Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Report on the implementation, functioning and effectiveness of the “.eu” TLD
Date: 2007-07-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Union, Internet address, cross-frontier data flow, information technology, intellectual property, international standard, regulation of telecommunications, report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 6.7.2007 
COM(2007) 385 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL  

Report on the implementation, functioning and effectiveness of the “.eu” TLD 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL  

Report on the implementation, functioning and effectiveness of the “.eu” TLD 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND – THE NEED FOR “.EU” 

The Internet domain name system (DNS) consists of a series of directories, organized 
hierarchically,  providing  information  on  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  various 
Internet  resources  (web-sites,  mail  servers,  name  servers  etc)  that  are  publicly 
available  via  the  Internet.  A  domain  name  provides  a  user-friendly  label  that  the 
Domain System can then resolve into an Internet address (a numerical identifier) in 
order to facilitate communication with the associated resource. A Top Level Domain 
(hereinafter  TLD)  is  that  part  of  a  domain  name  which  identifies  the  organisation 
(known as the registry) which manages a particular family of domain names. In the 
Internet,  TLDs  are  of  two  sorts:  either  a  two-letter  ISO  3166  Country  Code  for  a 
country-code TLD (ccTLD) such as ".uk". ".fr" or ".jp", or a generic abbreviation or 
name such as "com", "net", or "museum". 

The  “.eu”  TLD  is  a  recently  introduced  ccTLD  for  the  European  Union  that  is 
intended to give citizens public and private organisations and undertakings in Europe 
a  specific  EU  cyber-identity  and  a  trustworthy  environment  that  highlights  their 
European  identity  in  the  internet  and  facilitate  their  involvement  in  the  economic 
activities  of  this  rapidly-developing  virtual  market  place.  To  achieve  a  trustworthy 
environment,  the  EU  has  decided  that  “.eu”  domain  names  are  to  be  subject  to 
common  public  policy  rules  that  ensure  appropriate  use,  equitable  access  and  fair 
treatment of registrants. As a pan-European TLD, “.eu” also provides an additional 
and  complementary  domain  name  option  to  the  national  ccTLDs  of  the  Member 
States  and  the  generic  TLDs  (gTLDs),  most  of  whom  operate  either  totally  or 
partially outside EU legal jurisdiction. 

The  “.eu”  TLD  therefore  offers  a  unique  and  valuable  option  for  domain  name 
registrants  in  the  EU  by  offering  Internet  users  and  the  market  for  electronic 
commerce in particular, an additional dimension to the existing options in the DNS. 
It aspires to satisfy the needs of EU citizens for a cyberspace in which their rights as 
consumers  and  individuals  are  protected  by  European  rules,  standards  and  judicial 
protection  by  extending  the  advantages  of  the  Internal  Market  to  the  Internet 
dimension.  

The present Communication takes stock of the preparations that were needed for the 
creation of the “.eu” TLD and informs the European Parliament and the Council on 
the  implementation,  effectiveness  and  functioning  of  the  “.eu”  TLD  as  foreseen  in 

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Article  8  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  733/2002  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 22 April 2002 on the implementation of the “.eu” TLD1. 

2. 

IMPLEMENTATION 

2.1. 

The “.eu” model 

The “.eu” TLD model is based on the independency of the Registry in the day-to-day 
management  of  its  activities,  the  marketing  of  domain  names  through  accredited 
commercial  agencies  ("registrars")  and  the  right  of  the  end  user  to  protect  his/her 
domain names against potential abuses from third parties. 

The first element in this equation is the Registry. In its working paper of 20002 the 
Commission  proposed  several  possibilities  for  the  selection  of  the  “.eu”  Registry, 
namely: a dedicated non-profit private association to be incorporated within the EU, 
an entirely private commercial entity, an existing public or private organization at a 
national or European level and, finally, the assignment of the Registry’s functions to 
a competent department of an existing public administration. 

During the discussions on the appropriate model for the “.eu” TLD it became clear 
that it was not appropriate for Community institutions, to go beyond a general policy 
role.  There  was  general  agreement  that  a  specialized  separate  entity  would  be  best 
placed to implement and manage the TLD system directly as well as to handle day-
to-day  contacts  with  users.  The  Council  and  the  Parliament  therefore  decided  to 
entrust a non-profit independent Registry with the management of the “.eu” TLD.  

This decision replicates the approach taken for several successful ccTLDs around the 
world, not least in Europe. The Registry signs a contract with the Commission which 
allows  the  later  a  general  supervisory  role.  However,  the  Commission  is  not 
competent to take any decisions concerning particular domain names or for the daily 
operations  of  the  Registry  nor  it  is  the  appeal  body  for  decisions  taken  by  the 
Registry.  This  clear  separation  of  duties3  enables  the  Registry  to  take  autonomous 
decisions  concerning  the  registration  of  domain  names  and  comply  with  the 
principles  of  non-interference,  self-management  and  self-regulation  in  accordance 
with Regulation 733/20024. 

The separation of competences does not end with the independence of the Registry 
from the Commission. To ensure the neutrality of the Registry vis-à-vis the domain 
names  that  it  deals  with,  the  “.eu”  model  forbids  the  Registry  to  act  itself  as 
registrar5. This approach fosters competitiveness in the domain name market where 
registrars  will  tend  to  diversify  their  offer  to  cover  the  different  needs  of  the  end 
users while ensuring competitive prices. 

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5 

OJ L 113 of 30.4.2002, p.1 
Section  6  of  the  Commission  Working  Paper  of  2.2.2000  on  the  creation  of  the  “.eu”  Internet  TLD 
Name. 
Article 2.a of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 
See Recital 9 of Regulation 733/2002 
Article 3.4 of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 

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The  last  element  that  completes  the  “.eu”  model  is  the  registrant.  The  final  user  is 
responsible for checking the offer by the Registrar community and for choosing the 
one which fits best with his needs. Furthermore, during the initial phased registration 
period  the  final  user  was  also  responsible  for  submitting  a  full  and  accurate 
application to ensure its success and, where necessary, for defending its validity. It is 
to  be  noted  in  this  respect  that  the  “.eu”  model  relies  on  the  conscientiousness  of 
final users to defend their rights and to trigger the mechanisms for protection when 
an abuse is committed.  

2.2. 

The legal framework 

The legal  framework set up by the Community  legislator for the  establishment and 
the implementation of the “.eu” TLD is based on two legal instruments, Regulation 
(EC) No 733/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 April 2002 
on the implementation of the “.eu” TLD, hereinafter the Framework Regulation, and 
Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  874/2004  of  28  April  2004  laying  down  public 
policy rules concerning the implementation and functions of the “.eu” TLD and the 
principles governing registration6, hereinafter the Public Policy Rules or PPR. These 
two instruments are completed by a number of Commission decisions concerning the 
selection  and  the  designation  of  the  Registry.  A  list  with  all  the  legal  texts  that 
constitute the basis for the creation of the “.eu” TLD can be found in the web site of 
the  European  Commission7.  Finally,  the  Registry  has  created  a  number  of 
administrative  rules  that  regulate  its  daily  operations  in  the  registration  of  domain 
names. 

Further  information  on  the  different  instruments  that  form  part  of  the  legal 
is  available  on: 
framework  and  on 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/doteu/index_en.htm. 

their  adoption 

the  procedure 

for 

3. 

FUNCTIONING 

3.1. 

The Registry 

Pursuant  to  the  mandate  from  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  the 
Framework Regulation8, the Commission published a Call for expressions of interest 
inviting  applications  from  organisations  wishing  to  be  selected  as  the  Registry9. 
Following  a  comparative  evaluation  of  the  applications,  the  European  Registry  for 
Internet  Domains  (EURID)  was  designated  by  the  Commission  as  the  “.eu”  TLD 
Registry.10  As  foreseen  in  the  Framework  Regulation,  the  Commission  signed  a 
service concession contract with EURID11 on 12 October 2004. 

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OJ L 162 of 30.4.2004, p. 40 
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/policy/doteu/background/index_en.htm  
Article 3(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 
Call for expressions of interest for the selection of the .eu TLD Registry (2002/C 208/08), OJ C 208 of 
3.9.2002, p. 6. 
Commission Decision on the designation of the “.eu” TLD Registry, OJ L 128 of 24.5.2003, p. 29. 
For further information about EURid see http://www.eurid.eu/content/view/12/26/lang,en/  

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EURid  is  a  non-profit  organization  founded  in  April  2003  by  the  organisations 
operating  the  national  top  level  domains  for  Belgium,  Italy  and  Sweden.  Later,  the 
organisations  operating  the  top  level  domains  for  the  Czech  Republic  and  Slovenia 
also joined EURid as members. EURid is based in Diegem (Belgium).  

Upon  the  signature  of  the  contract  between  the  Commission  and  EURid  for  the 
management of the “.eu” TLD, the Commission authorized EURid to negotiate with 
ICANN  an  agreement  for  the  delegation  of  the  “.eu”  TLD12.  ICANN  thereby 
recognized  EURid  as  the  body  appointed  by  the  European  Union  to  run  the  “.eu” 
TLD until at least 2009. Following to the signature of this agreement “.eu” was put in 
the  root  zone  of  the  Internet  Domain  Name  System  (DNS)  in  March  2005  which 
means that, technically speaking; it has been in existence since then. 

3.2.  Measures for the protection of end users 

The  DNS  business  as  a  whole  is  characterised  by  a  great  deal  of  litigation,  dispute 
and  "sharp"  commercial  practices.  The  number  of  registrants  worldwide  and  the 
value  of  the  domain  name  market  have  resulted  in  vigorous  competitive  behaviour 
among  registrars  and  re-sellers  in  particular.  It  is  no  surprise  therefore  that  some 
registrants act in an abusive way to profit from this appetizing market.  

The key issue is to ensure that such abuses of registrations and associated registrar 
practices are identified efficiently and dealt with appropriately. The legal framework 
for “.eu” was drafted with this intention. 

To  minimize  the  risk  of  cybersquatting13  within  the  “.eu”  the  European  legislator 
developed tools that allow end users to preserve their rights. Three tools were created 
with this objective: the reservation of names, the phased registration period and the 
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure. 

3.2.1.  Names reserved or excluded from registration 

The most elemental rule for protecting a name against cybersquatting is evidently to 
exclude it from being registered as a domain name or to reserve it for its registration 
by  his  legitimate  holder.  The  framework  Regulation  provided  for  a  procedure  for 
establishing,  upon  the  request  from  Member  States,  a  list  of  names  that  may  either 
not  be  registered  (Article  5.2a),  or  be  registered  only  under  a  second  level  domain 
(Article 5.2b).  Article  5 of  the Framework  Regulation  also  constitutes  the basis for 
the  Commission  to  provide  for  the  reservation  of  domain  names  for  their  use  by 
Member States or the Community institutions and bodies (Articles 8 and 9 PPR). 

Further  information  concerning  the  procedure  for  the  exclusion  or  reservation  of 
these  names  can  be  found  in  the  Commission's  web  site  on  the  “.eu”  TLD 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/doteu/index_en.htm. The complete list 

12 
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Recital 15 of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 
Cybersquatting is a term generally used to describe the practice of registering Internet domain names 
which are, arguably, not for the taking. The cybersquatter then offers the domain to the rightful owner at 
an inflated price. 

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of names excluded or reserved under the “.eu” TLD is accessible in the web site of 
the “.eu” Registry14 

3.2.2. 

Sunrise 

According  to  the  mandate  from  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  the 
framework  Regulation,  the  PPR  should  provide  that  holders  of  prior  rights 
recognised  or  established  by  national  and/or  Community  law  and  public  bodies 
benefit  from  a  specific  period  of  time  (  "sunrise  period")  during  which  the 
registration  of  their  domain  names  is  exclusively  reserved  to  such  holders  of  prior 
rights  recognised  or  established  by  national  and/or  Community  law  and  public 
bodies15.  

This  mandate  is  implemented  in  Chapter  IV  (Articles  10  to  14)  of  the  PPR 
establishing some basic guidelines on how to deal with the initial phased registration 
period. These rules have been further developed by the Registry through the "sunrise 
rules".  Considerable  efforts  were  made  by  the  Registry  to  simplify  as  much  as 
possible the sunrise procedures taking into account that the sunrise period concerns 
prior rights established under the laws of the Member States. Special consideration 
had  to  be  given  to  the  different  legal  systems  and  to  the  different  means  that  were 
required to prove the existence and validity of those rights. This necessarily had an 
impact  on  the  complexity  of  the  application  procedure.  While  producing  the 
documentary evidence required to prove the existence of a registered trademark may 
be  easy,  proving  the  existence  of  a  non-registered  right  or,  under  certain 
administrations, a company name may be much more complicated. In these cases, the 
choice of a competent Registrar which facilitates the preparation of the application is 
often fundamental for the application's success. 

The sunrise period consisted of two phases each lasting two months. During phase I 
only  domain  names  of  public  bodies;  the  names  of  territories  governed  by  public 
bodies and registered community or national trademarks could be applied for by the 
public body or holder/licensee of the trademark. During phase II, in addition, domain 
names  based  on  other  rights  that  are  protected  under  the  national  law,  such  as 
company  names,  business  identifiers,  distinctive  titles  of  protected  literary  and 
artistic work, unregistered trademarks or trade names could be applied for.  

To  prevent  abuse  during  the  sunrise  phase,  all  claims  for  prior  rights  had  to  be 
verifiable by documentary evidence demonstrating the right under the law by virtue 
of which it exists16. The validation of the rights has been performed by a validation 
agent appointed by the Registry (i.e. PriceWaterhouseCoopers). It is to be noted that 
the  legal framework established  for the “.eu”  TLD  does not derogate from  existing 
law and, thus, the validation agent had to accept as valid any application based on a 
valid trademark, or any other kind of prior right, granted by a Member State. 

Applications for the same name were assessed on a first-come-first-served basis. In 
cases of disputed decisions by the Registry concerning the registration of a domain 

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16 

http://www.eurid.eu/content/view/21/38/lang,en/ 
Recital 16 of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 
Article 14 of PPR 

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name, applicants where able to have recourse to either ordinary courts or to the extra-
judicial settlement of conflicts system called ADR (see below). 

The  validation  procedure,  which  had  to  be  carried  out  by  qualified  professionals, 
required that the fee for the registration of a domain name during the Sunrise period 
be  higher  than  during  the  normal  operations  of  the  Registry.  Depending  on  the 
complexity  for  validating  the  prior  right  on  which  the  application  was  based,  the 
price  ranged  from  €35,  for  applications  filed  by  public  bodies,  to  €45  applications 
based  on  registered  trademarks  and  €85  for  applications  based  on  other  rights. 
Registrars added their profit margin to this fee. The price paid by end user generally 
reflected the level and quality of the service offered by the registrar.  

3.2.3.  Extra-judicial settlement of conflicts policy 

The legal framework for the “.eu” TLD foresees an Alternative Dispute Resolution 
procedure (ADR) to solve disputes concerning domain names under the “.eu” TLD. 
This  system,  provides  procedural  guaranties  for  the  parties  concerned  and  applies 
without  prejudice  to  any  court  proceeding  that  any  interested  party  may  initiate 
against the holder of the domain name or a decision of the Registry. 

Following  a  selection  procedure17,  on  12  April  2005  the  Registry  appointed  the 
Prague-based  Arbitration  Court  attached  to  the  Economic  Chamber  of  the  Czech 
Republic  and  Agricultural  Chamber  of  the  Czech  Republic  (the  "Czech  Arbitration 
Court") to provide ADR for “.eu” domain name disputes.  

In  August  2005,  the  Czech  Arbitration  Court,  assisted  by  a  preparatory  team  of  IP 
and  IT  specialist  from  around  Europe,  launched  a  public  consultation  on  a  set  of 
practical rules that refine the guidelines established by the PPR for the ADR system. 
In  November  2005,  the  Czech  Arbitration  Court  published  the  final  set  of  rules 
establishing the administrative procedures for filing and managing ADR complaints 
on its website18.  

Disputes  within  the  ADR  system  for  “.eu”  may  be  initiated  against  bad  faith  or 
abusive registrations from third parties or against decisions taken by the Registry19. 
The level  of the  fees for ADR proceedings is based on the cost recovery principle. 
The ADR fees (starting at €1,850) compare favourably with those charged by similar 
arbitration bodies. In view of the good results during the first year of operations, the 
Czech  Arbitration  Court  lowered  its  fees  by  7%  as  of  1  January  2007.  There  is  a 
further 10% discount on the ADR fees applicable to the parties who use advanced e-
signature during ADR Proceedings. 

4. 

EFFECTIVENESS 

The  effectiveness  of  the  “.eu”  TLD  system  can  be  gauged  on  the  basis  of  two 
indicators:  the  number  of  domain  names  applied  for  and  the  efficiency  of  the 
Registry in dealing with the daily functioning of the registration system. 

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Article 23 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004 
http://www.adr.eu/adr/adr_rules/index.php  
Article 21 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004 

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4.1. 

Number of applied/registered domain names 

A year after launch, some 2,4 million “.eu” names are been registered under the “.eu” 
TLD, making “.eu” Europe's third most popular country code top level domain name, 
and the seventh most popular TLD worldwide to date. Within the European Union, 
“.eu”  is  only  surpassed  by  the  national  Top  level  domains  (ccTLDs)  for  Germany 
and  the  United  Kingdom  while  globally,  only  .com,  .net,  .org  and  .info  can  claim 
more  registrations.  Moreover,  now  that  the  initial  wave  of  registrations  has  passed, 
there  is  an  increasing  trend  towards  using  .eu  domains  once  they  have  been 
registered. as opposed to simply registering them as a precautionary measure.  

latest 

The 
http://status.eurid.eu/  

figures  with  a  breakdown  per  country  are  available  at: 

346,218  applications  were  filed  during  sunrise  for  245,221  domain  names.  The 
difference  between  the  number  of  applications  and  the  number  of  domain  names 
applied  for  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  some  domain  names  were  applied  for  by 
more than one applicant.  

The average monthly growth rate for the registration of domain names between May 
and  December  2006  was  4.7  %  which  is  among  highest  in  the  industry.  Also  the 
actual  everyday  use  of  “.eu”  is  increasing.  The  number  of  DNS  queries,  i.e.  how 
often someone looks up a “.eu” website or sends an email to a “.eu” email address; to 
the Registry has increased fivefold in half a year between the end of June and end of 
December 2006. 

Furthermore,  in  January  2007  more  than  78%  of  all  “.eu”  domain  names  lead  to  a 
functioning website or email server. Out of the functioning websites, only one fifth 
had  a  click  through  step  meaning  that  they  automatically  redirected  the  visitor  to  a 
different site or URL; these figures show that “.eu” domain names are being actively 
used. Furthermore, a recent survey carried out by the Registry showed that 79 % of 
Internet  users  in  Europe  are  familiar  with  the  concept  of  TLDs  and  domain  names 
and that 63 % know about the existence of “.eu”. 45 % Internet users know that they 
as  EU  residents  can  register  a  “.eu”  and  11%  are  considering  the  possibility  to 
register a domain name within this TLD. 

Thanks  to  the  huge  interest  in  “.eu”  and  the  high  number  of  registrations,  the 
Registry  has  managed  to  lower  the  fees  associated  with  owning  a  “.eu”  domain 
name. As of 1 January 2007, the price for registering a domain name and the annual 
renewal fee was reduced from 10 to 5 €. Taking into account the non-profit character 
of the “.eu” Registry further reductions may be envisaged in the future. Note that this 
fee  is  charged  to  accredited  “.eu”  registrars  that,  in  turn,  set  the  prices  for  their 
customers.  Many  registrars  bundle  their  services  to  include  web  hosting  and  email 
packages, for instance. Nowadays, the price for a domain name under “.eu” starts at 
around 15€, thus matching the prices usually charged for other domain names under 
.com, .net, .co.uk, .de, etc…  

All in all, it can be concluded that the launch of the “.eu” TLD has been a successful 
and  effective  exercise,  which  meets  real  demand  among  the  European  citizens, 
industry and other organisations.  

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4.2. 

Performance of the registration system 

To assess the performance of the registration system the PPR20 foresee that at the end 
of  the  phased  registration  an  independent  audit  shall  be  performed  and  that  the 
auditor  shall  report  its  findings  to  the  Commission.  The  purpose  of  the  audit  is  to 
confirm  the  fair,  appropriate  and  sound  operational  and  technical  administration  of 
the phased registration period by the Registry.  

The  methodology  of  the  audit  included  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  Registry's 
processes  during  the  Sunrise.  The  auditor  sought  to  obtain  relevant  statistical  data 
and  third  party  opinions  (including  that  of  Intellectual  Property  experts).  An 
investigation was also carried out on the processes put in place by the Registry for 
handling  abusive  behaviours.  These  processes  were  compared  with  similar 
approaches used by comparable registries. Finally, the auditor performed a sampled 
registrar satisfaction survey and consulted sampled out domain portfolio owners. 

The findings of the audit report can be summarised as follows: 

i) 
As concerns the validation of rights during the Sunrise, the auditor established 
that the selection of the validation agent and the drawn up of the applicable rules for 
the  Sunrise  was  done  according  to  the  specifications  of  the  PPR  and  within  the 
confines of an acceptable economic (cost) and operational (throughput) model for the 
execution of the process. These rules were designed in order to provide a process as 
uniform  as  possible,  within  a  non-uniform  set  of  laws  across  the  various  Member 
States of the European Union. In view of statistical data, the auditors concluded that 
no discrimination could be found against citizens of any particular Member State.  

ii)  Regarding  abusive  registrations,  the  Registry  consistently  implemented  and 
maintained  the  first  come  –  first  served  principle.  As  regards  to  "warehousing 
practices"  by  some  registrars,  the  Registry  performed  investigations  based  on 
sampling  and  complaints  and  terminated  the  contract  with  those  registrars  whose 
practices were proven inadmissible.  

iii)  As  concerns  registration  by  non-eligible  registrants,  the  Registry  performed 
post-factum  investigations  and  revoked,  where  appropriate,  domain  names  which 
consequently became available again to the public. 

iv)  The  several  hundreds  of  registrars  accredited  to  the  Registry  with  the  sole 
purpose  of  massively  obtaining  domain  names  for  certain  registrants  (the  so-called 
"phantom  registrars")  was  the  subject  of  legal  proceedings  brought  by  the  Registry 
before the relevant Courts.  

Regarding operational and technical questions, the findings of the audit report 
v) 
confirm  the  robustness  of  the  system  implemented  by  EURid  which  has  proven 
appropriate in view of the load and volume of applications during the Sunrise period 
and afterwards. 

vi) 
In relation to the massive registrations taking place after 7 April 2006, i.e. at 
the  moment  when  applications  were  open  to  the  wider  public  ("landrush")  and 

20 

Article 12(5) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004 

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subsequent  releases  ("mini-landrush"),  this  is  to  be  a  phenomenon  that  many  other 
registries  have  also  experienced.  This  practice  seems  to  be  the  result  of  technical 
craftsmanship  and  performance  on  the  side  of  the  registrars.  After  careful  and 
extensive  sampling  of  the  EURid  registry  logs,  no  evidence  was  found  by  the 
auditors  that  parties  would  have  been  unduly  advantaged,  nor  that  the  first-come 
first-served  principle  was  infringed,  nor  that  unallowed  manipulations  were 
performed upon the database by any party, nor that the logging system was tampered 
with, nor that the protective firewalls installed by EURid were broken. 

vii)  As  concerns  the  assistance  to  end  users,  the  Registry  put  in  place  a  support 
team to handle telephone calls, e-mails, faxes and postal mail from the opening of the 
"Sunrise"  phase  (7  Dec  2005).  However,  the  support  team  appears  not  have  kept 
track  of  its  exchanges  with  third  parties  with  a  proper  ticketing  system  until  July 
2006. 

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  above  findings  taken  from  the  audit  report  show  that  the  Registry  has  overall 
performed  very  efficiently  during  the  start  up  phase  of  the  “.eu”  TLD  and  in  full 
conformity with the legal framework. There is no indication that the level of disputes 
or  problems  within  “.eu”  was  any  higher  than  for  any  comparable  TLD.  Being  a 
successful  TLD  that  attracts high numbers of registrants inevitably involves having 
to deal with complaints about disputed domain names. Given the history of disputes 
in other TLDs over the years, a certain level of complaints was to be expected. To 
the surprise of some observers, the launch of “.eu” attracted a lot more registrations 
than expected. Some of the registrations were speculative and/or defensive, but most 
were  in  good  faith.  Some,  inevitably,  will  have  been  made  by  people  trying  to 
"exploit"  the  system  for  financial  gain.  Such  behaviour  was  to  a  large  extent 
anticipated. Indeed, a large part of the discussions on “.eu” when the legislation was 
being adopted by the European Parliament and the Council was on how to minimise 
abuse.  The  evidence  suggests  that  that  legal  framework  and  the  implementation  of 
defensive measures by EURid has been largely effective in this respect. 

As  the  start-up  phase  finished  some  time  ago,  the  objectives  for  the  “.eu”  Registry 
have  evolved.  The  challenges  now  are  to  further  improve  the  service  given  to 
customers  by,  for  instance,  the  adoption  of  a  code  of  conduct  for  registrars. 
Moreover, the promotion of further registrations as well as that of the actual use of 
the “.eu” TLD by citizens, institutions and companies should be ensured. 

EN 

10 

   EN