We don’t have a crystal ball, so like everyone else neither ourselves nor EURid (the .eu domain name registry) know how Brexit is going to play out.
Over the last few months, however, EURid have issued a number of updates on how .eu domains registered to people and organisations in the UK will be handled. The most recent update offers some clarity, but will, of course, rely on whether or not the UK proceeds with Brexit with or without a deal and even if there is a deal there is no guarantee that domain names will even be included.
So what will happen?
Most of the changes will be from November 1st 2019, as the current Brexit deadline is October 31st.
NB: If the UK government delays Brexit beyond October 31st then nothing will change. The changes only apply in the case of Brexit.
New Domain Registrations
Unless a domain holder meets the registration criteria for .eu they will not be able to register a .eu domain name. That has always been the case. The only difference is that the recently updated registration policies allow for EU citizens to register .eu domain names no matter where they reside, whereas previously citizenship was not the criterion, but the address associated with the registration.
Existing Domain Registrations
EURid will be in direct contact with domain name registrants who are impacted and who no longer meet the domain registration criteria. This should happen on or after October 24th.
If a domain name registrant has not been able to bring their domain registrations into compliance with the policies by January 1st 2020 then the domains will be pulled and any and all services linked to them will stop working. That means that email, websites and any other service that is linked to the .eu domains impacted will stop working.
Any domains pulled in January will be released back into the available domain name pool from 1st November onwards.
What can impacted domain name registrants do?
The simplest is to update your .eu domain names to use an address in the EU:
updating their contact data before 1 January 2020, 00:00:00 CET. They could do so by indicating a legally established entity in one of the eligible EU27 or EEA Member States, or updating their residence to an EU27 or EEA Member State, or providing a citizenship country code corresponding to an EU27 Member State irrespective of their residence.
We will provide further updates on the situation revolving around .eu domain names and Brexit if and when we hear anything from EURid or the EU Commission.
If you have .eu domain names and need assistance handling this process please let us know.
About the Author: Michele Neylon
