REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission by Regulation (EU) 2019/517 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation and functioning of the .eu top-level domain name
Date: 2023-08-11
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, European symbol, Internet address, delegated legislation, digital single market, powers of the institutions (EU), regulation of telecommunications, technical specification, transfer of competence

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 11.8.2023  COM(2023) 485 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission by Regulation (EU) 2019/517 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation and functioning of the .eu top-level domain name      
 
 
1.  INTRODUCTION 

On  19  March  2019,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  adopted  Regulation  (EU) 
2019/517  on  the  implementation  and  functioning  of  the  .eu  top-level  domain  name1  (TLD). 
The  Regulation  has  been  applying  from  13  October  2022  with  the  exception  of  Article  20 
which applies since 19 October 2019. 

Regulation (EU) 2019/517 was designed to improve the potential of the .eu top-level domain 
by  increasing  the  flexibility  and  adaptability  of  the  rules  to  the  fast-changing  domain  name 
market (so called ‘principle-based’ regulation). The Regulation empowers the Commission to 
adopt delegated and implementing acts that are instrumental for the selection of the .eu top-
level domain name Registry and to its operation. More specifically, the Regulation empowers 
the Commission to adopt delegated acts to establish the eligibility and selection criteria and 
the procedure for the designation of the Registry for the .eu TLD. 

2.  LEGAL BASIS 

Pursuant to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/517, the power to adopt delegated acts was 
conferred upon the Commission for a period of five years from 18 April 2019.  

That  empowerment  is  tacitly  extended  for  periods  of  an  identical  duration,  unless  the 
European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such  an  extension  no  later  than  three  months 
before the end of each period.  

Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/517 further provides that the Commission is required 
to draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power no later than nine months before the 
end of the five-year period (i.e., 18 July 2023). The present Report fulfils that requirement. 

3.  EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION IN THE CURRENT PERIOD 

In the reporting period (18 April 2018 – 18 July 2023), the Commission exercised its power to 
adopt the following delegated act pursuant to Article 8(1) of the Regulation: 

-  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1083  of  14  May  2020  supplementing 
Regulation  (EU)  2019/517  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  by 
establishing the eligibility and selection criteria and the procedure for the designation 
of the Registry of the.eu top-level domain name 

Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/517 obliges the Commission to adopt a delegated act in 
accordance with  Article  18  of the Regulation to  supplement  that  Regulation by establishing 
the  eligibility  and  selection  criteria  and  the  procedure  for  the  designation  of  the  Registry. 
Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1083  was  adopted  in  accordance  with  the 
requirements and within the deadline set by Regulation (EU) 2019/517. 

1  Regulation  (EU)  2019/517  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  19  March  2019  on  the 
implementation and functioning of the .eu top-level domain name and amending and repealing Regulation (EC) 
No 733/2002 and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004 (OJ L 91, 29.3.2019, p. 25–35). 

1 

 
 
 
As required by Article 18(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/517, the Commission consulted experts 
designated  by  the  Member  States  before  the  adoption  of  the  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2020/1083. More specifically, the Commission consulted with experts from 
the Member States in the field of Internet governance in the context of the High Level Group 
on Internet Governance (HLIG). The HLIG acts as a platform through which the Commission 
and  the  Member  States  exchange  information  and  align  their  positions  on  a  wide  range  of 
issues related to Internet governance. Representatives of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  were  also  invited  to  take  part  to  the  meetings  of  the  HLIG  when  the  proposal  for 
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1083 was discussed.  

Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1083  sets  the  eligibility  and  selection  criteria 
for,  as  well  as  the  procedure  for  designating,  the  Registry  entrusted  with  the  organisation, 
administration and management of the .eu TLD in accordance with the principles of openness, 
transparency and non-discrimination.  

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1083 sets eligibility criteria that ensure that the 
Registry  is  a  not-for-profit  organisation,  formed  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  a  Member 
State.  The  criteria  further  ensure  that  the  Registry  has  its  registered  office,  central 
administration  and  principal  place  of  business  within  the  Union,  and  that  the  infrastructure 
needed to perform the core registry functions is also located within the Union. 

Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1083  also  sets  the  selection  criteria  and  their 
respective weight in the total evaluation score (TEC) of the applicants. The criterion ‘quality 
of  service’  (amounting  for  40%  of  the  TEC)  requires  applicants  to  pursue  operational 
excellence and to ensure a high quality of service at competitive prices. The criterion ‘human 
and technical  resources’  (amounting  for 30% of  the TEC)  requires  applicants  to  ensure that 
their  resources  are  sufficient  to  perform  the  functions  necessary  for  the  organisation, 
administration  and  management  of  the  .eu  TLD  and  that  the  services  provided  ensure  high 
quality,  transparency,  security,  stability,  predictability,  reliability,  accessibility,  efficiency, 
non-discrimination,  fair  conditions  of  competition  and  consumer  protection.  The  criterion 
‘financial standing  and compliance’  (amounting  for 30% of the TEC) requires  applicants  to 
demontrate financial security and stability that is adequate to fulfil the tasks of the Registry. 

The  criteria  established  in  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1083  were  relied 
upon design and conduct the procedure to select the new Registy. Based on the results of the 
selection procedure, the Commission adopted Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1878 of 25 
October 20212 on the designation of the .eu top-level domain Registry and subequently signed 
the service concession contract for the administration and management of the .eu TLD with 
the European Registry for Internet Domains, EURid vzw. The contract entered into force on 
12 October 2022 for a duration of five years.  

4.  CONCLUSIONS 

2 OJ L 378/22 

2 

 
 
 
The  Commission  has  exercised  its  delegated  powers  appropriately  under  Regulation  (EU) 
2019/517. It invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this Report.  

The  Commission  considers  that  it  should  continue  to  have  the  delegated  powers  conferred 
upon  it  pursuant  to  Regulation  (EU)  2019/517,  since  it  is  obliged  to  review  the 
implementation, effectiveness and functioning of the .eu TLD, pursuant to Article 16(1) of the 
Regulation.  The  deadline  for  the  first  review  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/517  is  13  October 
2027.  

Moreover,  the  Commission  may  need  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  the  future  to  start  a  new 
procedure for selecting and designating the next .eu Registry. 

3