On 22 April 2002, the Regulation 733/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Implementation of the Internet Level Domain ".eu" was adopted.

The purpose of this information note is to outline the implementing steps which are now being taken in order for the .eu Top Level Domain to become operational.

For most of these steps, the Commission needs to consult with the Member States in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Regulation. Timings given are provisional, as certain steps require the consultation of the Member States and/or the Registry, and the completion of internal procedures before a decision of the Commission can be made.

1. Initial consultation of the Member States by the Commission on the implementation procedure. 
2. Finalisation of the selection criteria for the Registry and the draft contract between the Commission and the Registry.
3. Consultation of the Member States on the procedure for the notification by them of lists of names relating to geographical or geo-political concepts (Article 5.2 of the Regulation). 
4. Notification by the Member States of the lists of broadly-recognised names with regard to geographical and/geo-political concepts which affect their political or territorial organisation (Article 5.2 of the Regulation).
5. Publication of the call for expressions of interest and the draft contract relating to the selection of a non-profit organisation to operate the Registry for the Internet Top Level Domain (TLD) ".eu". The call appeared in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 3 September 2002 (edition C 208). 
6. Closure of reply period to the call. Applicants had 39 working days from the date of publication to submit their applications. Deadline was 25 October 2002.
7. Evaluation of the applications to the Call for expressions of interest.
   
   The evaluation of the applications received by the 25 October 2002 was done by the Commission services in the week of 25 November 2002. This evaluation was performed with the assistance of independent external evaluators and subject to confidentiality.
   
   During the period running from December 2002 to end of February 2003, the Commission will undertake a consultation process which involves an internal consultation and a consultation with the Communications Committee which assists the Commission in the implementation of the .eu Regulation. A final decision on the selection of the .eu TLD Registry will then be made by the Commission itself.
   
   This decision of the Commission is expected to take place by end of February 2003.
   
   Once the decision of the Commission will have been taken and published, the Commission will publish additional information about the selection of the .eu TLD Registry including the number of applications received and the name and address of the selected contractor.
   
   Until then no information will be given on the selection of the .eu TLD Registry.

• Decision of the Commission on the selection of the Registry after consultation of the Member States.
• Conclusion of a contract between the Commission and the selected Registry.
• Notification of the designation of the Registry to ICANN and start of the delegation process of the .eu TLD to the Registry by ICANN.
• Adoption of the public policy rules and public policy principles on registration by the Commission, in consultation with the Member States, and following consultation of the Registry. Notification of these public policy rules and principles to the selected Registry for implementation (Article 5.1 of the Regulation).
• Establishment of the registration policy by the Registry in consultation with the Commission and interested parties.
• Completion of the delegation process with ICANN.
• Adoption of the procedure for accreditation and accreditation of Registrars by the .eu Registry
• Implementation of the sunrise period subject to the public policy adopted (Article 5.1.b of the Regulation)
• Implementation of the extra-judicial settlement of conflicts policy and procedure subject to the public policy adopted (Articles 5.1 and 4.2.d of the Regulation)
• Registry can start processing applications for names made via registrars