Below is the relevant part of the EC new Internet Governance policy as it pertains to ICANN and IANA.
4. GLOBALISATION OF CORE INTERNET DECISIONS
The Internet has become a key infrastructure with global dimensions. It works well without structural oversight by international intergovernmental bodies. At the same time, greater international balance within the existing structures can increase the legitimacy of current governance arrangements.
In 2005 the US government committed itself to work with the international community to address the public policy concerns with respect to the management of country-code top-level domains (ccTLD). However, this has not yet been fully implemented. In its 2009 Communication the European Commission pointed to the incomplete internationalisation of Internet core functions and organisations.
Since 2009, ICANN has taken steps in this direction, most notably the establishment of operational hubs in Istanbul and Singapore in 2013. These steps are welcome. However, ICANN's status under Californian law with a contractual relationship to a single country has not changed. The exclusive relationship of ICANN with a single government – as illustrated by its Affirmation of Commitments – originates from the history of the Internet and must become more global in an era of the Internet as it has become a vital support function of societies and economies in the whole world.
In October 2013 the leaders of organisations responsible for the coordination of the Internet's technical infrastructure called for accelerating the globalisation of ICANN and IANA functions in their Montevideo statement on the future of Internet cooperation. The Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance, to be hosted by Brazil in April 2014, should identify concrete and actionable steps to address the globalisation of ICANN and the IANA functions.
The Commission will work with all stakeholders to
- identify how to globalise the IANA functions, whilst safeguarding the continued
stability and security of the domain-name system; - establish a clear timeline for the globalisation of ICANN, including its Affirmation of
Commitments.