Brussels, 02/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed the creation of a new Internet Top Level Domain, ".eu". It launched a public consultation and will communicate the project to the European Parliament, Council and other organisations of the European Union. It should proceed with an exchange of views with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is responsible for managing and the technical coordination of Internet infrastructures, especially the allocation of names and addresses (http: //http://www.icann.org ).
This proposal is part of the eEurope Initiative, that the Commission launched and intended to develop the Information Society in Europe. According to the spokesperson for Commissioner Erkki Liikanen, "the allocation of a name of the domain .eu is necessary to stimulate the use of electronic commerce in Europe and increases the visibility of European companies, facilitating the identification of their products". To these arguments may be added that domain name .com is increasingly congested, which slows down companies in registration procedures.
The Commission's working paper raises particular problems, such as the nature of the organisation of the future register, the drawing up and implementation of registration measures and the dispute settlement policy.
At the end of a 6-week public consultation, the Commission will turn to the Council and Parliament if it appears that a decision is needed. The consultation will take place at: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/dg13/index.htm.