Does Brexit mean I need to change my .eu domain?

Do I need to worry about my main website domain being a .eu with a no deal Brexit?

The UK government formally advised over Christmas that if you own and are using a .eu domain as your primary domain you should look to replace it with a .com,  .co.uk, .net or .org domain.

Brexit is only 3 months away and with no agreed deals on exit we still don't know what will be affected! We are yet to find out how this will affect .eu domain names but the government website is suggesting that you should look to move to away from your .eu domain.

Future .eu registrations and renewals.

It also informs you that if you are a UK resident, UK Company or organisation planning to renew or acquire a .eu domain, as of 29th March 2019, you may no longer be eligible.

The criteria for holding a .eu domain is that you are within the EU and as we will no longer be in the EU we will no longer be eligible to hold a .eu domain.

Not good news!

UK .eu domain holders make up 10% of all .eu domains. The UK Governments recommendation is good in that they are preempting an issue that could lie ahead, but as yet no one really knows.

For companies using a .eu as their primary domain, it could be a major concern for the business and with many .com and .co.uk domains not available. You may now be able to pick-up a .uk domain, however, these are frozen for companies owning a .co.uk so if they own "myname.co.uk" then they have a right to "myname.uk". This was frozen for 3 years and does not finish till June 2019. This means that you can't even grab a.uk until after Brexit!

You can find the full story and guidelines at the GOV.UK website.

Tristar Tech Solutions are a proud web solutions provider in Hertfordshire and other regions. If you need help with this issue or need any other IT support in Hertfordshire or North London, please contact us on 0844 939 0333.