Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation of the Internet Top Level Domain '.EU'"

(2001/C 155/03)

On 15 January 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 156 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 March 2001. The rapporteur was Mr Morgan.

At its 380th plenary session of 28 and 29 March 2001 (meeting of 28 March) the Committee adopted the following opinion by 97 votes to one.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Economic and Social Committee is pleased to give its support to the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Internet Top Level Domain ".EU". The ESC views this initiative as an essential element of eEurope(1).

1.2. The Regulation charges the Commission with the implementation of the.EU Top Level Domain (TLD), sets the conditions for such implementation, including the designation of a Registry, and establishes the public policy framework within which the Registry will function.

1.3. Detailed technical and policy preparations have been made by an Interim Steering Group (ISG) drawn from the existing European Community Panel of Participants (EC-POP)(2).

1.4. Particular attention has been paid to the work of the ISG, including, for example, its analysis of the eventual operational and technical characteristics of the Registry, contractual relationships between the Commission and the Registry and the options for the form that organisation could take.

2. The Registry

2.1. The Registry will ensure three essential functions:

a) Being the legal entity responsible for the Registry.

b) Implementing public policy rules, policies and procedures relating to the.EU TLD included in the regulation or adopted by the Commission according to the consultation period procedure provided by the regulation.

c) Organising, administering and managing the.EU TLD, including the operations of maintenance of databases, registration of domain names, running the name servers and dissemination of TLD zone files.

2.2. The Registry shall be a not-for-profit organisation operated in the public interest.

2.3. The proposals of the ISG report are very pertinent to the establishment of the proposed Registry (see chapters 2 and 3). In particular, the Committee endorses the proposals in section 3.4 relative to the selection of Registrars.

2.4. The ESC agrees the "characteristics of the Registry" and "obligations of the Registry" as defined in Articles 2 and 3 of the proposed Regulation.

3. Public policy framework

3.1. Subject to certain safeguards the detailed registration policy will be determined by the Registry in consultation with the Commission and according to the contractual arrangements. Relevant safeguards would include, for example, the respect of the applicable Community and national laws, and of technical and operational "best practice" as determined from time to time by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Name and Numbers) and IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority). The available options for the Registry's registration policy are discussed in the ISG report, including a discussion of the options for the creation of generic second level domains(3).

3.2. In this context the ESC notes that the Commission is currently examining the following questions:

a) Definition of the name space reserved for the use of the EU institutions.

b) Reservation of names associated with the European Union in all relevant languages.

The ESC will communicate its requirements to the Commission.

3.3. The ESC supports the regulations relating to "the public policy framework" detailed in Article 4.

4. General comments

4.1. The ESC approves the proposal that the Commission shall be assisted by the Committee that is to be established by the proposed directive on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services(4).

4.2. The ESC endorses the proposal that all rights, intellectual property rights, relating to.EU TLD shall be retained by the Community.

4.3. The ESC supports the proposal that financial appropriations are needed to enable the Commission to maintain policy control over the Registry and endorses the sums proposed.

4.4. The ESC would expect to be consulted on future developments of the.EU TLD Registry.

5. Conclusion

5.1. The ESC welcomes the.EU TLD initiative of the Commission and supports its speedy implementation, taking into full consideration the recommendations of the ISG.

Brussels, 28 March 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) OJ C 123, 25.4.2001.

(2) "The Dot EU TLD Registry Proposal"; http://www.ec-pop.org/1009prop/index.htm.

(3) See also COM(2000)202 final "The Organisation and Management of the Internet - International and European Policy Issues 1998-2002" of 11 April 2000.

(4) COM(2000)393 final; OJ C 123, 25.4.2001.