The Brexit also affects holders of .eu domain names as Article 4(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) 733/3003 provides that only legal and natural persons established or resident in the EEA may register a .eu domain name. After the Brexit, companies and persons living in the UK can therefore no longer apply for a .eu domain name unless they also have an address in the EU. According to the latest figures, the holders of just over 273,000 .eu domain names are established in the United Kingdom, which means that the United Kingdom is the fourth country with the highest number of .eu domain name registrations. However, the number of .eu domain name registrations of UK holders has been steadily decreasing since the UK invoked the Article 50 procedure and the Brexit procedure started.
With regard to existing .eu domain names whose holder is established or resident in the United Kingdom, the Registry (EURid) is competent to revoke them because the holders no longer comply with the requirements of Article 4(2)(b). EURid may do so on its own initiative. In practice, EURid will only do so on the instructions of the EU Commission. However, on 10 April 2018, the Commission informed EURid that theyshould make preparations so that the revocation of the rights to .eu domain names of existing holders who are no longer eligible to register .eu domain names in case of a hard Brexit can take place as immediately after 29 March 2019. EURid has developed several scenarios to implement the Commission's instructions and, if necessary, revoke UK holders' rights to .eu domain names.
The same applies to UK-based registrars, who will lose their EURid accreditation with a hard Brexit on 29 March 2019. Holders of .eu domain names registered by such registrars have to transfer their .eu domain names to a registrar established in the EEA before the Brexit. This concerns in particular also holders established in another EEA state than the United Kingdom who used the services of a UK based registry.
- It is conceivable that there will be a transitional arrangement to allow holders to take measures to deal with the consequences of revocation. However, this is not certain. Because of the uncertainties, we advise holders of .eu domain names established in the United Kingdom:
- to transfer .eu domain names before 30 March 2019 to a party that is established or resident in the remaining EEA countries. If the holder of the .eu domain names has an affiliated company in the EEA, it is obvious that the rights will be transferred to such company. If this is not the case, there are parties who can take a domain name in trust for the benefit of the actual user.
- if transfer of the .eu domain name is not possible or not desirable, measures should be taken to transfer the activities under the .eu domain name (website, email, etc.) to another (non .eu) domain by midnight 29 March 2019 at the latest. It should of course be kept in mind that the holder can no longer be found on the internet under the .eu domain name and will no longer receive e-mails at a .eu e-mail address.
- if the previous option is chosen, it is still preferable to temporarily move the .eu domain name to a holder with a branch in the EEA to ensure that users of the .eu domain name are referred to the new e-mail address and new website after the Brexit.
- .eu domain names registered by a registrar established in the United Kingdom should be moved to a registrar established in the EEA no later than 29 March 2019.
Need help? Please contact Alfred Meijboom , Partner Intellectual Property.
