What is .eu?
The .eu is the Top Level Domain extension indented for Europe. It works in the same way as
the popular extensions, meaning it can be used for website and email addresses just like the familiar .com and
.co.uk addresses. There are millions of .eu web addresses registered.
What are the differences with .eu?
The .eu domain is an official Top Level domain. .Eu supports multiple languages, allowing .eu domains to be registered that conatain characters from all European languages. At the present time TheName does not offer .eu domains consisting of non English characters. This includes the Cyrillic script version of .eu, which is not currently supported by TheName.com.
The Eurid registry has blocked some .eu domain names and reserved other for its own use. For example two-letter
country codes may not be registered as .eu domain names. This is rather similar to the way in which the UK registry Nominet
withholds some .co.uk domains. Blocked names will not show as available through the search function on TheName.com website.
Who can register a .eu domain name?
.Eu domains are available to everybody who has an interest in the EU.
The EC Regulation 733/2002 determines who is allowed to apply for a .eu domain name. It says that companies,
organisations and individuals who have their registered office, central administration or principal place of
business within the European Community are enititled to hold .eu domain names.
Registration is open to qualifying entities in the whole EEA area.
In addition to the European Union member states .eu registrations are also open to Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway.
Who runs .eu?
The European Commission has chosen the EURid consortium to run the .eu TLD.
EURid is a not for profit organisation that is built around the Belgian,
Italian and Swedish registries.
EURid works exclusively through a network of registrars,
of which TheName is one. The registrars will register .eu domain names for
their customers, with minimal intervention from the registry.
I could not obtain the .eu domain name I wanted?
We advise all potential registrants to be check on the status of individual domain names at the official
EURid whois at www.whois.eu. Remember that if a domain name shows as not available on our website it does not
necessarily mean it has been registered. Some .eu names have been held back by the registry and domains applied
for during Sunrise for which applications have expired or been rejected will be made available for
general registration some time after Landrush has started.
Registered domains can sometimes be purchased from the existing owner. In these cases we can recommend a broker who can
anonymously negotiate an acquisition on your behalf.
I have a right to a domain name but it has been registered by someone else?
The procedure for the .eu domain rollout was designed to protect owners of rights within the EU. All parties claiming to have
prior rights are recommended to protect these rights using the Sunrise procedures for .eu domain name registrations.
EURid offers a procedure for solving disputes about .eu domain names which is facilitated by the Prague-based
Arbitration Court in the Czech Republic. It administers Proceedings in line with the Public Policy Rules for .eu of
the European Commission (EC Regulation 874/2004).
