Bid for ‘.eu’ Internet address in final stages

Date: 19/10/00

By Peter Chapman

INFORMATION society chief Erkki Liikanen is set to unveil the final step in Europe's bid to create a special '.eu' Internet address for Union-based firms and web sites.

The Commissioner will come forward with plans early next month to conduct a public search for a company to act as the 'registry' for the '.eu' domain name. Officials say the registry will lay down rules to govern how businesses can use the new domain for their web sites, and liaise with the European Commission and the international community on Internet address policy issues.

Once a registry has been created, Liikanen will then seek formal approval from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global body which oversees the introduction of online domain names.

ICANN has already given its tacit support to the new domain after the EU lobbied intensely at a recent meeting in Japan. The Commission successfully argued that the Union deserved to be granted the same status as other countries and territories which already have their own top-level domain names.

Approval of the '.eu' domain would allow Union-based institutions or citizens to show their link with the continent in one address - such as 'EuropeanCommission.eu' - something they cannot do if they use country names such as '.uk' or the all-purpose '.com.'

"The creation of '.eu' is an important factor in the e-Europe action plan to boost e-commerce in the Union," said a spokesman for Liikanen. "It will allow European companies to market themselves as pan-European. It is an additional option that they would have as well as existing country codes."

Information Society chief Erkki Liikanen is set to unveil the final step in Europe's bid to create a special '.eu' Internet address for Union-based firms and web sites.