The European Commission, the European Union’s legislative body, has announced a new process to select the next registry to manage the European ccTLD .EU, according to Online Domain. ICANN delegated the domain in 2005, and full registration started in April 2006. Today, .EU is one of the largest ccTLDs with about 3.6 million domain registrations. The domain registrar is also used by official EU institutions.
The registry is to be a non-profit organization. This requirement will not prevent commercial entities, including for-profit entities, from forming part of the consortium to manage .EU. The registry is also to promote the EU’s values, support multiculturalism, comply with the principles of non-discrimination and transparency, and ensure security and fair competition.
It is noteworthy that today .EU is managed by the EURid group established in 2003, even before the domain appeared. Initially, it consisted of the national ccTLD registry operators in Belgium, Sweden, and Italy, and joined later by the national registry manager of the Czech Republic. EURid has managed the domain since being launched and has enjoyed great success; it even recognizes certain achievements with various awards. The European Commission has extended EURid’s contract for .EU management several times.
