EU Domain Revocations
On 28th March 2018, the European Commission announced plans to revoke all .eu domain name registrations belonging to British registrants (either companies or individuals) as a consequence of Brexit. This will be the case whether the UK leaves with or without a withdrawal agreement. Naturally, there is no eligibility to new registrations.
If there is a withdrawal agreement revocation will take place at the end of the transition period but, it will take place.
The consequence of this is that services associated with domains, such as email and security certificates will fail. Those business entities who have spent time, money and effort raising their site profile by search engines will have to start again.
It is important therefore that vulnerable enterprises establish a plan of action to mitigate the consequences of these domain revocations as soon as possible.
European Commission issued the following statement 0n 10th April 2018.
“The revocation of existing holders’ rights and the prohibition for registrars from processing any more requests for registrations or renewals for .eu domain names whose holders are no longer eligible must be prepared so that the necessary measures are effective as from 1 January 2021 or, in case that there were no withdrawal agreement in force before 30 March 2019, as from 30 March 2019.”
Brexit Notice 24th January, 2019
Eurid.eu has issued a notice detailing the latest provisions regarding .eu domains.
Essentially, revocation action will begin on 30/03/19 or 1/01/21 depending on the acceptance of the withdrawal agreement currently before the British Parliament.
In The Event of No Deal Exit From the European Union By The UK
“On 23 March 2019, as of 00:00:00 CET, EURid will notify by email both GB/GI registrants and their registrars about the forthcoming non-compliance of the data associated to their domain name within the .eu regulatory framework.”
Accepted Withdrawal Agreement In Force
“On 23 December 2020, as of 00:00:00 CET, EURid will notify by email both GB/GI registrants and their registrars about the forthcoming non-compliance of the data associated to their domain name within the .eu regulatory framework.”
Parties at risk are advised to read the referenced document below for more details