At the end of 2020, UK-based businesses, organisations and individuals will no longer be considered eligible to hold registration of .eu domain names. That is unless these registrants can prove eligibility by declaring compliance with one of the qualifying criteria before 1st January 2021.
EURid, the manager of the .eu registry, has updated us with the latest information on this process. Essentially, UK registrants who wish to retain their registration after the current Brexit transition period must declare eligibility. This should be done by updating the contact information on their domain name to show they meet one of the following criteria, i.e. that the registrant is:
- 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.
In other words, registrants must be a citizen or resident of an EU member state, or a business or organisation that is established in an EU member state. UK individuals and organisations who cannot meet these criteria will have their domain registrations withdrawn.
Timeline for withdrawal of .eu registrations from non-qualifying registrants
Notice has been provided of the timeline which will apply from 1st January 2021, as follows:
January 1, 2021 — registrants who have not demonstrated eligibility will have their domain “suspended.” Suspended domains will no longer resolve. This means any web or email services dependent on the domain will stop working.
April 1, 2021 — any suspended domains will be placed into “withdrawn” status.
January 1, 2022 — these withdrawn domains will be revoked and made available for registration to the public.
In short, it is essential that, if a registrant wishes to retain registration of a .eu domain name, they should update the contact details on the domain with information that demonstrates eligibility according to the criteria listed above.
How to update contact information on a domain name
For Web Age customers, please read our guide on how to update contact information on your domain name. It’s important to note that you should do this as soon as possible. The process will permit changes till 1st April but in order to avoid any disruption to service, you should make these changes right away.
After 1st April, changes may be possible but an as-yet unannounced restore fee will be applied by the registry. Should a customer request changes after this date, we will apply this charge plus any applicable admin costs we incur, as this will be a manual process.