The winners of this year's competition in the five categories:
- The Leaders category for websites that represent established national businesses: krina.eu
- The Rising Stars category for websites that represent startups: muniocandela.eu
- The Laurels category for websites that represent educational institutions, charitable organisations, or pan European projects: smr-project.eu
- The House of .eu category for websites that represent blogs, news outlets, and the media: dourfestival.eu
- The Better World category for websites that represent green initiatives and environmentally-friendly organisations.
- Special commendations: letthejourneybegin.eu, biotrem.eu
Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, in charge of Digital Economy and Society, European Commission states that:
The choice of a .eu domain name is not the choice of a simple extension, but the choice of being seen as European, of believing in the values at the basis of the European culture, of knowing that Europe is and will continue to be a quality label at worldwide level.
About the .eu Web Awards
The .eu Web Awards is an online competition, launched in 2014 by EURid, where .eu ( including .ею in Cyrillic script) websites can be nominated for a chance to win an award, which is presented at the Web Awards ceremony in Brussels.
Web Awards’ nominations are open to all sites, be they an established national business, a start-up, a green initiative promoter, an educational institution or an entertainment blog. Once the nomination period ends, three websites per category are shortlisted according to the number of nominations they receive. The three finalists from each of the five categories are published on the Eurid website and the .eu web awards website. The final nominees are evaluated by a jury of distinguished representatives from various European stakeholders who select the winners based on the evaluation criteria outlined in the awards rules. All finalists are invited to take part in the awards ceremony that takes place annually in Brussels, Belgium.
Background on .eu top-level domain
The .eu is the top-level domain (TLD) for the European Union. Launched on 7 December 2005, it gives Europe its own Internet identity. It aims to boost the visibility of the European Union on the Internet, increase users’ choice of domain names and promote the development of electronic commerce. Users can create a pan-European Internet identity of their websites and e-mail addresses through the .eu Top Level Domain (TLD). This option is available to all companies and organisations established in the European Union, Lichtenstein, Norway and Iceland and to every resident citizen.
The review process of the .eu legal framework
The .eu top-level domain (TLD) was established by Regulation (EC) No 733/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 April 2002 on the implementation of the .eu top-level domain. The .eu TLD was delegated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on 22 March 2005 and uploaded in the Internet root zone on 2 May 2005. It is governed by the implementing rules of Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004 of 28 April 2004 laying down public policy rules (PPR) concerning the implementation and functions of the .eu TLD and the principles governing registration.
The Commission has launched a Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) review of the .eu Regulations to ensure that the .eu legal framework still serves its intended purpose. The initiative includes a "back-to-back" evaluation and impact assessment. The evaluation will form a basis for eventual legislative and/or non-legislative initiatives. Both the backward-looking evaluation (to be accompanied by a Staff Working Document) and the future oriented Impact Assessment, outlining policy responses to identified challenges, will be very closely coordinated in terms of their timing and content with the possible adoption of concrete initiatives in spring 2018.
The online public consultation, launched to seek views from the wider public, closed on August 4. The summary report gives an overview of the contributions made and an indepth analysis of all the consultation activities, including the public consultation will be published as a synopsis report soon.