Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation, functioning and effectiveness of the ‘.eu’ TLD
Date: 2009-06-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Union, Internet address, cross-frontier data flow, information technology, intellectual property, international standard, regulation of telecommunications, report

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 26.6.2009 
COM(2009) 303 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation, functioning and effectiveness of the ‘.eu’ TLD 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation, functioning and effectiveness of the ‘.eu’ TLD 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

The  aim  of  introducing  the  ‘.eu’  Top  Level  Domain  (TLD)  was  to  provide  Community 
residents,  organisations  and  undertakings  with  a  specific  pan-European  identity  on  the 
Internet.  

The  purpose  of  this  Report  is  to  inform  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the 
implementation, effectiveness and functioning of the ‘.eu’ TLD, as provided for in Article 8 
of Regulation (EC) No 733/20021. 

The Report focuses on recent developments concerning the ‘.eu’ TLD which took place from 
the adoption of the previous Report on 6 July 20072 until 31 March 2009.  

2. 

THE ‘.EU’ FRAMEWORK 

2.1. 

Legal framework 

The ‘.eu’ legal  framework  consists  of the aforementioned Regulation  (EC)  No  733/2002  on 
the  implementation  of  the  ‘.eu’  TLD  and  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  874/2004  of  28 
April  2004  laying  down  public  policy  rules.  These  two  instruments  are  supplemented  by  a 
number  of  Commission  decisions  concerning  the  selection  and  designation  of  the  Registry. 
Finally,  the  Registry  has  created  a  number  of  administrative  rules  that  regulate  its  daily 
operations in the registration of domain names. 

In  order  to  take  due  account  of  the  introduction  of  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny, 
Regulation  (EC)  No  733/2002  was  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  1137/2008  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008.  

Romania and Bulgaria acceded to the European Union on 1 January 2007 and accordingly had 
to have the possibility to register the domain names previously reserved for them. In order to 

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Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 April 2002 on the 
implementation of the ‘.eu’ Top Level Domain (OJ L 113, 30.4.2002, p. 1), as amended by Regulation 
(EC)  No  1137/2008  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  October  2008  adapting  a 
number  of  instruments  subject  to  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  251  of  the  Treaty  to  Council 
Decision  1999/468/EC,  with  regard  to  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  —  Adaptation  to  the 
regulatory procedure with scrutiny — Part One (OJ L 311, 21.11.2008, p. 1). 
COM(2007) 385 final (OJ C 191, 17.8.2007, p. 17) 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2007:0385:FIN:EN:PDF. 

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ensure  legal  clarity,  the  Annex  to  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  874/2004  including  the 
list  of  domain  names  per  country  and  the  countries  that  can  register  them  was  amended  by 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1255/2007.  

The  Commission  also  identified  the  need  to  amend  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No 
874/2004 to adjust it to the requirements of IDN under ‘.eu’.  

2.2. 

Basic principles 

The  ‘.eu’  legal  framework  provides  for  a  separation  of  duties  between  the  Commission  and 
the  ‘.eu’  Registry.  The  ‘.eu’  Registry  is  a  non-profit  organisation  which  administers  and 
manages the ‘.eu’ TLD independently in accordance with the principles of non-interference, 
self-management  and  self-regulation3.  The  Commission  has  been  entrusted  with  a  general 
supervisory  role.  In  particular,  the  Commission  is  not  competent  to  take  any  decisions 
concerning  particular  domain  names  nor  is  it  the  appeal  body  for  decisions  taken  by  the 
Registry. 

Furthermore,  the  ‘.eu’  TLD  is  based  on  the  registry-registrar  model  where  the  Registry  is 
charged  with  the  management  of  the  ‘.eu’  TLD,  including  maintenance  of  the  relevant 
databases,  while  accredited  registrars  act  as  agents  offering  its  registration  services  to 
registrants.  The  Registry  is  not  allowed  to  act  itself  as  a  registrar4.  This  approach  fosters 
competitiveness  in  the  domain  name  market  where  registrars  tend  to  diversify  their  offer  to 
cover the different needs of registrants while ensuring competitive prices. 

2.3. 

The Registry 

The  European  Registry  for  Internet  Domains  (EURid),  a  non-profit  organisation  based  in 
Diegem, Belgium, was designated by the Commission as the ‘.eu’ TLD Registry following a 
call for expressions of interest on 21 May 20035.  

EURid was founded in April 2003. Its members are the organisations operating the national 
TLDs  for  Belgium,  Italy,  Sweden,  the  Czech  Republic  and  Slovenia,  as  well  as  ISOC-ECC 
(the  Internet  Society  European  Chapters  Coordinating  Council)  and  Businesseurope  (a 
confederation of European industry-related federations).  

As  provided  for  in  Regulation  (EC)  No  733/20026,  on  12  October  2004  the  Commission 
signed  a  Service  Concession  Contract  with  EURid  (the  Contract)  for  an  initial  term  of  five 
years, with the possibility of renewal7.  

On 12 December 2008, the Commission, on behalf of the European Community, and EURid 
signed  a  supplementary  contract  providing  for  the  renewal  of  the  present  Contract  for  a 
further period of five years, i.e. until 12 October 2014. The supplementary contract will come 
into force upon expiry of the present Contract, i.e. on 12 October 2009. 

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See recital 9 of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002. 
Article 3(4) of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002. 
Commission Decision 2003/375/EC of 21 May 2003 on the designation of the ‘.eu’ Top Level Domain 
Registry (OJ L 128, 24.5.2003, p. 29). 
Article 3(1) states that ‘The contract between the Commission and the Registry shall be limited in time 
and renewable’. 
For further information about EURid see http://www.eurid.eu/content/view/12/26/lang,en/. 

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3. 

REGISTRATION AND USE OF ‘.EU’ DOMAINS 

The  effectiveness  of  the  ‘.eu’  TLD  system  can  be  gauged  on  the  basis  of  two  criteria:  the 
number of registered domain names and the performance of the Registry. 

3.1. 

Number of registered domain names 

‘.eu’ in the global context 

The ‘.eu’ TLD opened for public registration on 7 April 2006. Three years later, over three 
million  ‘.eu’  domains  have  been  registered,  making  ‘.eu’  Europe’s  fourth  most  popular 
country code TLD, and the ninth most popular TLD worldwide. These figures highlight the 
success of ‘.eu’ in gaining public favour.  

Among  the  European  ccTLDs,  ‘.eu’  is  only  surpassed  by  the  country  code  Top  Level 
Domains (ccTLDs) for Germany (‘.de’), the UK (‘.uk’) and the Netherlands (‘.nl’). Globally, 
only the generic TLDs ‘.com’, ‘.net’, ‘.org’ and ‘.info’ as well as China’s ccTLD (‘.cn’) and 
the aforementioned three European ccTLDs can claim more registrations (see Annex 1). 

Breakdown by country of registrant 

The  majority  of  ‘.eu’  domains  have  been  registered  in  the  most  populated  countries  and  in 
countries with a strong tradition of registering and using domains. The strongest demand for 
‘.eu’ domain names has come from Germany (30 % of ‘.eu’ domains), the Netherlands (14 %), 
the United Kingdom (12 %), France (8 %) and Poland (6 %)8 (see Annex 2). 

Growth 

After  the  impressive  increase  in  domain  name  registrations  experienced  during  the  start-up 
phase in 2006, the ‘.eu’ TLD has consolidated and its growth rates are now similar to those of 
the  other  European  ccTLDs  (+11 %  in  2007  and  +11 %  in  2008).  The  reasons  for  this 
evolution  are  two-fold:  (i)  on  the  one  hand,  registration  of  new  domains  is  progressively 
slowing down to a normal level after the end of the sunrise phase and (ii) on the other hand, 
the  initial  exceptionally  high  renewal  rates  of  over  80 %  are  coming  closer  to  the  industry 
average (currently 72 %).  

Whereas  the  overall  registration  growth  of  22 %  over  the  period  2006-2008  can  be  judged 
satisfactory,  it  has  been  particularly  impressive  in  Poland  (+149 %),  Lithuania  (+142 %), 
Luxembourg (+95 %) and Ireland (+94 %) (see Annex 3). 

‘.eu’ has grown side by side with other European TLDs 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  growth  of  ‘.eu’  has  coincided  with  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
national  domain  names  in  most  Member  States.  For  instance,  in  2008,  the  growth  in 
registrations  under  Germany’s  Top  Level  Domain  (‘.de’)  was  7 %,  whereas  ‘.uk’  (United 
Kingdom) and ‘.nl’ (the Netherlands) grew by around 11 % and 18 % respectively. This is in 
line with the aim of the ‘.eu’ TLD to provide EU residents with the option of a truly European 

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The latest figures with a breakdown per country are available at:  
http://www.eurid.eu/en/press-room/facts-figures. 

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Internet identity to supplement rather than replace the existing country code TLDs (ccTLDs) 
in the EU. 

3.2. 

Use of ‘.eu’ domains 

Registration and use 

There is a growing trend towards using ‘.eu’ domains immediately when they are registered 
as opposed to simply registering them as a precautionary measure. 

‘.eu’  domain  names  are  becoming  a  regular  feature  of  Europe’s  cyberspace  and  electronic 
marketplace.  ‘.eu’  is  particularly  popular  among  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises.  In 
addition,  large  and  well-known  organisations,  but  also  non-governmental  organisations  and 
EU residents, are increasingly using ‘.eu’ domain names they have registered9. 

The EU institutions’ entire website, and all their email addresses, were switched over to ‘.eu’ 
on 9 May 2006. From that day on, the EU institutions have offered a single gateway for all 
European residents, organisations and undertakings within the ‘.eu’ TLD: http://europa.eu.  

In addition to European bodies, institutions and agencies, programmes and projects funded by 
the  European  Union  are  increasingly  using  ‘.eu’  domain  names.  The  official  website  of  the 
Swedish EU Presidency can be found under a ‘.eu’ domain name: www.se2009.eu.  

Furthermore, a survey carried out by the Registry showed that approximately 80 % of all ‘.eu’ 
domain  names  lead  to  a  functioning  website  or  email  server10.  Out  of  the  functioning 
websites,  only  one  fifth  automatically  redirected  the  visitor  to  another  site  or  URL;  these 
figures show that ‘.eu’ domain names are being actively used in the vast majority of cases. 

Awareness and image 

Compared  to  most  other  European  ccTLDs  that  were  established  in  the  1990s,  ‘.eu’  can  be 
regarded as a newcomer. Therefore, it is not surprising that, in terms of perception, ‘.eu’ lags 
behind other TLDs. A survey carried out by the Registry11 showed that 79 % of Internet users 
in  Europe  were  familiar  with  the  concept  of  TLDs  and  domain  names  and  that  63 %  knew 
about the existence of ‘.eu’. 45 % of Internet users knew that as EU residents they can register 
a  ‘.eu’  and  11 %  were  considering  the  possibility  of  registering  a  domain  name  within  this 
TLD. 

It should be noted that ‘.eu’ domains enjoy a good reputation: according to another survey12 
carried out on behalf of EURid, users not only perceive ‘.eu’ as the genuine European Internet 
identity, but also believe that ‘.eu’ domains are innovative and modern.  

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For examples of active use of ‘.eu’ domain names: http://www.eurid.eu/en/press-room/why-eu. 
http://www.eurid.eu/files/2007_q1_report.pdf. 
http://www.eurid.eu/en/content/two-thirds-online-europeans-are-aware-eu. 
https://www.centr.org/main/4607-CTR/version/default/part/AttachmentData/data/Admin14%20-
%20Linden-%20.eu%20branding%20study.pdf. 

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4. 

PERFORMANCE OF THE REGISTRY 

4.1. 

Service and fees 

During the last two years, the Registry has worked to further improve its service to registrars. 
The Registry provides service to registrars in all official languages of the European Union. In 
addition to its headquarters in Diegem (Belgium), EURid has opened branches in Stockholm, 
Prague and Pisa, in order to increase its proximity to registrars.  

Since ‘.eu’ domains are marketed by some 1 000 accredited ‘.eu’ registrars, regular exchange 
between  the  Registry  and  registrars  is  vital,  providing  the  Registry  with  insights  into  the 
market’s  needs  and  evolution.  To  that  end,  two  consultative  bodies  consisting  of  registrar 
representatives,  the  Registrar  Advisory  Board  (RAB)  and  the  Registrar  Requirements  Panel 
(RRP),  have  been  created.  The  RAB  provides  EURid’s  Management  Board  with  advice  on 
business issues, whereas the RRP has a technical focus. In addition, the Registry launched in 
September 2008 a 24/7 support service for its registrar community, thus ensuring round-the-
clock support.  

The service provided by the Registry to the registrars seems to be satisfactory: according to a 
survey carried out on behalf of the Registry, more than 90 % of registrars who responded were 
satisfied or more than satisfied with the support they receive from EURid and 86 % saw no 
need for improvement of the registration system13. However, registrars would also like to see 
improvements  in  certain  areas,  such  as  the  procedures  for  trades  and  transfers  of  domain 
names and the tracking of changes implemented via the system releases. 

In  April  2007,  EURid  adopted  a  Code  of  Conduct,  to  which  registrars  can  subscribe  on  a 
voluntary basis. Subscribers agree to adhere to the conditions laid out in the Code’s Charter 
and in return they are granted the right to use the official Code of Conduct subscriber’s logo, 
allowing them to distinguish themselves as offering a best in class service.  

Fees and prices 

The  Commission  has  been  monitoring  the  ‘.eu’  wholesale  registration  fees,  taking  into 
account the Registry’s financial situation, as well as the overall TLD context. Thanks to the 
huge  interest  in  ‘.eu’  and  the  high  number  of  registrations,  the  wholesale  registration  fees 
have been successively reduced by the Registry: on 1 January 2007, the registration fee and 
annual renewal fee was lowered from €10 to €5; another reduction to €4 came into force on 
1 February 2008. The Commission will continue to monitor the situation and propose for the 
consideration of the Registry further decreases if and when they become feasible14.  

It  should  be  noted  that  the  wholesale  fee  is  charged  by  the  Registry  to  accredited  ‘.eu’ 
registrars that, in turn, set their own retail prices for registrants. Many registrars bundle their 
services  to  include  web  hosting  and  email  packages,  for  instance.  Nowadays,  the  effective 

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http://www.eurid.eu/en/content/eu-registrars-are-generally-satisfied-eurid-give-some-suggestions-
improvements. 
Article 4(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 stipulates that ‘The Registry shall impose fees directly 
related to costs incurred.’ Furthermore, Article I(I)(6) of the Service Concession Contract states that ‘if 
a surplus is recorded which is not invested for enhanced quality of service purposes, such surplus will 
be transferred to the Community budget in any year such surplus occurs. Consideration shall be given to 
the need to ensure appropriate operating reserve.’. 

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retail price for a domain name under ‘.eu’ starts at around €5, which is definitely not higher 
than  the  lowest  market  prices  available  for  ‘.com’,  ‘.net’,  ‘.uk’,  ‘.de’  and  other  major  Top 
Level Domains.  

4.2. 

Financial sustainability 

The Commission has been monitoring the financial situation of the Registry, which is a key 
component  of  the  sustainability  of  ‘.eu’.  The  bigger  than  expected  registration  success  has 
generated  revenues  that  have  exceeded  costs  so  far.  The  Commission  has  responded  to  this 
development in line with the pertinent provisions of the legal framework and the Contract.  

Firstly, the Commission has required EURid to determine and plan in advance its investments 
and the appropriate level of reserves on an annual rolling basis. A contribution to these is then 
withheld  from  the  surplus  each  year  by  the  Registry,  while  the  rest  is  transferred  to  the 
Community budget.  

At  the  same  time,  the  Commission  has  requested  the  Registry  to  continuously  analyse  the 
possibility  of  reducing  the  wholesale  registration  fee  (see  above).  Such  a  reduction  is 
necessary  to  recognise  the  declining  cost  incurred  per  domain  name  due  to  the  increasing 
volume of registrations. Furthermore, lowering the fee is the best way to limit the transferable 
surplus with the intention to leave the money with domain name holders instead. 

It  must  be  noted  that  to  ensure  the  financial  sustainability  of  the  Registry,  annual  revenues 
must always cover annual expenditure and the funds necessary for investments and reserves, 
even  if  registrations  —  or  the  growth  in  registrations  —  should  be  falling.  The  principle  of 
prudence therefore dictates that the lowering of fees has to follow — and not precede — the 
decrease in costs. 

As a result of this approach, the Registry has gradually lowered the wholesale fee in line with 
the rising volume of registrations but with a time lag. Consequently, its surplus has also been 
the  surplus  was 
decreasing  without  endangering  financial  sustainability.  In  2006, 
€11.3 million, of which  €8.9 million  was transferred to the Community budget. In 2007 the 
surplus was €10.9 million, of which €6.9 million was transferred. Preliminary figures for the 
year  2008  suggest  that  the  surplus  will  be  approximately  €5  million,  of  which  the  Registry 
will transfer to the Community budget approximately €4 million. The amounts not transferred 
to the Community budget are either invested for enhanced quality of service purposes or used 
to build up appropriate reserves. 

The Registry’s operations have thus been on a sound financial footing in the reporting period. 
Operating  income  has  exceeded  operating  costs  and  surpluses  have  been  sufficient  to  cover 
investment needs and liabilities.  

4.3. 

Business continuity and resilience 

Over the past two years, the Registry has been further upgrading its technical systems. One of 
the  key  challenges  has  been  to  improve  resilience  by  ensuring  redundancy  of  all  key 
operations.  In  this  context,  the  Registry  is  upgrading  its  Prague-based  mirror  site,  allowing 
full replication of the functions of the main site. 

In addition, the Registry has implemented the anycast technology, which allows duplicates of 
‘.eu’ name servers to be spread all over the world. Avoiding a single point of failure in the 

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Registry’s infrastructure is intended to increase stability in the event that one of these servers 
goes  down  or  becomes  unreachable.  The  two  anycast  networks  being  used  by  EURid  are 
operated  by  two  different  anycast  providers.  This  heterogeneity  further  bolsters the stability 
and robustness of the ‘.eu’ domain. 

As  required  by  the  Contract,  the  Registry  has  prepared  a  Business  Continuity  Plan  (BCP), 
including  an  analysis  of  the  Registry  core  functions  as  well  as  related  risks  and 
countermeasures.  It  also  includes  a  crisis  management  plan,  as  well  as  business  continuity 
scenarios and procedures concerning particular types of threats.  

The BCP was audited by an independent auditor. The purpose of this assessment was to verify 
EURid  business  continuity  planning  against  industry  best  practice.  The  report  confirms  that 
EURid is working on implementation of continuity measures, indicating that the process has 
not been finalised yet.  

In addition, EURid has informed the Commission about its measures to enhance the reliability 
of its operational systems by increasing resilience and performance of both the database and 
the registration services.  

4.4. 

Domain name disputes 

Given the potentially considerable commercial value of some domain names, legal disputes in 
this area are not infrequent.  

Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure 

The ‘.eu’ legal framework comprises an Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure (ADR) to 
solve  disputes  concerning  domain  names  under  the  ‘.eu’  TLD.  This  system  provides 
procedural  guarantees  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. 

EURid appointed the Prague-based Arbitration Court at the Economic Chamber of the Czech 
Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic (Czech Arbitration Court or CAC) 
to  provide  ADR  for  ‘.eu’  domain  name  disputes.  Under  the  ‘.eu’  legal  framework,  disputes 
within the ADR system for ‘.eu’ may be initiated: (i) against bad faith or abusive registrations 
from third parties or (ii) against decisions taken by the Registry. Disputes can be filed in any 
of the official languages of the EU. 

The level of the fees for ADR proceedings is based on the cost recovery principle. The ADR 
fees  have  been  lowered  several  times  since  2006  and  start  at  €1 30015,  thus  comparing 
favourably with the fees charged by similar arbitration bodies16. 

The  number  of  ADR  cases  initiated  before  the  CAC  has  declined  significantly  from 
approximately 200 cases per quarter in 2006 to approximately 25 cases per quarter currently. 
During  the  start-up  phase,  most  of  the  disputes  were  initiated  against  the  Registry 

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Source: Czech Arbitration Court: http://adr.eu/arbitration_platform/fees.php. 
Fees  charged  by  the  WIPO  (World  Intellectual  Property  Organisation)  start  at  USD  1 500 
(http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/fees/index.html). 

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(approximately  73 %),  while  the  remainder  of  the  cases  was  initiated  against  ‘.eu’  domain 
name holders. The situation has in the meantime reversed: now most complaints are initiated 
against ‘.eu’ domain name holders. This confirms that the initial high number of domain name 
disputes concerned sunrise period registrations where the complainants were challenging the 
Registry’s  decisions  with  reference  to  the  validation  of  prior  rights  of  ‘.eu’  domain  name 
holders17.  

Court cases regarding alleged abusive registrations of domain names 

EURid  is  a  party  to  court  cases  before  national  courts  in  Belgium  and  Greece.  Those  cases 
concern alleged warehousing of domain names18. 

In  one  case,  a  Belgian  court  required  EURid  via  a  preliminary  injunction  to  unblock 
approximately  74 000  domain  names  subject  to  a  penalty  of  €25 000  per  domain  name  per 
hour of delay. EURid obeyed the injunction with the exception of 20 domain names, on the 
ground that they were subject to pending ADR cases. This led, subsequently, to the blocking 
of  EURid’s  bank  accounts  up  to  the  amount  of  €4 190 000  (constituting  1 %  of  the  claimed 
penalty). The case is pending and no court hearing in the main case has taken place to date. 

4.5. 

Cases before the European Court of Justice 

As regards ‘.eu’-related cases before the European Court of Justice to which the Commission 
is a party, in the ‘Galileo’ case, where the legitimacy of reserving the name ‘galileo.eu’ for 
use  by  Community  institutions  and  bodies  was  contested,  the  Court  of  First  Instance 
dismissed the application as inadmissible in 2007 (T-46/06). In an appeal brought against the 
CFI’s order in this case, the European Court of Justice upheld the CFI’s ruling (C-483/07). 

In  the  second  case,  ‘Inet  Hellas’,  still  pending  before  the  Court  of  First  Instance,  the 
complainant  is  challenging  the  interpretation  of  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  874/2004  as 
regards  the  ban  on  registering  two-letter  domain  names  representing  non-EU  countries  (T-
107/06).  

Additionally,  the  Oberster  Gerichtshof  in  Austria  has  referred  to  the  European  Court  of 
Justice questions for a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 
874/2004 (C-569/08). The case is pending. 

4.6. 

Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) 

Registration of domain names under the ‘.eu’ TLD is currently only possible using characters 
in standard Latin script: ‘a’ to ‘z’, digits ‘0’ to ‘9’ and ‘-’19. 

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As  provided  for  in  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  874/2004,  holders  of  prior  rights  recognised  or 
established  by  national  and/or  Community  law  and  public  bodies  benefited  from  a  specific  period  of 
time (‘sunrise period’) during which the registration of their domain names was exclusively reserved to 
such holders of recognised prior rights and public bodies. 
Domain name warehousing is a practice whereby some registrars obtain control of domain names with 
the intent to hold or ‘warehouse’ them for their use and/or profit. The warehouser usually tries to resell 
the domain name at an inflated price. 
See also EURid’s Terms and Conditions, Section 2.2: http://www.eurid.eu/files/trm_con_EN.pdf. 

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The legal framework for ‘.eu’ stipulates that Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) are to be 
introduced  as  soon  as  technically  possible20.  As  registration  of  such  domain  names  under  a 
TLD is now possible, EURid has been preparing the introduction of IDN under the ‘.eu’ TLD, 
which will allow the use of characters with diacritics such as ‘é’, ‘ö’, ‘ç’ or ‘č’ and non-Latin 
scripts.  

Following the adaptation of the legal framework to take into consideration the requirements 
of IDN21, it is expected that IDN under the ‘.eu’ TLD will be launched in the course of 2009.  

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Three years after its launch, the ‘.eu’ Top Level Domain has succeeded in becoming a valued 
option  for  Europeans  when  choosing  an  Internet  identity.  With  over  three  million  domains, 
‘.eu’  has  exceeded  expectations  and  is  well  established  among  the  world’s  top  ten  TLDs. 
After the initial  surge in registrations, there is a growing trend towards using ‘.eu’ domains 
immediately  when  they  are  registered  as  opposed  to  simply  registering  them  as  a 
precautionary measure pending a later decision on their use. Nowadays, ‘.eu’ domain names 
are increasingly adopted by undertakings, organisations and individuals for the unique benefit 
they  offer.  The  number  of  disputed  domain  names  has  been  constantly  decreasing  and  the 
ADR system has been seen as effective in protecting the rights of registrants. In addition, the 
Registry operates smoothly and in line with industry best practices.  

Nevertheless,  the  Registry  will  face  a  series  of  challenges  in  the  coming  years.  The  most 
immediate milestone will be the introduction of IDN.  

Further down the road, the coming introduction of new generic TLDs as well as the uncertain 
economic  environment  could  limit  the  growth  of  ‘.eu’.  A  proactive  strategic  approach  is 
therefore  required.  In  particular,  the  Registry  should  work  to  further  raise  awareness  of  the 
existence of the ‘.eu’ TLD and to strengthen its perception. By doing so, it will attract more 
registrations,  as  well  as  boosting  the  adoption  of  ‘.eu’  websites,  if  possible,  by  renowned 
undertakings and organisations.  

Given the dynamic nature of the TLD environment, the Registry should continue to maintain 
and  expand  its  dialogue  and  exchanges  with  the  Internet  community.  This  will  allow  the 
Registry to identify relevant market developments and to continue to adopt best practices. The 
Commission will continue to closely monitor the development of the ‘.eu’ TLD, ensuring that 
it meets the needs of EU residents, organisations and undertakings. 

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Article  6  of  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  874/2004  provides  that  ‘the  Registry  shall  perform  the 
registration  of  domain  names  in  all  the  alphabetic  characters  of  the official  languages  when  adequate 
international standards become available’. 
OJ L xxx, xx.xx.2009 (not yet published). 

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ANNEXES 

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ANNEX  1:  TEN  LARGEST  TOP  LEVEL  DOMAINS  BY  NUMBER  OF  REGISTERED 
DOMAIN NAMES (AS OF MARCH 2009) 

TLD 

.com 
.cn 
.de 
.net 
.org 
.uk 
.info 
.nl 
.eu (*) 
.biz  

Number of 
registered domains 

79 439 607 
13 854 687 
12 652 025 
12 099 536 
7 472 142 
7 382 123 
5 137 681 
3 285 095 
3 049 034 
2 025 576 

Source: http://domainsinfo.fr/.  

(*) The number of registrations for .eu is updated daily on:  

http://www.eurid.eu/en/about/facts-figures/statistics. 

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ANNEX  2:  NUMBER  OF  .EU  DOMAINS  BY  COUNTRY  OF  RESIDENCE  OF 
REGISTRANTS (AS OF MARCH 2009) 

Country 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 

Source: EURid. 

Number  of  .eu  domains 
March 2009 

74 767
92 404
9 578
53 051
82 020 
45 167 
8 179
14 876
251 744
930 467
25 169
29 148
59 612
166 454
7 166
9 416
27 256
2 916
415 474
176 328
11 789
20 204
18 609
6 385
70 390
81 979
377 820

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ANNEX 3: GROWTH OF .EU DOMAINS 2006-2008 BY COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE OF 
REGISTRANTS  

Growth  of  .eu  domains 
2006-2008* 

Country 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria** 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania** 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

+27 %

+23 %

+58 %

-41 %

+65 %

+18 %

+43 %

+57 %

+56 %

+19 %

+44 %

+32 %

+94 %

+14 %

0 %

+142 %

+95 %

-85 %

+36 %

+149 %

-2 %

+40 %

+74 %

+71 %

+33 %

-10 %

-14 %

+22 %

United Kingdom 

EU 

*from 31.12.2006 to 31.12.2008. 

** Figures for Bulgaria and Romania refer to 2007-2008, since registration of ‘.eu’ domains 
started after their accession to the EU on 1 January 2007. 

Source: EURid. 

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