Europeans rush to register new .eu internet domain name

More than 300,000 Europeans rushed to register their new “.eu” Internet domain names as the European Union opened public registration for the new website addresses, European Union officials in Brussels said today.

Registrations would be on a first-come, first-served basis, the European Commission said.

EU Commissioner Viviane Reding said the Commission hoped the new “.eu” name would one day rival the “.com” name.

“Europe and its citizens can now project their own web identity, protected by EU rules,” she said.

All EU institutions, including the Commission, European Parliament and the EU’s general website, www.europa.eu.int will switch to the “.eu” name on May 9, Europe day, Reding said.

The European Registry of Internet Domain Names, or EURid, the non-profit organisation in charge of handling the requests reported at midday that more than 550,000 domain names had been registered.

Businesses and public bodies were able to sign up for the new European Union Internet address in December.