All promotional URLs are subject to the explicit approval of DG COMM, regardless of the domain to which they belong.
Purpose
A promotional URL is a meaningful shortened version of an existing URL. It is used when the original URL isn't appropriate for print or promotional materials (generally due to its length), and will redirect from a human readable URL to a specific website (e.g. https://ec.europa.eu/energy-label-and-ecodesign to redirect to https://ec.europa.eu/info/jobs-european-commission/working-eu/interpreters-recruitment-european-commission_en for a period of 5 years).
Rule
In principle, promotional URLs should be in the europa.eu domain (e.g. https://ec.europa.eu/eliit redirecting to the page https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/eliit).
The use of promotional URLs on a second-level domain of the .eu domain is exceptionally allowed, for a limited period, if:
- the existing website is hosted outside the ‘Europa’ domain and maintaining the short URL would facilitate its repatriation to the ‘Europa’ domain
- the existing website is hosted on the ‘Europa’ domain but a short .eu URL has been authorised in the past and changing it would negatively affect the communication activity. For such URLs known amongst users the requester of the short URL should demonstrate the negative impact triggered by the change. (Examples so far include joinup.eu, eu-oceanliteracy.eu).
Regarding new websites, the use of promotional URLs outside the ‘Europa’ domain is in principle not allowed. The requester must provide evidence to show why the use of the word ‘europa’ in the URL would hinder its communication objective.
Promotional URLs using a country code top-level domain (ex .br, .jp…) can exceptionally be authorised when a website’s main audience is a single country outside the European Union (e.g. for promoting European products in the country).
Procedure
To request a promotional URL, contact: Comm Europa Management.
The request must include:
- the name of the desired promotional URL ((ec.)europa.eu/<name>)
- the original ”long” URL to which it should be redirected
and for non-europa.eu URLs:
- thorough justification for why the URL is needed and why the word ‘europa’ would hinder the communication objective
- the time period for which the URL is needed.
NB: All non-europa.eu URLs are reserved for a period of at least 5 years.
Related Links
General rules for URLs can be found on URL structure.
Contact and support
If you require further assistance, please contact: Comm Europa Management