Call for the selection of the .eu Top Level Domain Registry – Result of Phase 1 – Eligible Applicants

The text of the Call for Selection (‘the Call’) followed the rules and provisions contained in the .eu legal framework, namely Regulation (EU) 2019/517 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1083 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/517 by establishing the eligibility and selection criteria and the procedure for the designation of the Registry of the.eu top-level domain name.
In particular, according to section 3.1 of the Call, the first phase of the procedure assessed the absence of the exclusion criteria and the fulfilment of the eligibility criteria of the applicants. The objective of the examination on the basis of the exclusion criteria was to assess whether any applicant was in any of the exclusion situations listed in Article 136(1) of the Financial Regulation.

The objective of the verification of the eligibility criteria was to assess whether each applicant fulfilled those criteria laid down in the provisions of Article 2 and Article 3 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1083:

• The activities of the .eu Registry shall be carried out by a not-for-profit organisation, formed in accordance with the law of a Member State, with its registered office, central administration and principal place of business within the territory of the Union. 
• Where a consortium of firms or a group of contractors sets up the not-for-profit organisation, each entity forming part of such consortium or group shall have its registered office, central administration and principal place of business within the Union. 
• The infrastructure needed to perform the core registry functions shall be located within the territory of the Union. 
• The Registry shall undertake to carry out its tasks as a prime contractor. 

Pursuant to Article 8(4) of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1083, the Commission shall publish the list of the eligible applicants. The Commission hereby  announces that it has now concluded the eligibility and non-exclusion assessment and the eligible applicants are as follows: 

• European Network Information Center ASBL (EU NIC)
• European Registry for Internet Domains, EURid vzw
• The Open Registry ASBL (“TORA”)
• Estonian Internet Foundation (Eesti Interneti Sihtasutus – EIS)
• The above order is random and does neither represent nor imply any ranking between the applicants. 

On the same day of the present publication announcement, the Commission will inform each applicant of the results of the first phase of the procedure. Within 80 working days following the date of publication of the list of eligible applicants, the Commission will rank the eligible applicants based on the evaluation score they will obtain during the second phase, on the basis of the selection criteria, and designate the entity that will be invited to enter into contract with the European Commission.