Brexit and Domain Names
1. Check your eligibility
From 1 January 2021, you’ll no longer be able to register or renew .eu domain names if:
- Your organisation, business or undertaking is established in the UK but not in the EU/European Economic Area (EEA)
- Or you live outside of the EU/EEA and are not an EU/EEA citizen
- an EU/EEA citizen, independently of where you live
- not an EU/EEA citizen but resident in the EU/EEA
- an organisation, business or undertaking that is established in the EU/EEA
You may still satisfy the eligibility criteria if you have your registered office, central administration, or principal place of business within the EU/EEA, are established within the EU/EEA, or are a natural person resident in the EU/EEA.
The European Commission and EURid have confirmed that EU citizens who are resident in the UK will be able to retain their .eu addresses. If you are an EU citizen living in the UK and have registered a .eu domain name, discuss with your registrar whether you will need to provide proof of eligibility.
2. What will happen if you don’t meet the eligibility criteria
On 3 June 2020, EURid, the registry which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the .eu Top Level Domain, published guidance for UK registrants and the steps it will take around the end of the transition period. The notice states that:
UK registrants will receive an email notification from EURid on 1 October 2020 informing them that they will lose their eligibility to retain their .eu domain name as of 1 January 2021 unless they can demonstrate their compliance with the .eu regulatory framework by updating their registration data before 31 December 2020
EURid will then send a further email on 21 December 2020 notifying all UK registrants who did not demonstrate continued compliance with the eligibility criteria and their registrars of risk of forthcoming non-compliance with the .eu regulatory framework
The notice then states that as of 1 January 2021, any UK registrant who cannot meet the eligibility criteria will have their .eu domain names withdrawn. A withdrawn domain name no longer functions, as the domain name is removed from the zone file and can no longer support any active services (such as websites or email).
The EURid notice states that withdrawn domain names will not be available to any other entity for a further twelve months. On 1 January 2022, all the withdrawn domain names will be revoked and made available for registration by other entities.
If you no longer meet the eligibility criteria
Please contact [email protected] and we will see what can be done in your indiviual and specific case.