Update on .EU domains and Brexit

As we previously informed you, EURid, the Registry for .EU domain names, will be changing the eligibility requirements to register a .EU domain on 19 October 2019.

Eligible persons will be:
I. a Union citizen, independently of their place of residence;
II. a natural person who is not a Union citizen and who is a resident of a Member State;
III. an undertaking that is established in the Union; or
IV. an organisation that is established in the Union, without prejudice to the application of national law.

If the UK leaves the EU with no deal, from 1 November 2019, applicants whose residence or establishment country code is either GB or GI (natural and legal persons) will not be able to register a .EU domain, unless the citizenship country code of the registrant corresponds to an EU27 Member State.

For these .EU domains that have GB or GI as the registrant’s residence country code at the time of UK withdrawal, EURid will send a notification on 24 October 2019 about their forthcoming non-compliance with the .EU regulatory framework. On 1 November 2019, EURid will again notify by email both GB and GI registrants and their registrars that their domain name(s) is no longer compliant with the .EU regulatory framework.

Registrants will be able to update their contact data and be compliant with the .EU regulatory framework before 1 January 2020, by indicating a legally established entity in one of the eligible EU27 or EEA Member States, or updating their residence to an EU27 or EEA Member State, or providing a citizenship country code corresponding to an EU27 Member State irrespective of their residence. During this two-month period, the domain names will remain active and can continue to be used by the registrant.

As of 1 January 2020 registrants who did not demonstrate their eligibility will be deemed ineligible and their domain names will be withdrawn and will not function. Afterwards, on 1 November 2020, all the withdrawn domain names will be revoked and will become available for general registration. Their release will occur in batches from the time they become available.

You can read the full announcement here. We will continue to work with you to transition your names to EU entities.

Note that if there is a deal for Brexit it is likely that a new plan of withdrawal in terms of dates will be published by EURid, we will inform you as soon as there are any new developments.
Likewise, we will keep you informed if there are any impacts of Brexit on the policies or eligibility requirements for any other ccTLDs.

For further information, please contact your Client Manager or admin@comlaude.com.