Eu domain jumps final hurdle | The Register: "The .eu domain may finally come alive, five years after its conception... you might be able to actually buy an .eu domain by April 2006.. The European Union first decided upon the idea of a new .eu Internet domain in February 2000... the famous ICANN delaying tactics have been so completely outclassed by the EU itself that they have become all but invisible...
ICANN approval time: five months
EU approval time: 51 months
...But don't get too excited, the EU has yet another chance to delay the process still further.... after the two sunrise periods, both of another two months, where government and companies will be able to take all the good domains, then my friends, then we finally be able to find out if anyone actually wants a .eu domain in the first place. Earliest April 2006."