The .eu domain was approved by the European Commission in March 2002, and will be operated by the EURid. The domain is not yet live and no registrars have been accredited as sellers.
The process of establishing the domain has been delayed while EURid agreed a contract with the Commission, and the Commission and Member States thrashed out public policy rules.
The contract was finally signed yesterday, but the launch cannot proceed immediately - EURid still has to reach an agreement with ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the body with responsibility for managing the internet's system of domain names, and ICANN has to make the appropriate technical changes to allow the .eu domain to work.
There are various administrative and policy issues to be resolved too, and while EURid is trying to minimise the delays, the registry confirmed yesterday that it will require between six and nine months before it can commence .eu registrations, starting with the 4-month sunrise period required by the Commission's Public Policy Rules for .eu.
Sunrise is a common phase for new domain name roll-outs that lets owners of registered trade marks secure their rights before the names go on a first-come, first-served basis after the domain launch. During this period applicants will have four weeks to provide proof of their existing rights. If they cannot comply, the names will be released for others to register.
Over the coming months EURid will also be working to finalise the .eu Registrar agreement and the Registrant Terms and Conditions which will be translated into all 20 official languages of the EU.
Once ICANN has made the necessary changes, EURid will begin to accredit a network of .eu registrars across EURid who will be able to take pre-registrations from their clients in preparation for the .eu launch.
Until accreditations have taken place EURid advises businesses and consumers to steer clear of domain name registrars offering pre-registration services, as at the moment all these services can promise is that they will attempt to register the name when .eu goes live – and there may be several people and registrars competing to purchase the same name.
See also: