Last updated: July 2, 2020

On February 1, 2020, the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union, with a transition period that will extend until December 31, 2020. One of the consequences of Brexit is that many UK-based, .EU domain owners will no longer meet the .EU eligibility requirements. Recently, EURid, the .EU registry, announced an updated timeline for revoking the domains of ineligible registrants.

EURid’s new plan is to begin contacting impacted .EU registrants on October 1, 2020. Registrants who can will be asked to update their registrant data to demonstrate their eligibility based on citizenship in a remaining EU member state by December 31, 2020. On January 1, 2021, any UK-based registrants who have not demonstrated eligibility will have their domain name “withdrawn.” Here, we provide a summary of the .EU eligibility requirements and EURid’s timeline for UK-based .EU registrants, as well tips on how you can prepare.

Eligibility Requirements for .EU Domains

Last year, amid the Brexit negotiations, EURid released an updated Domain Name Registration Policy, which went into effect as of October 19, 2019.  Under this new policy, the eligibility requirements for organizations did not change, but the eligibility requirements for individuals did — .EU domains can now be registered by EU citizens who live outside of the European Union. The following registrant types are eligible to register .EU domains:

• a European 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 organization that is established in the Union, without prejudice to the application of national law.

In the context of Brexit, here’s what the eligibility requirements mean for existing .EU registrants:

• EU citizens who reside in the UK will not lose their domain names. They’ll simply have to demonstrate proof of EU citizenship.
• UK citizens that reside in an EU member state will also remain eligible.
• However, UK citizens who reside outside of the Union Member States are no longer eligible to hold an .EU domain name. Their domain name will be revoked at the end of the transition period.

Detailed Timeline for .EU Reseller and Registrants

October 1, 2020

• EURid will contact via email all .EU registrants who have listed a postal address with a GB (Great Britain) or GI (Gibraltar) country code, inviting them to “demonstrate their compliance with the eligibility criteria by updating their registration data before December 31, 2020.”
• For organizations, this would involve indicating a legally established entity in one of the eligible EU27 or EEA Member States. For individuals, this would involve updating their residence to a physical address located in one of the EU27 or EEA Member States. The registrant could also choose to transfer the domain name to an EU resident.

December 21, 2020

• EURid will email all UK registrants who did not demonstrate continued eligibility to remind them of their “forthcoming non-compliance with the .EU regulatory framework.”

January 1, 2021, as of 00:00:00 CET

• EURid will no longer allow UK residents (who can’t demonstrate EU citizenship) to register new .EU domain names. The transfer and transfer through update of any domain name to a UK registrant will also no longer be allowed.
• EURid will email all UK registrants who have not demonstrated eligibility to inform them that their domain name is no longer compliant with the .eu regulatory framework and has, therefore, been “withdrawn.”
• Domain names in “withdrawn” status will no longer function. The domain name is removed from the zone file and will no longer support any active services (e.g. websites or email).

January 1 2022, 00:00:00 CET

• All withdrawn domain names will be revoked and made available for general registration. These domains will be released for registration in batches.

How Should Resellers Prepare?

1. Ensure you’re familiar with how to register, transfer, and perform contact updates for domains registered by EU citizens who live outside the European Union.

If you use the Control Panel to register domains: In the Enom Control Panel, there now exists a field that will enable you to indicate a country of citizenship for the registrant.

If you use the API to register domains: When required, you’ll need to submit a eu_country_of_citizenship value, when needed. The value can be any two-letter country code of an EU member state.

2. If you haven’t already, consider restricting multi-year renewals and registrations for UK customers. This will help avoid situations where a UK customer pays a sizable renewal fee, only to lose their .EU domain a few months later.

3. Consider displaying a warning to registrants during the registration process. It’s important that before registering a .EU domain, your UK-based customers are made aware of the impending change to the domain’s eligibility requirements.

4. Keep in mind that EURid will contact your impacted customers on October 1, 2020. You may wish to reach out beforehand, or simply ready your support team. 5. Advise those registrants who can to update their information to meet the eligibility requirements as soon as possible. This will ensure their domain(s) does not fall into Withdrawn status and become inactive.