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48,000 .eu domain names have been taken from licence holders. The domains are in the names of British residents and companies without European status. Brexit revoked their right to a .eu domain name.

European domain names (e.g. techzine.eu) are issued by EURid. The organization grants and administers licenses on behalf of the European Commission.

Residents of EU member states and companies in EU member states are permitted to register and renew .eu domain names. Residents of the United Kingdom are not. The Brexit stripped British businesses and residents of the right to a .eu domain name.

As a result, EURid revoked 48,000 domain names. Corresponding websites are inaccessible. The names have been made available to new licence holders.

The consequence

The chance of popular websites with .eu domain names going down is slim. EURid warned UK holders of .eu domain names as early as 1 October 2020. Organizations and individuals were given the opportunity to register their domain name with a new European registrar (domain name provider).

UK registrars face the biggest problem. Their business is directly lost to the inability to provide customers with domain names. However, there’s a way out. British organizations with a branch in an EU member state retain the right to .eu domain names. By setting up a shell company in an EU member state, anyone can meet the requirements.

Timely

The holders of more than 80,000 .eu domain names received the initial warning from EURid. More than 30,000 domain names were saved in the meantime. Many of the remaining domains are hardly used. Ironically, ‘leave.eu’ was affected: a pro-Brexit website that, thanks to Brexit, is now inaccessible.