The transition period for Brexit is coming to an end. Get in compliance before January 1, 2021 (at 0:00 CET) in order to guarantee the continuity of your .eu domain name.
In June 2016, the United Kingdom indicated by referendum its intention to leave the European Union. “Brexit” (short for “British Exit”) refers to the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union (EU), effective February 1, 2020.
This decision impacts the eligibility conditions on .eu domain names, which are reserved for people and entities located in the EU (European Union), and the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as EU citizens.
While a transition period was agreed to until December 31, 2020, this period is coming to an end and means that all .eu domain holders need to make sure of their compliance between now and January 1, 2020 at 0:00 CET.
Domain names will, first of all, be suspended, between January 1 and June 30, 2021. During this period, it will still be possible to bring the registration back into compliance and reactivate the domain name. The reactivation will not be automatic, you will have to contact the Customer Care Service.
After July 1, 2021, domain names will be frozen and no update or modification to them will be possible. It will still be possible to bring your domain into compliance, but for a fee. For more information, please feel free to contcat our Customer care team.
(Previously, it had been the plan to freeze domains January 1, 2021 with no possibility of update or modification.)
Eligibility conditions for a .eu
In order to register a .eu domain name, people or entities need to meet hte following criteria:
- be a citizen of the European Union, regardless of place of residence (example: a French person residing in Mexico), or
- be a person who lives in an EU or EEA member state* (for example, a Mexican person who lives in France or Iceland), or
- be a business established in the EU or EEA (headquarters or “siège statutaire“, central administration, or principal establishment), or
- be an organization established in the EU or the EEA
You will need to make sure that you are in compliance with these criteria before January 1, 2021 (0:00 CET).
How do you get in compliance?
According to your specific case, you may be in one of two situations:
1. The current owner contact of your .eu domain name is an individual who is a citizen of a member country of the European Union
In this case, you can indicate the nationality of the domain name owner via your Gandi account in this way:
- Once logged in to your Gandi account, navigate to the domain name management page
- Click on your .eu domain name and then go to the “Domain contacts” section
- Click on “Modify” to update the “Citizenship” field and then click “Save”
2. The current owner contact of your .eu domain name is a legal entity (a business or organization) or an individual who is not a citizen of the European Union and wishes to change the ownership of the domain to an eligible person or entity
To make this update, you should modify the owner of the domain name in your Gandi account using the following procedure:
- Once logged in to your Gandi account, navigate to the domain name management page
- Click on your .eu domain name and then go to the “Domain contacts” section
- Click on “Change” to start the “Owner change” procedure
Please note that you’ll need to follow the above processes for each of your .eu domain names.
If you need help, please feel free to contact our Customer Care team for help: https://help.gandi.net/.
Risks of not being in compliance
Being in compliance is essential for guaranteeing the continuity of your .eu domain names after January 1, 2021.
The EURid registry, who is in charge of .eu domain names, has clarified that any domain name with a non-compliant owner on January 1, 2021 will be frozen and suspended for a period of one year, during which any action on the domain will not be possible. At the end of this period, domain names will be progressively made available to register again, which will mean the loss of your domain name.
In the end, this update will only take you 5 minutes or less, so don’t miss the due date!
Eligibility conditions for a .eu
In order to register a .eu domain name, people or entities need to meet hte following criteria:
- be a citizen of the European Union, regardless of place of residence (example: a French person residing in Mexico), or
- be a person who lives in an EU or EEA member state* (for example, a Mexican who lives in France or Iceland), or
- be a business established in the EU or EEA (headquarters or “siège statutaire“, central administration, or principal establishment), or
- be an organization established in the EU or the EEA
You will need to make sure that you are in compliance with these criteria before January 1, 2021 (0:00 CET).
How do you get in compliance?
According to your specific case, you may be in one of two situations:
1. The current owner contact of your .eu domain name is an individual who is a citizen of a member country of the European Union
In this case, you can indicate the nationality of the domain name owner via your Gandi account in this way:
- Once logged in to your Gandi account, navigate to the domain name management page
- Click on your .eu domain name and then go to the “Domain contacts” section
- Click on “Modify” to update the “Citizenship” field and then click “Save”
2. The current owner contact of your .eu domain name is a legal entity (a business or organization) or an individual who is not a citizen of the European Union and wishes to change the ownership of the domain to an eligible person or entity
To make this update, you should modify the owner of the domain name in your Gandi account using the following procedure:
- Once logged in to your Gandi account, navigate to the domain name management page
- Click on your .eu domain name and then go to the “Domain contacts” section
- Click on “Change” to start the “Owner change” procedure
Please note that you’ll need to follow the above processes for each of your .eu domain names.
If you need help, please feel free to contact our Customer Care team for help: https://help.gandi.net/.
Risks of not being in compliance
Being in compliance is essential for guaranteeing the continuity of your .eu domain names after January 1, 2021.
The EURid registry, who is in charge of .eu domain names, has clarified that any domain name with a non-compliant owner on January 1, 2021 will be frozen and suspended for a period of one year, during which any action on the domain will not be possible. At the end of this period, domain names will be progressively made available to register again, which will mean the loss of your domain name.
In the end, this update will only take you 5 minutes or less, so don’t miss the due date!
*N.B. Only citizens of EU member states are eligible by virtue of their citizenship Residents of EEA member states are eligible by virtue of their residency (non-EU citizens who reside in either an EU member state or EEA member state are also eligible).
See the full list of European Union countries in our API documentation. If your citizenship is in any of these countries, you are eligible to register a .eu domain regardless of your residency.
If your citizenship is in any of the following countries or territories AND you do not live in either an EU country/territory or EEA, you are not eligible for a .eu domain:
- AX Åland Islands
- GF French Guiana
- GP Guadeloupe
- MF Saint Martin
- MQ Martinique
- RE Réunion
- YT Mayotte
- IS Iceland
- LI Liechtenstein
- NO Norway
