The .EU extension is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) representing the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Managed by the non-profit organization EURid, it is a highly secure and regulated extension designed to emphasize a brand’s European identity.
Below are the operational and technical guidelines needed to manage .EU domains within the mybox wiki, excluding platform-specific parameters.
Table of Contents
Eligibility and Local Presence
The .EU registry enforces strict eligibility criteria based on geographic and political location. To register or hold a .EU domain, the registrant must be:
- An undertaking (company or organization) having its registered office, central administration, or principal place of business within the EU, EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway).
- An organization established within the EU/EEA, without prejudice to the application of national law.
- A natural person (individual) who is a citizen of a European Union member state or EEA country, regardless of their place of residence (e.g., an Italian citizen living in the USA is eligible).
- A natural person who is not a citizen of the EU/EEA but who is a resident of a EU member state or EEA country.
- Post-Brexit Notice: UK citizens and UK-based companies are no longer eligible to hold .EU domains unless they meet one of the criteria listed above (such as dual citizenship or an EU branch office).
- The mybox Trustee Service: For international clients who do not naturally fulfill these European presence criteria, mybox offers a Trustee Service to act as the mandatory local representative, ensuring complete compliance with EURid regulations.
Domain Registration and Lifecycle
- Registration Periods: Domains can be registered for a fixed term ranging from 1 to 10 years.
- Instant Processing: Applications are validated and processed in real time.
- IDN Support: .EU fully supports Internationalized Domain Names, handling all official scripts used within the European Union (Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek).
Domain Renewal, Expiration, and Quarantine
The .EU lifecycle operates on an explicit “Quarantine” mechanism rather than traditional grace periods:
- Expiration Date: Unlike generic domains that stop working exactly on their expiration date but remain in a regular grace state, a .EU domain that is not renewed or is explicitly deleted enters Quarantine immediately.
- The Quarantine State (40 Days): Once in Quarantine, the domain is completely deactivated (website and emails stop functioning). It is held by the registry for exactly 40 days. During this window, the original owner can recover the domain by paying a specific registry restoration/reactivation fee alongside the standard renewal cost.
- Release: If the domain is not removed from Quarantine within 40 days, it is permanently released back to the public pool on a first-come, first-served basis.
Domain Transfer (Registrar Transfer)
Moving a .EU domain to mybox utilizes a secure token system generated directly by EURid or requested via our portal.
- The AuthCode: The authorization code for a .EU domain is a unique string generated directly from the registry. The client can request it through the mybox platform or log directly into the official EURid “my.eu” portal to retrieve it.
- Instant and Paid Transfer: Once the valid AuthCode is submitted, the transfer completes instantly. Under EURid rules, a transfer acts as a renewal. This means that when a domain is transferred, its expiration date is extended by exactly 1 year from the completion date of the transfer, and the operation is billed immediately.
- Transferring from Quarantine: It is entirely possible to transfer a domain that is currently in a Quarantine state. Doing so requires a specific “Transfer from Quarantine” command, which combines the transfer process with the registry-level restoration fee.
Domain Trade (Ownership Transfer)
Changing the legal owner of a .EU domain (from one entity or person to another) is a formal administrative process.
- The Trade Mechanism: A Trade cannot be achieved by simply overwriting the contact card text fields. It must be initiated as an official Trade request using a valid AuthCode.
- Billing Impact: Similar to a registrar transfer, a successful Trade resets the domain’s registration cycle, extending the expiration date by 1 year from the date the trade completes and triggering an assignment fee.
Technical Specifications
- Domain Name Length: Between 2 and 63 characters.
- DNS Configuration: The registry permits between 2 and 9 name servers. There are no pre-configuration runtime checks that block registration, but name servers must support DNSSEC protocols cleanly if you choose to activate secure signatures.
- Status Flags: A domain may display specific registry-applied status indicators in public directories, such as
serverHold(if the registry suspends the domain due to an eligibility dispute or invalid address check).