January 14, 2019

The .eu is the EU’s top-level internet domain name under which any person, organisation or business based in the EU, and soon any European citizen living outside the EU as well, can register their own domain name. The Council has now approved the provisional agreement on reforming .eu governance rules, which was reached with the European Parliament on 5 December 2018.

The .eu top-level domain has over 700 accredited registrars worldwide and a registry operator based in Belgium. The revision maintains the current rule that the registry must be a non-profit organisation, as is common practice elsewhere in the world.

Under the new Regulation, governance of the .eu domain will be made more transparent by setting up a multi-stakeholder group to advise the Commission on the implementation of the rules. Its members will include representatives from the private sector, civil society and international organisations, amongst others.

EU citizens will have the right to register a .eu top-level domain name regardless of their place of residence.

The agreed text will now undergo legal and linguistic finalisation. It must then be formally adopted, first by the European Parliament and then by the Council. Following adoption, the regulation will be published in the EU’s Official Journal and will enter into force 20 days after publication. To read the Council’s press release in full, click here.