On the 25th March 2002, the EU Council of Ministers gave final approval for the establishment of a ".eu" Top Level Domain Name (TLD) the establishment of which has been the stated objective of the EU Commission for some time.

It is proposed that a Registry will be established, which will deal with the organisational, administration and management requirements of the ".eu" TLD as a non-profit organisation, operating in the public interest. Its operational rules are contained within the Regulations, as are the procedures under which decisions concerning public policy matters, will be adopted. Other operational aspects of the Registry will be decided by the Registry itself, following appropriate consultations with the EU Commission, assisted by an Advisory Committee comprising representatives of member states.

It is envisaged that the Regulations will provide that the Registry will operate in conjunction with existing national registries operating national country code TLD's. It is proposed that the registration policy to be used will be based on the "first come first served principle". In simple terms, the Registry will have three main functional responsibilities:-

• Being the entity with the legal responsibility to operate the Registry for the ".eu" TLD.

• Implementing the public policy rules, policies and procedures contained in the Regulations or adopted by the EU Commission following the consultation process set out in the Regulations.
• Providing for the organisational, administration and managerial functions of the ".eu" TLD.

For further information or general enquiries contact: -
Patrick Ryan
Email: pryan@kilroys.ie
Telephone: +3531-439 5600
Fax: +3531-439 5601/439 5602

© Kilroys Solicitors 2002