a buying-signal agent. Leo blocks only Germany automatically, so Belgian leads are not blocked. In review mode, the default, you read and approve every draft before it is sent and decide yourself; since Belgian law requires consent for named addresses, skip named Belgian leads you have no consent from. Leo writes in the lead's own language when your website exists in that language, in Belgium often French or Dutch, and otherwise in English.

Common questions

Is B2B cold email legal in Belgium?

Only to impersonal company addresses such as info@, and only for offers aimed at companies. Named employees and sole traders need prior consent, and every email must explain how to object.

Can I email firstname.lastname@ at a Belgian company?

Not without prior consent. The Report to the King on the 2003 royal decree says such addresses belong to natural persons, whether used for work or privately.

Do LinkedIn messages count as electronic mail in Belgium?

Not by name. SPF Economie's 2019 guidance counts chat as electronic mail that needs prior consent for advertising; in our reading that covers LinkedIn messages.

What are the fines in Belgium?

A criminal fine of €26 to €25,000, or 6% of annual turnover if higher, and up to €50,000 or 6% in bad faith. We found no published fine for B2B email.