Brexit impacted all manner of life in Britain when the country left the European Union on 1 February 2020, and this included .eu domain names. As of 1 January Britons are ineligible to hold .eu domain names after the “Transition Period” came to an end on 31 December.
As of 31 December there were 81,470 .eu domain names registered to British registrants according to statistics on the EURid website, down from 317,286 three years ago on 31 December 2017. And if not all, the vast majority will now be held in a “suspended” status until 31 March 2021 as they are no longer compliant with the .eu regulatory framework. A .eu domain name in the “SUSPENDED” status can no longer support any service (such as website and email), but may still be reinstated if registration data is updated to meet the eligibility criteria.
If registrants of these 80,000 plus domain names are unable to update their contact details and become eligible to hold a .eu domain name, they by 31 March, the domain name will no longer be compliant with the .eu regulatory framework and will then be moved to “WITHDRAWN” status on 1 April. A domain name in the “WITHDRAWN” status is not in the zone file and cannot support any service.
To prove they are eligible to hold a .eu domain names, British registrants will need to prove they are a legally established entity in one of the eligible European Union Member States, or by updating their residence to a EU Member State, or proving their citizenship of a Union Member State irrespective of their residence.
On 1 January 2022 all .eu domain names in the “WITHDRAWN” status, formerly assigned to UK registrants, will be REVOKED and subsequently, become AVAILABLE for general registration. Their release will occur in batches for security reasons.
In other EURid news, the .eu registry has also announced for the fifth year running they are supporting the Surfrider Foundation with a donation during the holiday season.
The Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to protecting the world’s Ocean, waves, and beaches through a multitude of activism-based campaigns and programs. A majority of their work revolves around beach preservation, clean water protection and plastic pollution prevention.
More information on how Brexit will impact British .eu registrants can be found here.