European Commission statements can be open to charges of bureaucratic obfuscation, even for the most supportive commentators.

Last week's communication on spam is no exception: 12 pages of broad assertions about the need for such nebulous things as 'co-ordination and integration at a national level' and 'subscription to international co-operation procedures'.

There are hints of plans for legislation, but couched in the indecisive terms of aims and proposals rather than guaranteed action. And there are no concrete measures to enable the recommended cross-border co-operation or any clear statement of the Commission's role.

In total the document says little more than that cybercrime of all sorts is widespread, expensive and needs to be taken seriously by everybody from governments downwards.

Of that there is no question. Almost three-quarters of traffic through Internet Service Providers' servers is junk mail and the Commission figures estimate a global cost of €39bn (£26bn) last year alone.

Legislation does clearly have a place.

UK business groups continue to put pressure on the government to give the Information Commissioner greater powers to enforce anti-spam laws. And the Commission's noises on Europe-wide measures are also welcome, if lacking any immediate substance.

But laws alone will not solve the problem.

Most spam originates outside Europe so local legislation, while necessary, can be of only limited effect. It is also worth noting that China still tops the world league for spam production, despite new laws passed in February, and the US Can-Spam Act has not managed to knock the country out of the top three.

So the Commission's appeal for international co-ordination may appear open to the usual criticisms of vacuous grandiloquence. But it is at least addressing the central question, and there are no obvious answers.

Spam is a global issue, requiring a global response. To follow up on its good start, the Commission must accompany January's legislative proposals with clear and tangible measures to effect the co-operation it so blithely invokes.