With the Brexit transition period set to end on 31 December, any remaining British registrants of .eu domain names are set to find their domains suspended as of 1 January unless they can transfer their contact details to an eligible registrant. Currently there are over 122,000 British registrants of .eu domain names.
The Brexit transition is the period agreed in the UK–EU Withdrawal Agreement in which the UK is no longer a member of the EU but continues to be subject to EU rules and remains a member of the single market and customs union.
Last week EURid, the .eu registry, provided an update on the process that will happen. From 1 January EURid will NOT allow the registration of any new domain name by UK registrants, nor will they allow the transfer or transfer through update of any domain name to a UK registrant.
For any remaining UK registrants who have not been able to transfer their domains to an eligible registrant, that is a business with a registered office within the European Union or European Economic Area, or an individual who is a citizen of the EU or EEA that can be located anywhere in the world, the following processes will happen:
- On 21 December 2020, EURid will notify by email all UK registrants who have not yet demonstrated continued compliance with the eligibility criteria and their registrars about the risk of forthcoming non-compliance with the .eu regulatory framework.
- On 1 January 2021, EURid will notify by email all UK registrants and their registrars that their domain name is no longer compliant with the .eu eligibility criteria and is moved to the “SUSPENDED” status until 31 March 2021.
- On 1 April 2021, EURid will notify again by email all UK registrants and their registrars that their domain name is no longer compliant with the .eu regulatory framework and is moved to the “WITHDRAWN” status.
- On 1 January 2022, all the domain names in the “WITHDRAWN” status, formerly assigned to UK registrants, will be REVOKED and become AVAILABLE for general registration.
EURid also notes that domain names in the “SUSPENDED” status no longer function or support any service. The registrar of such domain name can update the registration data, transfer or delete the domain name.
More information is available from the Brexit Update page on the EURid website here.