Next week, the “.eu” domain will officially be put into use in Europe, and it is considered to hold equal significance to “.com”.
The registration of “.eu” domains will be granted according to a specific timeline. Next week, the registration rights will only be available to large corporations looking to register trademarks and public organizations.
After that (starting from February 7, 2006), companies and business names will be able to register; and ultimately, the rights to register “.eu” domains will be extended to all individuals and organizations in the 25 member countries of the EU. The “.eu” domain will not replace national domains such as “.uk”, “.fr”, and “.de”.
Currently, the “.eu” domain has been activated, but only a few organizations are authorized to register, including EURid (www.EURid.eu) – a domain management organization in Europe. The official website of the EU (www.europa.eu) will go live on April 7, 2006.