UPDATE: As of the 23rd October 2019, the plan by EURid has been put on hold due to recent developments.
EURid Announcement
It has been announced today that EURid, the registry responsible for the .EU Top Level Domain (TLD), has changed its rules for registering .EU domain names. This change actually happened on the 19th October 2019. The new rules which have mainly been updated to include EU citizens that live outside the EU but can still prove they are a citizen of the EU may now keep their domain names. This change is in line with BREXIT which would have seen thousands of .EU registrations in the UK being removed from individuals and companies. The rules have not however been changed for companies. EURid has announced that commencing 24th October 2019, in 2 days’ time, they will start to contact affected companies to inform them that they are no longer allowed to use or even keep their domain names if they are not members of the EU or EEA.
Website and Email issues
This will leave many companies, who only use their .EU domain name, in a very precarious position as they will have no email or website. They must take action to either correct there data or register a new domain name in another TLD. This may even affect their phone systems and internal networks if they use them for these services as well. They may only keep their .EU domain name if the business has a business registration in an EU or EEA country and can prove it. Many companies are running around trying to get new domain names so that they can avoid the downtime that BREXIT will cause them and their websites and email. It is not enough to do trade with the EU but must have a company registered there.
Replacement Domain Names
Companies are finding it a struggle to get new domain names as their chosen domain is not available on many of the other Generic (Gen) or Country Code (CC) TLDs. They should get in contact with a domain name provider that can help them to secure a suitable replacement domain on one of the other 650+ TLDs.
Timeline
The timeline for the withdrawal of the .EU domains has now been made clear. Upon the UK leaving with no deal, EURid will first give affected domain name holders a two month window in which they will need to update their registration details with an address in the EU or EEA in order to keep their domain name. If they have not completed that by January 2020, then there domain name will be changed to “Withdrawn” and held for up to 12 months. If the company in question still cannot provide a valid address in the EU or EEA then they will have the domain name “Revoked” and it will become available for others to register.
This whole issue of course will be avoided, for the moment, if they agree a deal with the EU which keeps the UK in the EEA until the final exit. If we then leave without a deal or a deal that does not see us in the EU or the EEA then the domains will be withdrawn at that time.
Here is a link to the full news release by EURid: https://eurid.eu/en/register-a-eu-domain/brexit-notice/
Help is at hand
We would like to remind everyone that we are available to help with anyone who is suffering from this issue and would suggest getting in touch ASAP if you are in this position. We have already helped all of our customers to avoid this issue 3 years ago when we saw that this would become an issue. When their .EU domains are finally dropped by EURid they will not be affected.
Submit a support ticket or call us to discuss the issue and help you to get fixed ASAP. Don’t delay as there will be up to 48 hours to get all services moved across due to DNS propagation.
We have access to over 650 different TLDs and will help you to find the perfect one for your business. We are experiencing a high level of calls so there may be a delay in answering your call at the moment.
