The new .eu domain will go live after years of debate and cutting red tape within the EU and the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers.
I expect Europe’s top level domain .eu to become similarly important as .com, EC Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement.
From December 7, intellectual property holders will be able to register their trademarks under the .eu label for a four-month sunrise period.
During this period, the registry will operate on a first-come first-served basis, so if two companies have the same trademark, whichever gets in first gets to register the name.
Hundreds of companies around the world have been accredited as .eu registrars by EURid, the Brussels-based non-profit the EU selected to run the registry.
After the sunrise is over, the floodgates open for registrations in the general public. You have to be based in the EU in order to register a name under .eu.
EURid will charge 10 euros per year for a domain, but because it is selling through a registrar channel rather than directly, end-user prices will likely be slightly higher.
