You can blame Brexit for this one, to: If you’re a UK resident who’s had a .eu domain for years, you need to get a .eu proxy service from a reputable provider by December 31, 2020, or you’ll lose your domain.
Last year, we told you how important it was to register for a proxy service, and now that we’re closer to the deadline, things are even more urgent.
In this guide, we’ll tell you why UK residents can no longer have a .eu domain, how to use a proxy service to keep your domain, why you need to do this by December 31st, and how to find a good proxy service on such short notice. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Why can’t UK residents have a .eu domain?
On February 1, 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union, but all the effects weren’t immediately felt. (That’s why you’ve been able to use your .eu domain for so long, post-Brexit.) The EU gave the UK some time to get its affairs in order before the full consequences of Brexit come into effect.
According to Article 4 (2) (b) of Regulation (EC) No 733/2002, (feel free to let your eyes skip right over those numbers) you can register a .eu domain name only if you fall into one of these categories:
- You’re a citizen of the EU (even if you don’t actually live in the EU).
- You’re a resident of the EU (even if you’re not a citizen of an EU country).
- Your company is established in the EU.
As of January 1, 2021, at 00:00:00 CET, EURid will not allow any UK residents (who aren’t in one of the categories above) to register or renew a .eu domain. You also won’t be able to transfer your domain to a UK registrant.
So, if you don’t get a proxy service by December 31, 2020, your domain will be taken from you and made available for an EU citizen or resident to purchase.
Why you need a .EU proxy service
ICANN is the body responsible for registering domain names. It also keeps a record of the country of registration for each registrant. (This is how the EU can tell when a non-EU citizen or resident has a .eu domain name.) If you register a UK address with ICANN and you’re not an EU citizen or resident, you won’t be allowed to have a .eu domain.
But a Proxy Service can bypass the location restriction of registering a domain. So, if you’re not an EU citizen or resident, you’ll need a .eu proxy service if you want to keep your domain.
How the Proxy Service Works
Hosting.uk’s proxy service is a completely legal way to circumvent the location requirement of owning a .eu domain. Here’s how it works:
- We’ll acquire and register your .eu domain name, using one of our EU proxy addresses.
- We’ll then enter into an agreement with you to license the .eu domain name for your business activities within the EU.
And that’s it!
You’ll be allowed to use the domain name, because the domain won’t be registered by you with your UK address. Instead, it will be registered by us using our EU address and simply licensed to you. On paper, we will “own” your domain, but don’t worry: You will retain the rights to your name. We value our clients and our reputation and would never try to steal your domain.
This is actually why we keep saying how important it is to choose a reputable .eu proxy service. You need a service you can trust not to steal your domain from you, under the guise of helping you comply with EU law.
About Hosting.uk
Hosting.uk (That’s us!) is a web hosting company based in the UK, but we also have addresses in the European Union. For years, we’ve been providing trusted web hosting services to our clients. We offer services like shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, WordPress hosting, site migration, backup solutions, VPN and of course, a .eu proxy service.
You can check out our reviews on our site and on Trustspot to see why our clients trust our brand.
FAQs about our .eu proxy service
1. What else can I do with a .eu proxy service?
You can use a .eu address to do lots of things. First (and most importantly) you can use it to register a .eu domain even if you’re not an EU resident or citizen. Second, you can use it to access EU content without restrictions. You can also use it to avoid location-based blocks on your network.
2. Could Hosting.UK accidentally confuse my domain for one of theirs?
There’s no chance that we’ll somehow confuse your domain with one of ours: We’ll keep your domain in a separate account that contains only the .eu domains we’re holding on behalf of our clients.
3. Can Hosting.UK use my domain to create their own content?
No. In the agreement we’ll enter into with you, we promise that we will never create content on your website nor use your website for our own purposes. You’ll still be the only person allowed to use and create content on your website (unless you grant access to someone else). We’ll own your website’s domain only on paper and only to bypass the EU’s restrictions.
How to get our .EU proxy service
To register an EU domain using our proxy service, you need to follow only two steps:
- Click here to contact our Proxy service support agents to place your order.
- Contact us and explain that you’d like to apply for proxy registration.
That’s it!
Once you’ve done that, we’ll register your new .eu domain (or transfer an existing one) for £5.99 GBP per year plus an additional one-time fee of £5 GBP for proxy registration.
Remember: The domain will be registered with our EU-based contact details and street address, but you will have complete control over the DNS records.
The Takeaway: Get a .eu proxy service now.
We don’t mean to alarm you here, but this really is time sensitive. You will lose your domain if you don’t get a .eu proxy service by December 31, 2020. (Take a moment to look at your calendar, so you can gasp at how soon that is.)
So, don’t wait. It’s easy and so inexpensive. You can literally do this for £11 in less than two minutes. Get our .eu proxy service now, so you can keep your .EU domain next year.
