nmspc

Domain endings / .eu

A .eu renews itself unless your registrar deletes it.
A deleted .eu waits 40 days in quarantine, still yours to reactivate, then anyone can take it.

EURid has no grace period after expiry. At the end of the term it renews a .eu for another year, unless your registrar has asked for it to be deleted. Once deleted, the domain goes offline into 40 days of quarantine, during which you can still get it back.

When does a .eu domain expire?

A .eu has an end date, but EURid renews it for one year at a time unless your registrar asks for deletion first. So in practice it only goes when your registrar deletes it, and when that happens depends on your registrar's own terms.

EURid's public WHOIS doesn't show the date; it tells holders to ask their registrar.

Is there a grace period for .eu?

Not at the registry. There's no grace period after the expiry date, because EURid renews the domain at that point. What protects you is the 40-day quarantine after deletion.

What happens when a .eu domain expires?

Here is what follows once your registrar deletes a .eu.

Renewed by EURidAt the end of each term
EURid renews the domain for one year unless the registrar asked for deletion before the term ended.
Quarantine40 days
A deleted .eu stops working, website and email. You can have it reactivated through your registrar, or by moving it to another registrar who reactivates it. Reactivation costs a fee.
Released
After the 40 days anyone eligible can register it, first come, first served.

How long can you register a .eu domain for?

From 1 to 10 years. After that EURid renews it one year at a time.

How do I look up a .eu domain's expiry date?

Ask the registry's WHOIS server, whois.eu, or type the name in the box above and nmspc asks the same server for you. IANA's RDAP bootstrap file lists no RDAP server for .eu (checked 25 October 2026), so nmspc reads .eu from WHOIS, and switches to RDAP on its own if IANA adds one.

The record won't show an expiry date: the .eu registry doesn't publish one, so only your registrar knows it.

What else is different about .eu?

Only citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, residents there, and organisations established there can hold a .eu.

A name registered on 29 February always expires on 28 February.

A .eu that EURid itself revoked, for example for failing the eligibility rules, also goes into quarantine, but only EURid can reactivate it.

Who runs .eu?

EURid, a non-profit based in Belgium, runs .eu (and its Cyrillic and Greek versions). You register and renew a .eu through an accredited registrar.

How nmspc keeps track

Add a .eu domain and nmspc reads its renewal date from your registrar, when you connect it, then reminds you 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 day before it runs out, and before its certificate does. Free for every domain. Open nmspc

Sources

Checked against these pages on 25 October 2026. Registries change their rules now and then; the source wins if it disagrees.