From Friday, any organisation or individual wanting to apply for a new .eu domain name will be able to do so. On 7 April the domain will open for registration to the public, with names available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The .eu domains have been available for registration since the end of last year, but only trademark holders, or “holders of prior rights” have been eligible to apply. The European Registry of Internet Domain Names (Eurid) said that it expects to see a surge in domain registrations when .eu becomes available to all.

"Nobody knows exactly how many registrations of new domain names to expect but the interest so far has been significant, so I think we will see several hundred thousand proud holders of brand new .eu domain names from Friday and onwards," said Marc Van Wesemael, managing director at Eurid.

Eurid has already received more than 300 000 applications, which are currently being processed.