Update: Following the recent developments in the UK withdrawal scenario, the plan outlined below is on hold.
With Brexit nearing, it's crucial to check whether you're eligible to keep your EU domain come November 1st 2019.
We previously blogged about this in February and subsequently published two continuation posts in May and August , but with Brexit rapidly approaching we thought we'd provided a further update on the European Commission's statement regarding .eu domain names and Brexit.
The UK's withdrawal date for leaving the European Union is currently set as the 1st November 2019 .
Subject to a transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement, as of the 1st November 2019 the EU regulatory framework for the .eu Top Level Domain will no longer apply to the United Kingdom.
Should the UK leave the EU with no deal on 1st November 2019 , EURid will enforce the following measures for .eu domains, meaning that if you/your company are not:
- a Union citizen, independently of their place of residence;
- a natural person who is not a Union citizen and who is a resident of a Member State;
- an undertaking that is established in the Union; or
- an organisation that is established in the Union, without prejudice to the application of national law.
then you will not be able to keep or register a .eu domain name.
| 24 Oct - 1st November 2019 | 1st November 2019 | 1st Jan 2020 | 1st November 2020 |
| New Registrations | New Requirements | Withdrawn Status | Deletion |
| Registry will contact registrars and registrants of ineligible domain names, informing them or eligibility requirements, timelines and consequences of ineligibility. | Local presence eligibility will be limited to registrants in the remaining 27 countries of the EU or in EEA member countries.
The following actions would no longer be permitted:
- Ownership changes to non-EU registrant
- Manual Renewals
- Auto Renewals | Any domains that do not meet eligibility requirements will be placed in Withdrawn Status. The domain will remain on file with the registry, but no longer resolves.
Registrants may still update their registration data to meet the eligibility requirements, therefore reactivating their domain. | All ineligible domain names in Withdrawn Status will be deleted and made available for registration by any eligible registrant. |
| Domains and services remain active | Domains and services are deactivated. |
| Domains can be updated to meet eligibility requirements | Updates are no longer possible |
Preparing for Brexit
As no one knows for sure how Brexit will play out, we recommend preparing for a no deal Brexit with no transition period.
If you don't think you'll be eligible for a .eu domain name next month, it's definitely worth registering a new non .eu domain name now and moving your site to that new domain. You then have a fair amount of time for 301 redirects on your .eu domain to work and make sure that changing your domain doesn't hinder your SEO too much.
If you're a client of Toolkit Websites and you have a .eu domain and are not based in the EU, only in the UK, we can register a new domain for you and perform our Domain Name Migration service to move your website to that domain.
