Back in May, we provided a short update on how Brexit was going to impact .eu domains registered to individuals and organisations in the UK.
Earlier today all .eu domain name registrants whose domain is linked to an address in the UK would have got an email from EURid the .eu domain name registry.
Bottom line: .eu domain names that are linked to UK addresses and registrants will stop working on January 1st 2021. You can avoid this headache, but you cannot ignore the issue, so please be sure to read on.
The wording of the notice is below:
Dear Registrant,
We would like to draw your attention to the notice to .eu stakeholders1 (published on 3 June 2020 on eurid.eu) concerning the impact of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union on .eu domain names registered by registrants established or residing in the UK.
The text of the notice includes the following statement:
“On 1st February 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union (Union). The Withdrawal Agreement provides for a transition period until 31 December 2020. During the transition period, undertakings and organisations established in the United Kingdom and United Kingdom residents and citizens will continue to be able to hold and register a .eu domain name.”
At the end of the transition period, United Kingdom undertakings or organisations established in the United Kingdom but not in the Union, United Kingdom citizens who are not resident of a Union Member State, and United Kingdom residents who are not Union citizens (hereinafter ‘UK registrants’) will no longer be eligible to hold a .eu domain name. Based on your current registration data, on 1 January 2021, your .eu domain name(s) will no longer comply with the .eu regulatory framework.
However, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate continued compliance by updating your contact data before 1 January 2021, 00:00:00 CET by:
- indicating a legally established entity in one of the eligible EU27 or EEA Member States; or - updating your residence to one of the eligible EU27 or EEA Member States; or - updating your citizenship to one of the EU27 Member States.
If you would like to proceed with updating your contact data, we urge you to contact your registrar (the company through which you registered your domain name).
As of 1 January 2021, 00:00:00 CET, if you have not demonstrated your eligibility within the .eu regulatory framework, your domain name(s) will be moved to the so-called “withdrawn” status. A domain name in such status no longer functions and can no longer support any active service (such as websites or email), but its record will remain in the .eu registry database and may be reactivated if the eligibility criteria are satisfied. Twelve months later the domain names in the “withdrawn” status will be revoked.
Please contact us at info@eurid.eu for additional information and/or visit the dedicated page at https://eurid.eu/en/register-a-eu-domain/brexit-notice/.
However, there is one important caveat that applies to individuals in Northern Ireland.
As you probably know, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, which is transposed into Irish law, they qualify as Irish citizens, so they would get to keep their .eu domain names.
Alternatively, if your .eu domain name is linked to a company or other organisation you can update your registration to use an address in the EU so that it will continue to work after January 1st 2021.
If you have any questions about .eu domain names please let us know.