Designation of the Registry
1. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 18 to supplement this Regulation by establishing the eligibility and selection criteria and the procedure for the designation of the Registry.
2. The Commission shall set out the principles to be included in the contract between the Commission and the Registry, by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 17(2).
3. The Commission shall designate an entity as the Registry following the completion of the procedure referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.
4. The Commission shall enter into a contract with the designated Registry. The contract shall specify the rules, policies and procedures for the provision of services by the Registry and the conditions according to which the Commission is to supervise the organisation, administration and management of the .eu TLD by the Registry. The contract shall be limited in time and shall be renewable once without the need to organise a new selection procedure. The contract shall reflect the obligations of the Registry and shall include the principles and procedures on the functioning of the .eu TLD laid down on the basis of Articles 10 and 11.
5. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, the Commission may, where imperative grounds of urgency exist, designate the Registry by means of immediately applicable implementing acts in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 17(3).
Characteristics of the Registry
1. The Registry shall be a not-for-profit organisation. It shall have its registered office, central administration and principal place of business within the territory of the Union.
2. The Registry may impose fees. Those fees shall be directly related to the costs incurred.
Obligations of the Registry
The Registry shall be required to:
(a)
promote the .eu TLD across the Union and in third countries;
(b)
comply with the rules, policies and procedures laid down in this Regulation, with the contract referred to in Article 8(4), and, in particular, with Union data protection law;
(c)
organise, administer and manage the .eu TLD in the general public interest and ensure in all aspects of the administration and management of the .eu TLD, high quality, transparency, security, stability, predictability, reliability, accessibility, efficiency, non-discrimination, fair conditions of competition and consumer protection;
(d)
enter into an appropriate contract providing for the delegation of the .eu TLD code, subject to the prior consent of the Commission;
(e)
perform the registration of domain names in the .eu TLD where requested by any eligible party referred to in Article 3;
(f)
ensure, without prejudice to any court proceedings, and subject to adequate procedural guarantees for the parties concerned, the possibility for Registrars and registrants to resolve any contractual dispute with the Registry by means of ADR;
(g)
ensure the availability and integrity of the databases of domain names;
(h)
at its own expense and with the consent of the Commission, enter into an agreement with a reputable trustee or other escrow agent established within the territory of the Union designating the Commission as the beneficiary of the escrow agreement, and submit an up-to-date electronic copy of the content of the .eu TLD database to the respective trustee or escrow agent on a daily basis;
(i)
implement the lists referred to in Article 6(3);
(j)
promote the objectives of the Union in the field of internet governance, inter alia by participating in international forums;
(k)
publish the principles and procedures on the functioning of the .eu TLD laid down on the basis of Article 11 in all of the official languages of the Union institutions;
(l)
at its own expense, undertake an audit by an independent body at least every two years to certify its compliance with this Regulation and send the outcome of such audits to the Commission;
(m)
participate, where requested by the Commission, in the work of the .eu Multistakeholder Advisory Group and cooperate with the Commission to improve the functioning and management of the .eu TLD.
Principles and procedures on the functioning of the .eu TLD
The contract, concluded between the Commission and the designated Registry in accordance with Article 8(4) shall contain the principles and procedures concerning the functioning of the .eu TLD, in compliance with this Regulation, including the following:
(a)
an ADR policy;
(b)
requirements and procedures for registration requests, a policy on the verification of registration criteria, a policy on the verification of registrants' data, and a policy on the speculative registration of domain names;
(c)
a policy on abusive registration of domain names and a policy on the timely identification of domain names that have been registered and used in bad faith, referred to in Article 4;
(d)
a policy on the revocation of domain names;
(e)
the treatment of intellectual property rights;
(f)
measures to enable competent authorities to have access to data in the Registry for the purposes of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crime, as provided by Union law or national law that complies with Union law, subject to appropriate checks and balances;
(g)
detailed procedures by means of which to amend the contract.
WHOIS database
1. The Registry shall set up and manage, with due diligence, a WHOIS database facility for the purpose of ensuring the security, stability and resilience of the .eu TLD by providing accurate and up-to-date registration information about the domain names under the .eu TLD.
2. The WHOIS database shall contain relevant information about the points of contact administering the domain names under the .eu TLD and the holders of the domain names. The information on the WHOIS database shall not be excessive in relation to the purpose of the database. The Registry shall comply with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) .
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
