Welcome to the EU Internet Standards Monitoring

Find the latest information on the deployment in the EU of some of the most important Internet standards. These are open standards, internationally agreed, and they increase the security of our online experience and support the evolution and resilience of the Internet.

What is an Internet Standard?

Communications over the Internet are governed by a set of internationally adopted standards. These allow connected servers and devices to know exactly how to send and receive messages. As technology advances and threats evolve, new standards are created to improve Internet security.

Why is it important to know about their adoption?

Internet standards are mainly created on a consensus basis by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Once published, they are made freely available and deployed on a voluntary basis. However the wide deployment of new and modern Internet standards requires time and investments. Monitoring their deployment is necessary to have a clear picture of where we stand and assess whether additional efforts are required.

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Deployment dashboards for key Internet standards in the EU

The dashboards visualise the deployment indicators of 18 key Internet standards that help to secure the Internet and support its constant technological evolution. They are grouped into 5 categories according to their function:

Browsing – Web communication standards
Routing – Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS)
Emailing – Email communication security standards
Naming – Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)
Addressing – Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

Below, you can find information on each of these standards and best practices. You can also visit the summary page to view their overall deployment in the EU.

This website will provide half-yearly updates on the status of the uptake of Internet standards in the EU. In doing so, it aims to encourage their deployment. This will increase Internet security across the EU and enable new features.

It also hosts information on the technical details of Internet standards and how we monitor them.

Web communication standards

Indicators of the level of deployment of the HTTPS, HTTP/3 standards and HSTS security response header.

Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS)

Indicators of the level of deployment of MANRS, including actions on anti-spoofing, coordination, validation with IRR, filtering and validation with RPKI.

Email communication security standards

Indicators measuring the level of deployment of essential standards to protect email communications, namely STARTTLS, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and DANE.

Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)

Indicators of the level of deployment of DNSSEC standards. DNS is a key pillar for Internet communications and the deployment of DNSSEC is crucial to ensure its security.

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

Indicators of the level of deployment of IPv6, which is essential to address the limitations of IPv4, particularly in terms of cybersecurity and shortage of IP addresses.