EU unveils DNS4EU to take on Google and Cloudflare’s DNS dominance

DNS4EU, an initiative by the European Commission, has officially been launched as an alternative to public DNS resolvers currently dominating the market.

The DNS4EU project officially started in January 2023. It is co-funded by the EU and supported by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).

The project's goal is to provide a private, safe, and independent European DNS resolver that can compete with Google’s Public DNS resolver (8.8.8.8) and Cloudflare’s DNS resolver (1.1.1.1), reducing the EU’s reliance on foreign DNS providers.

The project supports organizations in complying with laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), by ensuring that all data stays within European borders.

In addition, DNS4EU has the ability to provide regional threat intelligence. For example, if a malicious threat is discovered in one country, it can be blocked in multiple EU member states and regions simultaneously, preventing the spread of the threat.

“DNS4EU threat intelligence is enhanced by Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and other institutions all around the EU, providing information on EU-specific threats, as well as by the data about cyberattacks gathered through the telco partners,” the European Commission says on the DNS4EU’s webpage.

DNS4EU has been developed with several target audiences in mind. There’s a public and free DNS resolver for end users that provides basic DNS security protection, such as filtering out websites that aren’t suitable for children or blocking ads.

Additionally, a DNS4EU version has been created for government entities and telecom operators that operate within the European Union.

The European Commission emphasizes that there’s no way to impose censorship via the project.

“The EU will not have access to configuration, data, etc. On top of that, DNS4EU will not be forced on anyone. It will merely abide by local regulations required of internet service providers. In other words, DNS4EU is not a way toward censorship, but actually toward data protection and better internet security and sovereignty for Europeans,” the European Commission writes.

Anyone who wants to start using the DNS4EU resolver can follow a step-by-step guide for various operating systems, routers, and browsers.