Dublin Will Bid To Operate New .eu Domain

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

05 March 2002

After Dublin won the right last year to operate the new Internet top level domain .info, it is now in the running to secure the headquarters of new European suffix .eu.

Last week the European Parliament adopted a recommendation on the draft regulation to implement the .eu Internet top-level domain, allowing European citizens, organisations and businesses to have .eu Web-site and e-mail addresses. European information society commissioner Erkki Liikanen says that .eu will provide "a tangible manifestation of the European Union in cyberspace," and that once the regulation has been adopted by the EU Council of Ministers it the new TLD (Top Level Domain) could be in operation by the end of 2002.

Once the regulation is approved, the European Commission will begin selection of the private sector, non-profit organisation to operate the .eu registry, which will administer and manage the registration of .eu domain names. EU Member States compete vigorously to house the headquarters offices of EU organisations, both for the prestige they bring with them and for the jobs they create.

A group of Irish organisations including the Irish branch of Deloitte and Touche is preparing a bid that would see Ireland become the headquarters for the new top level domain name. Deloitte & Touche says that at least 150 jobs could be created if the bid is successful. "We think that the demand for .eu would be quite substantial," said Peter Nolan, e-business support centre director. "From the point of view of prestige, this is one of those projects that we would love to have."

Ireland was chosen last year as the headquarters for the .info TLD because it has a well-educated and articulate workforce, good technologies, and attractive tax benefits. Dublin was chosen in particular for its overall capabilities, its infrastructure and its talented work base. But that was a private sector decision, made on normal commercial grounds, whereas the EU's decisions on placement of its agencies are made in a complex and far from transparent fashion as a result of intense horse-trading between Member States.

Nonetheless Peter Nolan points out that the Irish government has shown its commitment to putting Ireland at the forefront of Europe in terms of acceptance of technology. "They (the government) have done a solid job in opening up the e-business marketplace and the government here has very clear laws for doing e-business in Europe. Also, things like the PKI (public key infrastructure) and digital signature initiatives have shown Ireland's commitment to technology."

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