EURid would like to clarify the conditions under which accredited registrars can collaborate with intermediaries or agents.

There are 3 points to be observed:

1. No breach of the link "registry (EURid) - accredited registrar - registrant"

Regulation 874/2004 of the European Commission laying down public policy rules concerning the .eu Top Level Domain states clearly that only registrars accredited by the Registry (EURid) shall be permitted to offer registration services for .eu domain names (see article 4 of the Regulation).

Intermediary or agent services are allowed as long as it is at any time clear for the registrant that a third party, the accredited registrar, will provide the registration services and that there is a contractual link between the accredited registrar and the registrant himself.

2. First-come-first-served

The general first-come-first-served rule for the order in which applications should be put forward to EURid by an accredited registrar (as set out in article 5 of the Regulation) always has to be applied. In the case of several intermediaries, or companies using a sister or parent company as the accredited registrar, the first-come-first-served rule has to be respected at the level of the accredited registrar. The accredited registrar has to forward all applications in the order he receives them from either directly a registrant or from an intermediary. It should be made clear to the registrant that the relevant time will not be the time he files the application with the intermediary, but only when the accredited registrar receives the application.

3. Avoiding misrepresentation

The company acting as an intermediary or agent not only has to avoid misleading publicity; it has to explicitly state that it will use the accredited registrar for the registration service, and that the contract for the registration will be concluded between the registrant and the accredited registrar, not with the intermediary.