British .eu Domains to be Revoked after Brexit

The European Commission is set to revoke all .eu domain name registrations belonging to British registrants after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Uncertainty around whether we will leave the EU with a deal or not means that domain names are not a priority and there is no clear guidance in the draft withdrawal agreement about this.

In the case of a withdrawal agreement being formally agreed between the UK and the EU, the cancellations will take place as of 1 January 2021.

However, In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Government have said that organisations and individuals established in the UK will not be able to renew their .eu domain names.

Will I be able to keep my EU domain?

If you have a .eu domain name, you need to check if you remain eligible after Brexit. If not, you need to start the migration to a new domain name now – examples include .co.uk, .com or .org.

Eligibility includes having the registered office, central administration or principal place of business in the EU, or being an organisation established in the EU.

It is going to be difficult for .eu domain holders to find their .com or .uk equivalents: while the .eu registry has around 3.75m names, the .uk registry has nearly 12 million and .com has nearly 140 million.

What happens when I lose my domain?

The European Commission has said that where a holder of a domain name no longer fulfils these criteria, the Registry for .eu will be entitled to revoke such a domain name on its own initiative.

Once you have lost your domain name, any existing links you have will no longer work – including directories, references and your email address. You won’t have access to the .eu anymore, so you will no longer be able to set up redirects.

On March 22^nd 2019, EURid announced that all plans regarding domain names registered to individuals and undertakings located in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar had been placed on hold, due to uncertainty around Brexit.

Wish Recommends:

• Check if you remain eligible to keep your domain
• Migrate to a new domain as soon as possible
• Remember that once you lose your domain you will no longer be able to set up redirects, and any existing links will no longer work
• Keep an eye on EURid, and gov.uk for further updates

Useful Resources

https://eurid.eu/en/news/brexit-notice-update-1/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-eu-top-level-domain-name-registrations-in-the-event-of-a-no-deal-eu-exit