Commission hopeful of deal on ‘.eu’

Date: 16/03/2000

By Peter Chapman

European Commission experts are gearing up for a fierce battle to win approval from the world's Internet community for their planned '.eu' domain name.

But they claim the Union could clinch a deal as early as mid-July at a key conference in Yokohama, Japan, if governments agree to give the issue top priority. The prediction follows a meeting in Cairo last week of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - the new body set up to oversee the introduction of domain names and to accredit companies wishing to enter the Internet-address business.

Both Commission President Romano Prodi and information society chief Erkki Liikanen regard the creation of .eu as a key symbol of Europe's Internet identity. It would allow EU-based firms, institutions or citizens to highlight their links with the whole continent in one address (such as EuropeanCommission.eu), which they cannot do if they use existing country names such as .uk or the almost ubiquitous .com.

Commission sources have, however, voiced fears that the US-dominated ICANN could be swayed by vested interests such as the American company NSI which earn their money by administering the existing names - particularly .com - and currently dominate the Internet-name market.

But they insist that there is still a good chance that a deal could be brokered at the Yokohama meeting. "If ICANN and certain interested groups tried to block .eu - I could imagine some very leading figures in Europe getting very cross," he said. "We cannot say in black-and-white terms that we will have a deal in Yokohama. But I would be disappointed if we did not."

The .eu plan is likely to be discussed at next week's summit of EU leaders in Lisbon.

European Commission experts are gearing up for a fierce battle to win approval from the world's Internet community for their planned '.eu' domain name.