All aboard the .eu Express: Celebrating 20 years of .eu together

On 26 May 2026, more than 320 guests from across Europe boarded the .eu Express at Train World in Brussels to celebrate a remarkable milestone: 20 years of the .eu domain name.

Following a day of discussions on the future of the Internet during EuroDIG 2026, registrars, partners, policymakers, colleagues, and friends of EURid came together for an evening dedicated to connection, collaboration, and the shared journey of Europe's digital identity.

Train World provided the perfect setting for the celebration. Just as railways have connected people, cities, economies, and ideas across borders for generations, .eu has connected Europe's digital community for the past two decades. Both tell a story of bringing people together and creating opportunities beyond borders.

Throughout the evening, guests travelled through a series of interactive stops that retraced the journey of .eu. From its launch in 2006, when more than one million domain names were registered on the very first day, to its growth into one of Europe's leading country code top-level domains with more than 3.8 million registrations, the exhibition highlighted the milestones that have shaped .eu's success.

Visitors also explored how .eu has become a trusted European digital identity used by businesses, organisations, and citizens across more than 30 countries. The journey showcased .eu's commitment to multilingualism through the introduction of the Cyrillic .ею and Greek .ευ domain names, as well as EURid's ongoing investments in security, innovation, and resilient digital infrastructure.

Opening the evening, EURid General Manager Peter Janssen reflected on the parallels between Europe's railways and Europe's digital journey.

"Railways connected cities and economies. They connected people, cultures, and ideas across borders. They helped shape Europe long before the digital age. And in a different way, that is also what .eu aims to do every single day: connecting digital Europe, one domain name at a time."

He also thanked the many people who have contributed to the success of .eu over the past twenty years, including registrars, institutional and technical partners, former Board Chair Professor Emeritus Pierre Verbaeten, and the EURid team.

Behind every .eu domain name is a story. A business launching a new idea. A citizen building an online identity. An organisation creating connections across Europe. For twenty years, .eu has helped millions of Europeans navigate their digital journeys, and the evening served as a celebration of those achievements and the community that made them possible.

As the celebrations drew to a close, one message remained clear: while .eu's first twenty years are worth celebrating, the journey is far from over.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special occasion and helped make the evening so memorable. Together, we continue to connect Europe, one .eu domain name at a time.

Enjoy the event photos, available until 26 June, and watch the video recap to relive the highlights of the evening.