The European Commission announced on World IPv6 Day that the Europa website is accessible for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) users as well as IPv4 users. By making its website IPv6 accessible, the European Commission is setting an example and hopes to encourage other public sectors to persuade European companies and manufacturers to make their new smart devices and servers IPv6 compatible.

The Internet operates by transferring data in small packets that are independently routed across networks, as specified by an international communications protocol known as the Internet Protocol. The last remaining IPv4 address was assigned in February 2011 due to increasing demand for new Internet services. In 1984 over 4 billion addresses were made available on Internet Protocol version 4 (Ipv4).

IPv6 was introduced to provide enough Internet addresses for the future because millions of devices (like smart phones, cars, electricity metres and domestic appliances) are expected to connect to the Internet. Billions of sensors forming the so called 'Internet of Things' will also be connected to exchange information, which will give rise to a whole generation of new smart services. Each one will require an IP address.

There are many technical advantages with IPv6 like the simplified deployment of IP security, but the migration to IPv6 is costly. However, renewing IT equipment to make it IPv6 compatible could dramatically lower the cost. Currently, only approximately 2% of all Internet traffic is IPv6 compatible.

The European Commission believes that it is necessary to upgrade the existing Internet infrastructure to IPv6 to avoid the Internet slowing down as a result of its own success, which would in turn lead to a negative impact on economic growth, fewer possibilities to drive innovation in the field of new Internet services and applications, and the risk of market distortion resulting from the resale of unused IPv4 addresses which had already been assigned.