Your domain name is in quarantine because it has been deleted. Names are put into quarantine for 40 days. During the quarantine period, websites or email address attached to the names no longer work. Once the quarantine period has passed, the domain names are released and can be registered by anyone on a first-come-first-served basis.
There are 3 reasons why a domain name can be deleted:
If you are the holder of a quarantined domain name and would like to get your name back before then, contact your registrar to ask for a reactivation.
You can also ask a new registrar to reactivate your domain name if you are not satisfied with your current registrar. Your new registrar will then transfer your name from quarantine into his portfolio.
Reactivation involves a cost. Contact your registrar if you have any questions about fees.
Yes, it is possible to receive a copy of the confirmation email you were sent. Please ask the registrar who initiated the trade or transfer to send you a copy of the confirmation e-mail or contact us and we will organise it for you.
If you are not sure what information your confirmation fax needs to contain, contact your new registrar. They will send you a .pdf file of a barcoded confirmation fax which contains all the information we need. Print out this document, sign it and fax it to the following number: +32 (0) 2 401 27 52.
Trade:
If you want to trade your .eu domain name to someone else, several things must happen:
We charge registrars for trades, so the new domain holder may be charged as well. Ask your registrar if you have questions about fees.
Transfer:
Moving a .eu domain name to another registrar involves several steps. Follow the steps below or use an authorisation code if you want to pre-approve your transfer.
We charge registrars for transfers, so you may be charged as well. Ask your registrar if you have questions about fees.
.eu domain names can be registered for a period of 1 to 10 years. This period is called a registration term. The registration term can also be extended by the registrar at any time before it expires. This is known as a term extension. A domain name’s registration term can be extended multiple times, provided that the number of years added doesn’t result in a total registration term that exceeds a maximum of 10 years.
EURid will automatically renew your domain name for another 1 year when it reaches the end of its registration term. But your registrar may have a different policy so check with them to find out what when your domain name will expire and what will happen to it when it does.
Please contact your registrar to update your contact details in the WHOIS database. If your contact details are false, incorrect or outdated we will not be able to contact you if necessary and you may lose your domain name. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure your contact details are correct.
EURid is a not-for-profit organisation that manages the .eu top-level domain under contract to the European Commission. Click here for more information on EURid.
Every email account or website on the Internet is hosted on a server. Each server is identified by a unique set of numbers called an IP address, for example 195.234.53.204. But, as numbers are difficult to remember, IP addresses are associated with more readable addresses, called URLs or Internet addresses. A domain name is the part of a URL that appears between the second-last and last dots. For example, in the URL http://www.eurid.eu, the domain name is eurid.
Each domain name has an extension, such as .eu, .com, .net, etc. These extensions, which appear after the last dot of a URL or Internet address, are called top-level domains (TLDs).
In the case of the URL http://www.eurid.eu, the extension of the domain name eurid is .eu.
TLDs are at the top of the hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS).
A registrar is a company or organisation through which you can register a domain name. Click here to see a list of the registrars that can register .eu domain names.
A registrant, or domain-name holder, is a person, company or organisation that registers a domain name.
The .eu Code of Conduct is a set of best-practice guidelines for .eu registars. Accredited .eu registrars can subscribe to the .eu Code of Conduct if they want to distinguish themselves by offering a high quality of service. By subscribing they agree to the conditions in the Code’s charter. In return they are allowed to use the official Code of Conduct logo.
The Code of Conduct charter forms the backbone of the Code and describes the principles subscribing registrars must adhere to when registering domain names on behalf of their customers. It also details the level of service quality they are to provide, the data privacy policies they are to respect and the conditions surrounding the use of the Code of Conduct logo.
Visit the .eu Code of Conduct website for more information.
Please click here to learn how to register a .eu domain name.
The cost varies by registrar. Accredited .eu registrars set their own prices for .eu registrations and related services. See our fees page for information about .eu fees for registrars.
If you don’t have a registrar, use our database to find an accredited .eu registrar by name, location or language.
The only characters allowed in a .eu domain name are:
Click here for the other rules to bear in mind when registering a .eu domain name.
You should contact your registrar.
Click here if you don’t know your registrar’s contact details.
You can check which name servers are linked to your domain name on the WHOIS database.
Enter your domain name in the WHOIS search box, then enter the Captcha code. If you enter the code correctly, you will see information about your domain name registration, including the linked name servers and your registrar’s contact details.
If you want to change the name servers linked to your domain name, please contact your registrar.
If you can’t remember your registrar’s contact details, click here.
You can check the availability of .eu domain names on the WHOIS database. If the domain name you queried has already been registered, the WHOIS database displays the contact details of the domain name holder as well as additional registration information.
If the domain name has not been registered, the WHOIS database will show that it is available. Domain names can also have other statuses.
IDN stands for Internationalised Domain Name. IDNs are domain names that contain characters from non-ASCII character sets. These include characters with accents, cedillas and ogoneks.
Examples include the Swedish å, the German ü, the Romanian s, and characters from the Bulgarian and Greek alphabets as a whole.
IDNs are particularly important for .eu as the European Union has 27 Member States and 23 official languages. Many of these languages use non-ASCII characters in their alphabets.
See our supported character list for an overview of all the non-ASCII characters supported by .eu IDNs.
No. If you want to register a domain name that contains ß, you must use the character set ss instead because of how the Domain Name System (DNS) works.
The DNS recognises basic ASCII characters only. As a result, every IDN is automatically converted into a format (called an ACE string) that the DNS can use. Unfortunately, the German ß is replaced by the equivalent, two-character ss as part of the conversion.
As far as the DNS is concerned, domain names that use ß become identical to those that use ss in the same position. For example, after hauptstraße.eu is converted into ASCII characters it becomes equivalent to hauptstrasse.eu.
But every domain name must be unique in order for the DNS to function. And that is why the use of ß is not allowed in an IDN.
An ACE string is what you get once the IDN you entered in your browser’s address bar has been converted into a form that is understood by the Domain Name System.
ACE-strings begin with four characters, xn--, to indicate that the domain name is an IDN. Other characters, at the end of the string, indicate which characters in the IDN you entered were non-ASCII characters and what their positions were.
The characters between the prefix and the end characters are the characters from the original IDN that did not need to be converted because they already belong to the basic ASCII character set.
For example, the ACE-string of the domain name bücher.eu is xn--bcher-kva.eu.
The maximum length of a .eu IDN (the portion after the www. and before the dot) cannot be more than 63 characters.
This limit applies after the name has been converted into an ACE string for use by the DNS (Domain Name System).
Examples:
www.abcdef.eu is 6 characters long.
www.xyz.eu is 3 characters long.
www.bücher.eu, however, is considered 13 characters long. That is because its ACE string www.xn--bcher-kva.eu.
When IDNs become available under .eu, EURid will introduce an IDN tool that will show the ACE string for any .eu IDN.
No. No distinction is made between upper-case and lower-case letters.
No. The first-come, first-served principle applies to all .eu domain names, including IDNs.
The decision to launch IDNs under .eu without a Sunrise period was made based on the results of extensive preparation. This included papers drafted by the EURid IDNs Advisory Board and two surveys that EURid ran in 2008:
A survey among CENTR members
The results of the survey showed no particular trend in favour of sunrise or landrush when introducing IDNs. The registries who opted for one solution over another were motivated by internal considerations, some of which were linked to the local Internet communities and/or their organisational profile.
A public, online survey
Results showed that the public did not have a clear, strong wish for .eu to have a Sunrise period when IDNs are introduced.
You can view a summary of the public survey results (in English) here.
Yes, if your browser has the correct plug-in to allow IDN access and your email software supports IDNs. Many applications do not support IDNs, however.
Please note: Other Internet users also need an IDN-enabled browser and IDN-enabled email clients to visit your website or send non-web-based email to your IDN web address.
If their applications do not support IDNs, you can ask them to use your IDN’s ACE string. For example, if your email address is 123@bücher.eu, they can send an email to 123@xn--bcher-kva.eu instead.
When IDNs become available under .eu, EURid will introduce an IDN tool that will show the ACE string for any .eu IDN.
No, only characters from the basic ASCII character set can be used for nameservers.
This means that you can use the ACE string of an IDN name (such as xn--bcher-kva.eu), but not the IDN itself (bücher.eu).
The Domain Name System recognises basic ASCII characters only, such as plain Latin script.
To be recognised by the DNS, IDNs must be converted into strings made up of basic ASCII characters. These are called ACE strings. ACE stands for ASCII Compatible Encoding.
Converting IDNs into ACE strings involves two steps known as Nameprep and Punycode.
Step 1
During the Nameprep process, an Internationalised Domain Name is prepared for conversion in several ways: This includes replacing so-called normalised non-ASCII characters with their ASCII equivalents. It is during this step that the German ß, for example, is converted into ss.
Step 2
During the Punycode process, the so-called normalised IDN is converted into an ACE string.
ACE strings always begin with the same four characters (xn--) to indicate that the domain name is an IDN.
These four characters are followed by any basic ASCII characters, which do not need to be converted, that are used in the original IDN.
Other characters, at the end of the string, indicate which characters in the IDN entered were non-ASCII characters and their positions within the name.
For example, the ACE string of the bücher.eu IDN is xn--bcher-kva.eu.
Homoglyphs are characters (or words) from different scripts that look so similar that it is difficult to tell them apart just by looking. The homoglyphs below are two different characters from two different scripts, or alphabets. They have different Unicode numbers but look identical.
| Cyrillic character: | a | Unicode number 0430 |
| Latin character: | a | Unicode number 0061 |
Homoglyph bundling is when you register an IDN and the registration system automatically registers all the homoglyphs of that name for you as well (if there are any). This means that a bundle of names is registered at one time.
After careful consideration EURid has decided not to offer homoglyph bundling.
Some registries offer homoglyph bundling to minimise the risk that someone could register a domain name that looks just like yours. EURid will not offer it because we do not allow script mixing, which also greatly reduces that risk.
IDNs made up of different scripts might look confusingly similar to other domain names if they contained homoglyphs. That is why only one (1) script, or alphabet, can be used in an IDN.
No. The use of different scripts, or alphabets, in a single IDN is not allowed. IDNs made up of different scripts might look confusingly similar to other domain names, especially if they contained homoglyphs.
This is because certain two-character combinations can also be represented by a single (1) Unicode character.
If the two characters you entered fall into this category, the .eu system views them as though they were a single character. A domain name that is only one character long is not allowed according to .eu technical limitations.
The two-character combinations that have a single Unicode character equivalent are listed below:
| Two-character Combination | Single-Character Equivalent | Single-Character Description |
| i ? (u+0069 u+0307) | I. (u+0130) | CAPITAL LETTER I WITH DOT ABOVE |
| l• (u+006C u+00B7) | L. (u+013F) | CAPITAL LETTER L WITH MIDDLE DOT |
| l• (u+006C u+00B7) | l. (u+0140) | SMALL LETTER L WITH MIDDLE DOT |
| 'n (u+02BC u+006E) | 'n (u+0149) | SMALL LETTER N PRECEDED BY APOSTROPHE |
| Two-character Combination | Single-Character Equivalent | Single-Character Description |
| ?? (u+1F00 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F80) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F01 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F81) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F02 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F82) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F03 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F83) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F04 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F84) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F05 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F85) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F06 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F86) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F07 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F87) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F00 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F88) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F01 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F89) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F02 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F8A) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F03 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F8B) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND VARIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F04 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F8C) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F05 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F8D) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F06 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F8E) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F07 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F8F) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F20 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F90) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F21 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F91) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F22 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F92) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F23 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F93) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F24 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F94) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F25 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F95) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F26 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F96) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F27 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F97) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F20 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F98) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F21 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F99) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F22 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F9A) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F23 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F9B) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND VARIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F24 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F9C) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F25 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F9D) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F26 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F9E) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F27 u+03B9) | ? (u+1F9F) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F60 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA0) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F61 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA1) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F62 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA2) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F63 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA3) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F64 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA4) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F65 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA5) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F66 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA6) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F67 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA7) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F60 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA8) | CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F61 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FA9) | CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F62 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FAA) | CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F63 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FAB) | CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND VARIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F70 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FB2) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03B1 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FB3) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03AC u+03B9) | ? (u+1FB4) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1FB6 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FB7) | SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03B1 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FBC) | CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F74 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FC2) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03B7 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FC3) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03AE u+03B9) | ? (u+1FC4) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1FC6 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FC7) | SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03B7 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FCC) | CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PROSGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1F7C u+03B9) | ? (u+1FF2) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH VARIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03C9 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FF3) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03CE u+03B9) | ? (u+1FF4) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+1FF6 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FF7) | SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI |
| ?? (u+03C9 u+03B9) | ? (u+1FFC) | CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA WITH PROSGEGRAMMENI |
You can find a .eu-accredited registrar by searching the .eu registrar list. A special logo appears next to registrars which have signed the .eu Code of Conduct agreement.
You can find the registrar details of your domain name in the .eu WHOIS database.
Enter your domain name in the WHOIS search box, then enter the Captcha code. If you enter the code correctly, you will see information about your domain name registration, including your registrar’s contact details.
To find your registrar’s contact details, enter your domain name in the WHOIS search box, then enter the Captcha code. If you enter the code correctly, you will see information about your domain name registration, including your registrar’s contact details.
Accredited .eu registrars sometimes cooperate with subcontractors or intermediaries to offer registration services for .eu domain names to the public. However, only .eu-accredited registrars can access the .eu registration systems. It is the registrar which ultimately accessed the .eu systems to register your domain name that is displayed in the WHOIS database. If the company you used was a reseller or intermediary, its name will not be displayed.
If a .eu-accredited registrar subscribes to the .eu Code of Conduct, you are assured of a certain quality of service.
By subscribing, .eu registrars agree to the conditions in the Code’s charter. In return, they are allowed to use the official Code of Conduct logo.
Visit the .eu Code of Conduct website for more information.
Yes, it is possible to receive a copy of the confirmation email you were sent. Please ask the registrar who initiated the trade or transfer to send you a copy of the confirmation e-mail or contact us and we will organise it for you.
If you did not receive the confirmation email we sent you, you can send us your confirmation by fax.
If you are not sure what information your confirmation fax needs to contain, contact your new registrar. They will send you a .pdf file of a barcoded confirmation fax which contains all the information we need. Print out this document, sign it and fax it to the following number: +32 (0) 2 401 27 52.
There are two ways to get your .eu transfer authorisation code:
You can speed up the transfer of your domain name by pre-approving the transfer with an authorisation code. By sending your new registrar an authorisation code when you make the initial transfer request, you automatically confirm the transfer of your domain name. This means that we can process your request immediately, since we don’t need to wait for your confirmation.
If you want an authorisation code for your transfer, click here.
Please note that the authorisation code is currently only available for regular transfers. It can’t be requested transfers from quarantine or trades.
A transfer from quarantine is what happens when your domain name has been put in quarantine and you would like to reactivate it. You then ask a new registrar to transfer your domain name from quarantine into his portfolio.
If you would like to remain with your current registrar, you can ask to have your domain name reactivated.
Please note reactivations and transfers from quarantine are both chargeable transactions. Please check with your registrar for the applicable fees.
.eu domain name holders may pass on their domain names to other people or organisations. We call this process a trade. Click here for more information on how trades work.
The domain name holder has 14 days in which to confirm a transfer. After we have received confirmation, a transfer is usually processed within an average of 24 hours on business days.
Please note that, in the case of a transfer from quarantine, the 14 days allowed for confirmation is only valid if the transfer request is received more than 14 days before the domain name in question is due to be released from quarantine. If the request is received after this time, the domain name will be released from quarantine even though a a transfer from quarantine is in progress.
Registrars are not only responsible for the administration of the domain names in their portfolio, but they can also be responsible for the technical implementation of domain names. The technical records of your domain name contain information on its nameservers, mail server, web server, etc. This information forms the zone file of your domain name.
When moving to a new registrar, only the domain name is transferred. The zone file itself is never automatically transferred. As a result, your mail and website can appear to be offline. To prevent such an interruption, you must ensure that the zone file is moved as well. You will need to contact your registrar and ask whether and under which conditions this service is offered.
This does not apply to the domain name holder who owns and manages his own nameservers, because in this case, only the domain name is moved from one registrar to another. Since the zone file doesn't change, the impact is minimal. Nonetheless, when submitting a transfer request to EURid’s system, nameserver information does not copy automatically; so registrars will need to indicate it explicitly, even when the information remains unchanged.
Therefore, if your website or mail has stopped working since you have transferred or traded your .eu domain name, please contact your registrar.
ADR stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution. An ADR is a procedure that was put in place to help resolve .eu disputes. Any conventional court of law within the European Union can also be used to challenge a .eu domain name registration, but an ADR procedure is intended to be easier, faster, less expensive and more convenient.
The .eu ADR procedure is conducted online and is handled by the independent Czech Arbitration Court, which is based in Prague, in the Czech Republic.
To initiate an ADR procedure for a .eu domain name, visit the website of the Czech Arbitration Court (eu.adr.eu). After registering as a user you can file your complaint on the site. During this process you will be asked to provide various details of the complaint and motivating arguments that prove your case. You will also be allowed to electronically attach any relevant evidence.
Once your complaint has been drawn up, you will be asked to specify the number of panellists that you would like to hear your case. A panel may consist of one or three members. If you opt for a one-member panel, a panellist is appointed by the Court on your behalf. Opting for a three-member panel allows you to select one panel member from a list of approved panellists. Your opponent will be allowed to select the second panellist and the Court will select the third. A three-member panel is more expensive than a one-member panel.
Most people choose to have their cases ruled upon by a single panellist. When a three-member panel is selected, the participating panellists have to reach a simple majority. If you have initiated the complaint and the court rules in your favour and you are eligible for .eu domain name registration, the domain name in question will be transferred to you after a 30-day appeal period and the case considered closed.
All rulings are legally binding. The losing party can choose to appeal the decision through a conventional court of law.
No. We can answer questions related to .eu domain names and the .eu registry. But we cannot help you file an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) case or other legal action. Nor can we answer questions about a case that has been filed. ADRs are handled by the independent Czech Arbitration Court.
On average, ADR cases are resolved within four months of being filed. More than 1000 decisions have been reached since the first .eu ADR procedure was initiated in January 2006.
The fees for filing an ADR depend on several factors including:
As of January 2008, general fees ranged from €1 665 to €4 518. See the fees page at the ADR website for more information.
No. Evidence is submitted online, so travel is not needed to present a case. See the ADR website for more information.
You can use any conventional court of law within the European Union to resolve .eu disputes, but an ADR procedure is intended to be easier, faster, less expensive and more convenient.
If the ADR panel accepts your complaint and you are eligible to register.eu domain names (in other words you reside in, or your company is based in the EU), the domain name will be traded to you after a 30-day appeal period.
If the panel accepts your complaint but you are not eligible to register .eu domain names, the domain name will be revoked after a 30-day appeal period. Once revoked, it will spend 40 days in quarantine before being made available for registration.
WHOIS is a protocol that allows users to access the .eu database of domain names. Using WHOIS you can query a .eu domain name to check its status. If a domain name is registered, for example, WHOIS indicates the contact details of the domain name holder, as well as additional information about the registration. If a domain name is not registered, WHOIS will show that the name is available. Domain names can also have other statuses. To find out what they are, click here.
The WHOIS database allows you to check whether a specific domain name is available and to view information on existing domain names.
| Registered | This domain name has been registered by another party and is unavailable. |
| Available | This domain name is available for registration by an organisation or individual located within the European Union. | Not Available for registration | This domain name is not available for registration. This could be for several reasons including that it has already been registered by someone else. |
| Withdrawn | This domain name has been registered but has been withdrawn. It is temporarily inactive and may not be traded or transferred pending the outcome of legal activity. |
| On Hold | This domain name has been registered and is on hold. It is active but may not be traded or transferred pending the outcome of legal activity. |
| Not Allowed | The name is unavailable because it is not allowed. It violates one of the technical limitations for .eu domain names. |
| Blocked | This name is unavailable because it has been blocked by one of the EU member states. See the full list of blocked names. |
| Reserved | This name is unavailable because it has been reserved by the European Commission or one of the EU member states. See the full list of reserved names. |
| Quarantined | This name is currently unavailable because it is quarantined. A domain name holder may decide to give up a name and delete its registration. When that happens, the domain name is put into a 40-day quarantine as a safety measure. |
| Application Pending | This name is unavailable because an application for it is still pending. One or several people applied for this domain name during the Sunrise period and the validation process is underway. | Out of Service | This domain name was registered via a registrar that no longer offers .eu registration services. The domain name holder has been asked to transfer management of this domain name to an accredited .eu registrar. |
If you want to contact the holder of a specific .eu domain name, you can query the name in our WHOIS database. If the domain name holder is a company or organisation, you will be able to see a physical address as well as a telephone number, fax number and email address. If the domain name holder is a private person, you will be able to see only an email address and a preferred language for correspondence.
If the domain name holder is a private person and you need more contact details than those provided, you can send us a request for the disclosure of personal data. The request must explain your reasons for needing the data and specify how the data will be used.
Complete the request form and email it to info@eurid.eu or fax it to +32 2 401 27 51. Your request will be considered and you will be informed whether the request will be granted or not.
Please contact your registrar to update your contact details in the WHOIS database. If your contact details are false, incorrect or outdated we will not be able to contact you if necessary and you may lose your domain name. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure your contact details are correct.
If the holder of a domain name is a private person, only the email address and the language in which they prefer to correspond are displayed by default in the WHOIS Database. You can opt to have other data displayed as well.
The .eu end-user extranet allows domain name holders to view the contact information associated with their domain name and, provided they are private persons, choose to display selected details in the WHOIS database.
Click here for more information on the available lookup services.
Yes it can, provided your registrar deleted the name less than 40 days ago. When deleted, your domain name spends 40 days in quarantine. During this time, if you decide you would like it back, you can ask your registrar to reactivate it from quarantine.
You can also ask a new registrar to initiate a transfer from quarantine if you are not satisfied with your current registrar. The new registrar will transfer the name from quarantine into his portfolio. We call this transaction a “transfer from quarantine”. Technically, it works like a standard transfer.
Please note that either transaction involves certain costs. Please check with your registrar for applicable fees.
Deleted domain names are released again after their quarantine period. Once they have been released, they can be registered by anyone else on a first-come-first-served basis.
If you traded your domain name to someone else, the only way to get it back is to ask them if they would trade it back to you.
If you don't want your .eu domain name anymore you can trade it to someone else or ask to have it deleted. Deleting your name means that the name and all the details that are associated with it, like your name and address, etc, are erased from our WHOIS database. Contact your registrar to have your name deleted.
When deleted, a domain name spends 40 days in quarantine. This quarantine period functions as a cooling off period so that you can get your domain name back if you change your mind. After the quarantine period the domain name is released for registration. This means that it can be registered by someone else on a first-come first-served basis.
After your domain name has been deleted it spends 40 days in quarantine. During this period it is no longer active and it cannot be registered by anyone else. Any websites or email addresses attached to the name will no longer work. After 40 days the name is released for registration.
If, during the 40-day quarantine period, you decide that you would like your domain name back, you can ask your registrar to reactivate the name and move it out of quarantine.
You can also ask a new registrar to reactivate your domain name if you are not satisfied with your current registrar. Your new registrar will then transfer your name from quarantine into his portfolio.
Reactivation involves a cost, so please ask your registrar about fees.
The .eu end-user extranet, sometimes called the end-user application, allows .eu domain name holders to manage certain aspects of their domain names.
On the end-user extranet domain name holders can:
To log into the end-user extranet, a domain name holder must first register as a user. Once registered, a password is sent to the email address that is listed for the holder’s domain name in the WHOIS database. Please note that a separate user account must be created for each domain name.
Existing users can log in to the extranet here.
There are two ways to get your .eu transfer authorisation code.
No, you cannot. If you registered your domain name as a private person, you can use the end-user extranet to select which of your contact details are displayed in the WHOIS database, but you cannot change or update any contact information.
If you would like to change or update the contact information associated with your domain name, please contact your registrar.
Private or natural persons
Yes, you can. As a private person, only your email address and the language in which you prefer to correspond are displayed by default in the WHOIS database. On the .eu end-user extranet you can choose which extra contact information, if any, should be displayed.
Companies and organisations
No, you cannot. Companies and organisations are required to show all their contact details in the WHOIS database, including a physical address, a telephone and fax number and an email address. For more information please see the .eu WHOIS policy.
