As of Monday, the owners of about 48,000 .eu web domain names had to give back their registered domains. To register a. eu web domain, individuals must be EU citizens or residents, while businesses must be based in the EU. Now that Brexit is a fact, many individuals and companies are no longer entitled to these .eu domain names.
Following the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020, more than 80,000 websites were given a ‘suspended’ designation. Those who failed to show eligibility by July of last year were placed in a ‘withdrawn’ status until last Monday, when their .eu web domains were cancelled indefinitely.
The EU had determined that any British .eu domain owner who moved its registration address from the UK to another EU country would be able to keep their web domain.
EURid, the European Union’s domain registry administrator stated that the 48,000 web domain names will become available for general registration on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. These domain names were released in batches on Monday during the day.
