October 29, 2018

The EU is revising its rules on governance of the .eu top-level domain. The Council’s proposals, set out in a draft Regulation on the implementation and functioning of the .eu top-level domain name, reflect the fact that significant changes have taken place in the online environment since the first .eu Regulation was adopted 16 years ago, including tougher competition in the domain name space and changes in internet governance.

The draft Regulation makes governance of the .eu domain more transparent by setting up a multi-stakeholder group to advise the Commission on implementation of the rules. It also extends the right to register a .eu domain to EU citizens living outside the EU. In addition, the Council has aligned the text with the provisions of the GDPR.

With nearly four million registrations, the .eu top-level domain is one of the largest international country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). It has over 700 accredited registrars worldwide.

The proposal under discussion is part of the Digital Single Market Strategy and the Commission’s Regulatory Fitness (REFIT) Review. The Council’s agreed draft Regulation constitutes a mandate for the presidency to start talks with the European Parliament with a view to producing a final text. The European Parliament has not yet agreed its position. To read the Council’s press release in full and for a link to the draft Regulation, click here.