Who is EURid and who registers .EU names?

Registrar

WebOké is an official EURid registrar and registers .eu domain names directly and automatically with EURid, without any third parties involved.

Who is EURid

EURid (European Registry for Internet Domains) is the non-profit organisation that manages all .eu domain names on behalf of the European Commission. EURid was founded by the organisations behind .be, .it and .se.

History

The first initiative to establish .eu as a European top-level domain (TLD) was taken by the European Council in 1999. EURid was founded in April 2003 by the three organisations that manage the national registries for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. In May 2003, EURid was appointed as the operator of the .eu registry. The service contract was signed in October 2004.

In March 2005, the .eu domain was added to the root zone of the internet. Technically speaking, .eu has existed since that moment.

Later, the organisations that manage the TLDs for the Czech Republic and Slovenia also became members. The European chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) joined EURid in 2006, followed by BusinessEurope in 2007.

Between 7 December 2005 and 6 April 2006, the .eu registry accepted applications on a limited scale. During that period, only individuals and organisations holding some form of legal protection for a name in a member state of the European Union could apply for a domain name. This period is known as the Sunrise period.

On 7 April 2006, EURid opened the .eu domain to everyone, on a "first come, first served" basis.

Who can have a .eu domain?

You can register a .eu domain if you live or are established in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway. If you're a citizen of an EU country, you can also register one if you live outside the EU.

Why .eu

• A .eu address shows that you're active across Europe and open to customers across the border.
• A .eu address is less anonymous than a generic extension such as .com: the holder must be based in Europe.

Want to register a .eu domain? Check out our Domain registration page. Has your .eu domain expired or been cancelled? Read Recovering an expired or cancelled domain.

You might also enjoy reading: The history of the domain name

Want to learn more? Take the free course Choosing and managing a domain name, lesson 1.2 Extensions and their registries.