Commission moves to bring '.eu' domain name nearer
The European Commission has presented a new revised proposal for regulation of a 'dot eu' top level domain name, incorporating the comments from the European Parliament. This should mean that the registry to operate the name is operational by the beginning of 2002. The next step is for the Council to vote on the new text, which should happen on 15 October, with a second reading required before the approval. The main amendments that were made by the Parliament and accepted by the Commission focused around the role of the registry that will be set up to run the '.eu' domain name. Parliament clarified that the registry is to have a transparent first come first served procedure, with regular reports being submitted to the Council and Parliament on the operation of the domain name. The registry will not be in a position to issue sub-domain names using Member State domain names. The first steps towards the '.eu' domain name were taken under the eEurope action plan and a Commission proposal for a top level domain name was presented by the Commission in December 2000.