http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=11339

Written by Richard Carter
Edited by Sharon Spiteri

The .eu domain name will have a difficult task catching up with the more popular domain names already in use (Photo: Lis Lak)
European companies will soon be able to register .eu domain names. A spokesman for the European Commission announced yesterday that websites with the domain name .eu "should be available by the end of the year".

Both individuals and businesses will be able to register for the new domain names when they become available. "Anyone living in the European Union, any business with its headquarters, central administration or main base in the EU or any organisation established in the EU will be able to register the .eu domain name", specified the spokesman.

It is not clear though when registration will begin.

Regulations will shortly be drawn up to prevent "speculative registration" - or cybersquatting - as well as rules concerning intellectual property rights and domain name abuse.

However, the .eu domain name will have a difficult task catching up with the more popular domain names already in use. The suffix ".com" appears on 20 million websites worldwide. In the EU, the German domain name ".de" has the most sites, with 6 million, closely followed by ".uk" which has 4 million.