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195th Executive Board Meeting Minutes

14-15 September 2026, Amsterdam

Author: Fergal Cunningham
Publication date: 29 September 2026
Status: Draft

Attendees:

  • Randy Bush (RB), Member
  • Ondřej Filip (OF), Chair
  • Maria Häll (MH), Member
  • Raymond Jetten (RJ), Treasurer
  • Lars-Johan Liman (LJL), Member
  • Sander Steffann (SS), Member
  • Piotr Strzyżewski (PS), Secretary

  • Mirjam Kühne (MK), RIPE Chair

  • Daniella Coutinho (DC), Executive Assistant, RIPE NCC
  • Fergal Cunningham (FC), Head of Membership Engagement, RIPE NCC (topics 3-15)
  • Athina Fragkouli (AF), Chief Legal Officer, RIPE NCC
  • Simon-Jan Haytink (SJH), Chief Finance Officer, RIPE NCC (topics 3-15)
  • Hans Petter Holen (HPH), Managing Director, RIPE NCC
  • Hisham Ibrahim (HI), Chief Community Officer, RIPE NCC (topics 3, 7)
  • Eleonora Petridou (EP), Chief Information Security Officer, RIPE NCC (topics 3-5)
  • Carolien Vos (CV), Chief Human Resources Director, RIPE NCC (topics 3, 8, 10, 11)
  • Gabor de Wit (GW), Chief Registry Officer, RIPE NCC (topics 3, 9, 10, 13)
  • Sjoerd Wolthers (SW), Chief Technology Officer, RIPE NCC (topic 3)

Day 1: 14 September 2026

1. Welcome and Agenda

Ondřej Filip, RIPE NCC Executive Board Chair, opened the meeting at 13:00 UTC+2 and welcomed attendees.

1.1 Apologies, New agenda points

There were no apologies, and no new agenda points were proposed. Board members asked to add two items to the topic AOB.

1.2 BOV Meeting

The Board discussed the consultation meeting (bijzondere overlegvergadering, BOV), that took place ahead of the Executive Board meeting, with RIPE NCC Managing Director Hans Petter Holen and the Works Council (Ondernemingsraad, OR) as laid out in the Works Councils Act, article 24. The RIPE NCC Works Council provided a statement describing general staff sentiment on a number of matters relating to staff wellbeing to the Board, and an overview of the work it had been doing. They also conveyed reflections of RIPE NCC employees with regard to the Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2027, the future of the office and the plans regarding the IT infrastructure project with the Board. The Board shared their appreciation for the meeting and noted they care about the wellbeing of staff.

1.3 Approval of Minutes

The minutes of meeting EB#194 were approved by the Board.

Resolution EB#195-R-01
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the minutes of EB#194.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

1.4 Conflict of Interest

No conflicts of interest were noted. Board member Maria Häll shared that she has a new affiliation, the Service Administration of Region Stockholm, due to the change in her employment.

1.5 Dates of Next Meetings

The Board discussed the dates of upcoming meetings and agreed on the meeting dates for 2027.

1.6 Conference Calendar

There was a discussion on the dates and locations of various meetings and conferences organised by the RIPE NCC and other parties

2. Report from the Managing Director

Hans Petter Holen, Managing Director, RIPE NCC, gave a report on the RIPE NCC’s progress on objectives and key results in important areas since the last Board meeting. The areas covered in the report are: Registry, Technology, External Engagement and Community, Legal, HR, and Security and Compliance.

Athina Fragkouli, RIPE NCC Chief Legal Officer, informed the Board on legal requests and engagements with the Dutch Authorities.

3. Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2027

Hans Petter introduced the discussions around the Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2027, explaining that first there would be a discussion on the IT infrastructure project which required significant investment, before covering the other parts of the organisation. He said the goal for Day 1 was to discuss the various proposals, and the Board could consider this before deciding whether to approve the Draft Activity Plan and Budget for publication on Day 2 of the Board meeting.

3.1 IT Infrastructure Improvements

Sjoerd Wolthers, RIPE NCC Chief Technology Officer, gave a presentation on rebuilding the IT infrastructure, focusing on financing and decisions that still needed to be made. He said he wanted to get Board guidance on architectural choices, the proposed data centre footprint, budget decisions, the approval process, and engagement with members and community.

He ran through infrastructure architecture vendor and solution selection; proposed sizing and requirements; estimates of costs based on medium-sized and full-sized proposals; a breakdown of categories of costs per data centre per year; possibilities to reduce costs in some areas; and updates to planning based on feedback received from the Board so far.

There were clarifying questions from Board members on the financing options available and the operational risks involved. Hans Petter said this was a significant investment that would be covered during discussions on the budget for 2027 and the coming five years. He also explained that the new infrastructure would be built in parallel and services would be moved one by one to reduce risk.

Sjoerd asked if the Board supported the architectural choices outlined. There was a suggestion to invest slowly and build up gradually. There was also a request to see the split of storage per service to understand costs better, and Sjoerd said he would provide the Board with this information. A general overview was requested of which services were using infrastructure the most.

There was a question about the fundamental purpose of the project and what success would look like once the project is completed. Hans Petter said that a cloud-based strategy was pursued from 2019 which was no longer appropriate in the current geopolitical environment, and this meant that investment in our own infrastructure was now needed, including to bring the current infrastructure up to a high standard following underinvestment in previous years. He and Sjoerd explained that the main goals of the project were to create more independent data centres to improve resilience; spread the geographical footprint and increase independence from vendors; strengthen security, threat intelligence and actionability while applying zero trust; standardise the architecture and decommission legacy systems to improve maintainability; and increase automation and self-service to support the modernisation of how we work.

It was commented that this needed to be made clear to members, and it was suggested that relevant information on the need for this project and relevant technical information be provided in the Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2027 to be published for members ahead of the General Meeting.

Sjoerd said that focusing on our own infrastructure would help us to retain critical infrastructure knowledge within the RIPE NCC and give engineers greater ownership of the systems our services depend on. He said it should also give us more control over operating costs, including opportunities to reduce recurring cloud expenditure where alternative infrastructure was more efficient.

There followed a general discussion on the proposed architecture and the budgetary issues around the IT infrastructure project.

3.2 Activity Plan and Budget Technology

Sjoerd then presented an overview of the Technology area and proposals for that area in the Draft Activity Plan and Budget. He explained the IT costs and where personnel would need to be hired and consultants engaged in order to realise potential and fulfill the requirements of the IT infrastructure project.

Hans Petter noted that there were significant increases in personnel, licenses and support in the Technology area when compared with the rest of the Activity Plan and Budget, although this makes sense when considering the IT infrastructure project.

There was a comment that the overall plan made sense, although engagement with members around the need for increases here was very important. There followed a discussion on the roles that needed to be hired and how difficult that might prove to be given the state of the current job market. Sjoerd said that the most challenging role to hire for was the architect role, and he did not foresee issues with hiring for the other roles.

3.3 Activity Plan and Budget External Engagement and Community

Hisham Ibrahim, RIPE NCC Chief Community Officer, gave the Activity Plan and Budget overview for External Engagement and Community. He explained that most of the costs were in personnel while the rest were in RIPE Meetings and other external engagements. He said that this area has operated at the same budget for the previous two years despite inflation, and he asked the Board if they wanted to make further cuts given the need to engage externally with many stakeholders. He explained the trade-offs that would be necessary if the Board wanted to make further cuts in this area.

Hans Petter noted that making cuts in this area had less visible effects than if they were carried out elsewhere, although they can have a big impact on our ability to interact effectively with the community, members and other stakeholders such as governments.

Hisham also noted that cuts would mean an inability to rehire in the Research area, which forms the basis for much of our engagement with key stakeholders. He also noted the less tangible but no less real impact they would have on building trust, encouraging community participation, and achieving buy-in generally for the registry system among key stakeholders.

There was a comment from the Board that the cuts proposed in this area were relatively small but indeed had the potential to negatively affect the excellent work that has been done to support the community, especially through the events organised to bring the community together.

There followed a discussion about the costs in this area and where further income might be generated, including through meeting fees and sponsorship. The consensus was that the External Engagement and Community budget should not be cut and should maintain the same budget as for the previous two years.

3.4 Activity Plan and Budget Registry

Gabor de Wit, RIPE NCC Chief Registry Officer, gave the Activity Plan and Budget overview for the Registry. He said his proposal involved a flat budget and focus on automation with a longer-term plan to optimise on personnel costs once a sufficient level of automation was in place. He said, for the coming year, reducing costs on consulting and temporary resources will support keeping the budget flat.

There was a question from the Board on how progress with automation is going, and Gabor said that there will be an update on progress with automated ARCs at RIPE 93, new tooling will reduce the need for manual checks in documents, and more automation in the areas of transfers, sanctions filtering and sponsoring LIR requests was being worked on. He said there has also been work carried out to establish a more structured approach to automation efforts.

There was support given for the approach taken in the Registry and the proposed budget.

3.5 Office Improvements

Carolien Vos, RIPE NCC Chief Human Resources Officer, gave a presentation on the proposed office improvements, giving an overview of how the project has progressed and noting that work on the project is paused temporarily pending approval of a budget for the project.

There was a comment that the main issue with the office investment was that the IT infrastructure project also needed funding, so managing both at the same time needed to be carefully done.

Hans Petter said that the office investment budget presented was for EUR 1.5M in capital expenditure (CAPEX), although he would have liked to have proposed more in order to adequately address the issues from the workplace analysis carried out last year.

There was a comment that the investment in the office and the resulting depreciation (depreciation over the duration of the lease) in the Profit & Loss Statement was relatively small compared to the IT infrastructure investment (5-year depreciation). There was also a comment that not investing in the office is not an option, as the office has deteriorated over time. The office should adhere to safety regulations and ensure staff can carry out their work in a fully functioning office.

There followed a general discussion about the work that would be possible with different budgets.

Hans Petter concluded that EUR 1.5M would be the minimum investment required, but EUR 2-2.5M seemed like it would provide the best outcome.

3.6 Activity Plan and Budget Organisational Sustainability

Hans Petter gave the Activity Plan and Budget overview for Organisational Sustainability. He said the overall budget would remain flat, although any increase in the office investment could further increase 2027 depreciation. The Facilities area had seen increased office cost, due to a rent discount coming to an end. He noted that changes in our external legal advisor, where we get better quality at a lower price, mean that the legal budget can be lowered, while the Information Security budget has also been lowered, taking out unused reserves that will not be used in 2027. He said the 10-year commitment to the IETF endowment has come to an end, and we will remain a platinum member of the Internet Society to support the IETF.

He concluded that overall, the proposed RIPE NCC budget is expected to increase by 7% in 2027. No activities would be stopped. The pay policy will stay the same, with a 3% budget increase for salary increases and promotions.

3.7 Budget 2027

Simon-Jan Haytink, RIPE NCC Chief Financial Officer, gave an overview of the draft budget 2027. He walked the Board through the proposed numbers. He said the total personnel cost would increase by 6%, explained by a total of 210.2 FTE in the 2027 budget compared to a forecasted 2026 FTE count of 196.6, providing approximately 14 FTE of space to grow. He said the biggest increases in budget are in Information Technology and Depreciation, explained by the IT infrastructure project. He said the budgeted surplus/deficit would be a negative EUR 3M, which would be the expected amount the GM would vote on for redistribution. He added that if the deficit would be deducted from the reserves, the budgeted financial result of 800 kEUR would partially compensate for this.

He said that the activity budget overview showed the Registry as nearly flat, IT up EUR 3M, External Engagement down 365 kEUR, Organisation Sustainability as neutral, and depreciation and bad debt up EUR 1.7M.

There were questions about the FTE increase, with Simon-Jan saying that this increase is eight FTEs compared to the 2026 budget.

Simon-Jan said in the budget he accounted for 3% staff increases and promotions and an inflation of 1.5% for non-personnel OPEX. There were comments that 1.5% inflation was very optimistic.

Simon-Jan said that, to accommodate the investments needed, there would be a significant cash out at the start of the projects (EUR 8 to 10M), and that if we continue like we do currently, we would reduce the reserves by EUR 8 to 10M. Hans Petter added that this meant we would basically switch from having cash in the bank to owning machines, meaning a limited effect on our balance sheet.

It was noted that if the reserves fall below 60% of the operational expenses, then the Board needed to make a plan to increase them, as explained in the document “Goals of the RIPE NCC Clearing House Reserve”.

There followed a discussion about cash flow, the reserves, and the accounting methods being applied with regard to the reserves. Specifically discussed was the availability of cash as part of the reserves over time.

Simon-Jan then explained several scenarios that could be used, including paying for the investments solely with the reserves (meaning a yearly deficit to cover the extra depreciation and other OPEX), covering the increased costs with cost reductions (OPEX neutral), increasing the income (LIR account fee increases, for example), or a combination of any of these three.

There followed several questions and comments about the OPEX levels, and whether it was possible to reduce these without impacting services to finance the investments. There were comments that investment in infrastructure was not a one-off situation and that there would need to be replacement of end-of-life equipment eventually, and the reserves could not be used indefinitely for this purpose, making a fee increase necessary.

There were some doubts expressed about the ability to decrease OPEX over five years, especially with inflation and costs for travel and more. Simon-Jan said making efforts to reduce costs was important at all times, but in a time when high investments were needed for specific projects, it is even more important.

There was a discussion about the member fee increase in the scenarios presented. It was asked whether a reservation in 2026 could be made for investment in the following years. Simon-Jan said there are possibilities for this, although it requires a GM vote and the operational surplus is subject to corporate tax.

There was a discussion on how to build the reserves so investment can be made after the current proposed infrastructure project, and it was pointed out that there are several unknowns such as the costs of implementing the outcome of the RIR Governance Document and dealing with geopolitical impacts.

Hans Petter summarised the discussion and asked the Board to consider everything, saying they would need to make a decision on whether to approve the publication of the Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2027 on Day 2 of the meeting. Hans Petter also asked Simon-Jan to create a new scenario based on the discussion that had taken place.

3.8 Budget 2027-2031

Simon-Jan noted that the previous agenda point also covered the outlook for the next five years.

Day 2: 15 September 2026

4. Enterprise Risk Update

Eleonora Petridou, RIPE NCC Chief Information Security Officer, gave a presentation on the new enterprise risk register, which is an organisation-wide view of the risks that matter most for the RIPE NCC. She said these risks were formulated through a holistic top-down analysis rather than through the bottom-up risk register presented in the past. She then dived into the enterprise risks that were identified, focusing on the high-impact risks. She then asked the Board if they had opinions on the risks identified.

There were comments that the list looked very good, and appreciation was expressed for the work that had gone into creating the list of risks.

Eleonora also covered the efforts that had been taken to manage risks at the organisational level before detailing the treatments taking place at the operational level.

There was a comment on how some of the mitigations were dependent on maintaining correct budget levels. Hans Petter agreed but said we need to look at how we are spending our money to get good outcomes.

There was another comment that engagement needs to happen with governments and regulators on a more regular basis. Hans Petter outlined some of the ways in which these efforts were being ramped up and where further attention might be needed.

Eleonora concluded by explaining the next steps and how updates to the register would be reported.

There were comments on the risks that most concerned the Board, and Hans Petter outlined the treatment plans that were in place for these.

5. Finance

5.1 Financial Status August 2026

Simon-Jan gave an overview of the financial situation in August 2026. He gave an overview of the year so far; the balance sheet in August; income details; an overview of the LIR accounts and members; payment behaviour; the status of individual payment extensions; membership fees at risk; expenditure overview; budget variance; budget versus actuals; a treasury update; the surplus/deficit situation; implementation status for the charging scheme in 2027; capital and liquidity status; and a forecast for 2026. He then gave an overview of the status with financial objectives and key results for 2026.

Simon-Jan answered some questions on what had been done to investigate the ability to collect fees from ultra-high-risk countries. There was a general discussion about the trends we are seeing with these countries and our inability to collect income from them, with Simon-Jan saying he did not see a solution in the short term due to the increased sanctions against Iran.

There was a discussion about the increase in consultancy costs and whether it was possible to convert some to FTEs.

5.2 Vote on Redistributions

Simon-Jan explained that the resolution on the redistribution was changed this year so that approval means that a surplus would be added to the reserves. It was asked whether this would confuse the members when they are voting, and Simon-Jan noted that this would be made very clear in communication to members.

It was clarified that a potential deficit would be covered by the members in 2027 if they voted to approve the resolution at the General Meeting. Simon-Jan said, however, that he did not at this moment foresee a deficit at the end of the year.

6. RIPE Community

6.1 RIPE Chair Report

Mirjam Kühne, RIPE Chair, gave her report on developments in the RIPE community.

She started by giving an update on the RIPE 93 preparations, saying that everything was going well. She said the plenary programme would be finalised soon and the working group agendas were being prepared. She complimented the RIPE NCC working group liaisons, who were assigned to liaise with the working group chairs on RIPE NCC submissions. She also noted that the RIPE NCC Services Working Group might be slightly extended to safely accommodate the agenda and ensure there was time for good discussion on the topics brought there.

Mirjam said there would be an update on the RIR Governance Document in the Community Plenary at RIPE 93, and she highlighted that there was an Open House scheduled to discuss it with the community on 22 September.

She then noted that there was a draft updated version of the RIPE Code of Conduct Team: Appointment and Responsibilities document under discussion. She said this draft version reviewed terms and term limits. She added that an Open House was scheduled to promote the RIPE Code of Conduct with the Network Operator Groups (NOGs).

Mirjam then gave an update on current policy proposals. She said with proposal 2026-01: Simplify Assignment of first ASN, the proposers agreed to move to the Review Phase and the RIPE NCC is working on the Impact Analysis. She said with proposal 2024-01: Revised IPv6 PI Assignment Policy, this has also moved to the Review Phase, although concerns had been noted about the complexity involved and there were suggestions to split this into multiple proposals. She then said that there was a potential policy proposal submitted by the RIPE NCC to clarify IPv6 Assignment and Allocation Policy (ripe-738), and most people so far (including the RIPE Chair Team) have supported this incremental approach. She noted that this would be the first proposal submitted by RIPE NCC staff.

Mirjam then highlighted the IETF TIPTOP Working Group session at IETF 126. She said there was pushback from RIR community members on what was seen as an attempt to make address policy in the IETF. She also noted the related RIPE Labs article by Remco van Mook, which has a proposal to set up a new IETF Working Group to define address space requirements for outer space.

Mirjam then talked about RIPE Meeting longer-term planning, saying contracts had been signed for 2027, and dates were fixed for the coming five years. She said it was good to see hosts stepping forward for several meetings, and she was looking at other venues with the RIPE NCC to see where costs could be saved.

Hisham added that the new RIPE Document describing the RIPE NCC's sponsorship guidelines (ripe-866) presented in a previous board meeting has now been published.

He then talked about the planning for upcoming RIPE Meetings, saying plans were in place up to RIPE 100.

There was a question on whether the Board should publicly explain the statement in the RIPE NCC Impact Analysis for RIPE Policy Proposal 2024-01 (Revised IPv6 Assignment Policy), where it said the Board supported the RIPE NCC analysis. The Board said no comment beyond that was necessary - its support for the analysis provided by the RIPE NCC still stood, and the Board had no position to make beyond that.

A Board member also said they had experienced events in other communities in recent months, and it gave them a newfound appreciation for the great job done by the RIPE NCC Events Team to organise RIPE community events, and the Board added their support for this message and thanked the Events Team for their work.

6.2 Working Group Chair Funding

Mirjam explained that there is a procedure in place to provide funding in certain cases for working group chairs to attend RIPE Meetings in cases where this was necessary. In 2023, the Board resolved to extend this financial support until the end of 2026. Mirjam said that although this procedure was rarely used, it was important to show support for working group chairs in the RIPE community and ensure the chairs were able to carry out their roles without concern. She recommended formalising the procedure and making it permanent. In the case that requests would increase significantly, the Board would be informed so they could re-evaluate the decision.

The Board said it was in favour of this step.

Resolution EB#195-R-02
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves that the RIPE NCC will fund physical participation of Working Group Chairs at RIPE Meetings in accordance with the process described in the document RIPE Working Group Chair Financial Support as amended from time to time. The RIPE NCC Executive Board reserves the right to re-evaluate and, if appropriate, amend or revoke this resolution in the future.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

7. HR Update

Carolien gave an update on the new Dutch pension legislation (Future Pensions Act) that would affect the RIPE NCC. She explained the legal changes, including that pensions would be flat-rate contributions rather than being age-dependent, and what the impact would be. She said changes needed to be in place by 1 January 2028. She said this was relevant for the Board because there were costs and legal contracts involved, and it brings new risks as there will be differences between existing employees and new hires.

She said the new legislation increases the costs for the RIPE NCC due to increased contributions for younger employees, and costs could be further increased if it is decided to move all employees to the new scheme, as then they would need to be compensated.

There were a number of clarifying questions that Carolien answered, and Hans Petter said that this legislation added more risk to the employees. She said 95% of companies chose to have two arrangements for existing and new employees to avoid compensation costs, although this came with a number of downsides, including having to manage two different pension arrangements.

Carolien said the Board would need to be aware of the overall financial impact, assess the compensation proposal and funding, understand the cash flow and budget impacts, and sign off on the final agreement. She then presented a timeline for implementation of the new legislation requirements.

A Board member said they favoured doing what 95% of companies in the market were doing, and there was general support for this.

There was a question about what the Works Council opinion was, and Carolien said there was no formal input from the Works Council although they were being kept abreast of the situation.

There was a request that a further progress update be provided to the Board at a meeting prior to when the Board would need to sign any agreements.

8. Multiple LIRs / Waiting List

Gabor de Wit, RIPE NCC Chief Registry Officer, presented a proposal, according to which the RIPE NCC would halt the ability to create multiple LIR accounts.

Gabor said 2% of members had multiple LIR accounts while it caused a lot of administrative issues and overhead for the RIPE NCC at a time when we needed to be very cost conscious. He added that the number of accounts is falling and there is less demand for this facility.

Gabor presented relevant data points for the Board to help with understanding the issue and assessing the potential impact of halting the ability to create new additional accounts.

Gabor proposed freezing the ability to create new accounts right now pending a discussion at the RIPE Meeting.

There was a discussion about the history of the multiple LIR situation, which it was said began due the acquisition and mergers of existing members. Later, the ability to open new (additional) LIR accounts provided a loophole that allowed existing members to get additional allocations of IPv4 address space (the IPv4 policy allowed allocations from the last /8 only to new LIRs). Hans Petter said there would need to be a policy discussion to determine whether existing members could receive additional IPv4 allocations via the Waiting List.

Athina gave a legal overview of how the situation developed. She said the current situation creates a lot of misunderstandings as the RIPE NCC is the only RIR to have the situation.

Hans Petter said aligning policy relating to the Waiting List with RIPE NCC procedures would, if the community agreed, mean that members could continue to receive allocations in the way they currently do. He said the community could also decide that the intent was that members would only receive one allocation from the Waiting List, and confirming this in policy could also be an outcome.

There were general comments that, in any case, multiple LIRs should be phased out. There were a number of suggestions about the most appropriate forum for this discussion (General Meeting or the Address Policy Working Group). It was agreed that the ability to create new additional LIR accounts should be restricted until the outcome of related policy discussions was clear.

It was agreed that there should be a communication with members in any case after the Board meeting, and the relevant resolution in these minutes would need to be explained and discussed in the Update from the Executive Board at the General Meeting.

Resolution EB#195-R-03
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves:

To temporarily restrict the ability of RIPE NCC members to acquire additional LIR accounts, including the acquisition of additional LIR accounts due to changes in two RIPE NCC members' business structures (e.g., merger or acquisition between two organisations that are RIPE NCC members);

To temporarily suspend existing, ongoing or pending requests of RIPE NCC members to open additional LIR accounts.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board may revisit their decision on this matter at any time.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

9. Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2027 Approval

Hans Petter said that Simon-Jan updated the scenarios, including infrastructure investments for two data centres, based on the previous day’s discussions.

Hans Petter noted that there was a EUR 3M OPEX increase in Technology, and if he needed to cut anywhere, then that was the place he would look at.

Hans Petter said decisions were needed quickly regarding load balancers. He said the Board needed to decide the budget to present to the members, and there needs to be an indication of the CAPEX required.

Hans Petter proposed two ways forward. Either present a budget based on the latest estimates or go back to the estimate presented at the last RIPE Meeting, with the risk of having to come back with an increase later. He prefers using the latest estimates, getting feedback at the RIPE Meeting and continuing to work to reduce the total.

Hans Petter said we underinvested by at least half a million euros per year for five years. He said we need to explain that this needs to be addressed along with the new IT infrastructure project. He said the office and the IT Infrastructure would bring us to a total of EUR 10M in investment.

There was another comment that members clearly wanted us to move away from cloud to on-premises investment. It was further suggested that investing in our own infrastructure is better than giving money to another company.

Another comment was made that the argument of increased security of preferring European over American service providers was important, as this is what the cost is partially about and it is a risk that is worsening steadily.

There followed a discussion on the unknowns regarding the IT infrastructure project that still existed and how these might be addressed. It was said that this was very important so that members could understand the need for such high levels of investment. Hans Petter said that we are changing strategy in a time of economic disruption, which was the main reason for the need for these high levels of investment. He said if the issue was just about availability of services, then one data centre would be enough, but given the need for resilience in extreme cases, such as fire, there needed to be at least two. For natural disasters or war, the distance between the data centres needs to be significant, and even in different countries.

A discussion followed on provisioning for services and what is needed for various things such as measurement services.

Hans Petter said, in summary, that overall the income would stay the same and OPEX would fall by half a million euros, so the main questions revolved around the investments.

It was said that there is a valid story concerning the need for investment in infrastructure, and the office investment depreciation per year is relatively small, so it could be approved.

There was a further comment that cuts to external engagement were not wise at the current time, and a preference was given to the scenario in which the budget remained the same.

It was said that before approving the Draft Activity Plan and Budget, the Board would need to see the complete picture and consider this meeting’s discussions. The Board requested that questions around the reserves, the capacity involved in the IT infrastructure project, the agreement with the tax authorities, and development of some scenarios should be prepared in advance of a remote meeting. The Board Chair noted that they would like to see a maximum of EUR 10M CAPEX, and Hans Petter responded that he would incorporate that in the draft budget.

It was agreed to schedule a follow-up meeting on 23 September to allow approval of the publication of the Draft Activity Plan and Budget ahead of the 30 September deadline.

10. Governance Structure

10.1 Approval of Articles of Association for Publication to the GM

Athina gave an overview of the proposed amendments to the Articles of Association for the new Board structure. This proposal concludes the ongoing discussion over the last year on the Governance Structure. She said that, under the proposal, the current RIPE NCC Executive Board would become the RIPE NCC Board. The seven Board members elected by the membership would continue to serve as non-executive Board members, while the RIPE NCC CEO would become an executive member of the same Board. She said this is primarily a matter of making our legal structure accurately reflect the roles that the Board and the CEO already perform, without changing the fundamental balance of governance at the RIPE NCC.

Athina replied to questions raised by the Board.

There was a discussion about the alignment of the minimum number of non-executive board members who have the authority to represent the organisation externally, with the minimum number of non-executive board members in the Board.

Athina said some minor amendments would be needed before publication to address the points raised. The Board agreed to this and supported the publication of the amended Articles of Association with these proposed amendments.

Resolution EB#195-R-04
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the amendments to the “RIPE NCC Articles of Association” and instructs the preparation of a relevant resolution for the adoption of the proposed amendments by the next General Meeting.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

11. Corporate Governance

11.1 RIPE NCC Arbiter Panel Election

Athina explained there were eight volunteers for six available positions on the Arbiters Panel, so an election would need to take place at the General Meeting to determine the six new Arbiter Panel members. She added that information was collected from the volunteers that would be published for the membership ahead of the General Meeting, which would support their voting decision.

Resolution EB#195-R-05
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves to nominate the following people to the Arbiters Panel according to Section B.2.2 of the RIPE NCC Conflict Arbitration Procedure and directs the RIPE NCC to put them forward for election at the upcoming General Meeting.

  • Giuseppe Pitzus
  • Victor Bolaños Guerra
  • Matyas Koszik
  • Benjamin Nivois
  • Klaus Landefeld
  • Kurt Jaeger
  • Ralph Karseboom
  • Jean-Paul M. Chia

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

11.2 Plan General Meeting October 2026

Fergal Cunningham, RIPE NCC Head of Membership Engagement, presented the Draft RIPE NCC General Meeting Agenda.

The Board agreed with the proposed draft agenda and requested that it be published as soon as possible for members to review.

Resolution EB#195-R-06

The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the publication of the draft agenda for the RIPE NCC General Meeting in October 2026.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

11.3 Proposed Agenda RIPE NCC Services Working Group

Fergal then presented proposals for the RIPE NCC submission for the RIPE NCC Services Working Group at RIPE 93. He said that this was being brought to the Board’s attention because this working group contained part of the reporting requirement of the RIPE NCC General Meeting, even though the working group chairs ultimately decided on the agenda. Fergal also noted that, given the importance of the topics and the requests from several parties to ensure that there be adequate time to discuss the topics brought forward, the Board should give its input on the submission.

Fergal said the advice from the RIPE NCC was to submit two topics for discussion at the working group - the Draft Activity Plan and Budget 2027 and the IT infrastructure project. He said, given the importance of the two topics and the probable need for adequate discussion around them, this was the approach most likely to ensure that good discussions and input were had on these key topics.

Mirjam noted that the proposal also involved extending the working group session by 15 minutes to ensure enough time for discussions, and the RIPE Chair Team supported this.

The Board agreed with the approach and Fergal said he would contact the working group co-chairs to formally make the submission.

11.4 Amendments Terms and Conditions Certified Professionals

Athina explained that the proposed amendments largely refer to the decommissioning of “RIPE NCC Certified Professionals Service” branding and replacing it with “RIPE NCC Academy Certification Exams Service” under the overarching RIPE NCC Academy brand. She said the amendments also corrected some outdated references included in the Terms and Conditions.

The Board approved the amendments.

Resolution EB#195-R-07
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed amendments to the “RIPE NCC Certified Professionals Service Terms and Conditions”.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

11.5 Updates to Privacy Statements

Athina explained that the Privacy Statement was amended by including Section 2.5 to add transparency on how the RIPE NCC determines which retention periods are applicable.

The Board approved the amendments.

Resolution EB#195-R-08
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed amendments to the document “RIPE NCC Privacy Statement”.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

12. Resilience of the Joint Internet Number Registry

12.1 NRO NC Appointment

Hans Petter said there was a call for candidates for the NRO NC and the deadline to be nominated is 30 September. He said by 15 October there would be publication of the nominees, and between 15 and 30 October, the Board would need to make its selection.

12.2 Updates to “Criteria for Establishment of New Regional Internet Registries” (ICP-2)

Athina gave an update on the development of the RIR Governance Document.

She said the document was being discussed with ICANN. She said an Open House was being scheduled to discuss the document with the community, and there would be further discussions at RIPE 93.

The Board thanked Athina and other involved staff for their work on this project and noted that it supports the approach being taken to complete this process.

12.3 Data Escrow Update

Gabor gave a presentation on RIPE NCC Escrow, which could be seen as a business continuity plan or preparatory work for RIR Governance Document implementation, and he looked at how requirements for both might align. He gave indicative timelines to put this initiative into practice, including progress in finding an escrow vendor. He said that, as it stands, the RIRs would have three years to implement an emergency operator status from implementation of the RIR Governance Document. He outlined the principles that would apply to escrow for RIPE NCC data and services. He said these would align with RIR Governance Document requirements.

There was a general discussion on escrow possibilities and there were questions about how the other RIRs were dealing with the emergency operator issue. Hans Petter said that the NRO EC appreciated that the RIPE NCC was making progress in this area and that discussions on this topic among them would continue.

Hans Petter said that, at this stage, this is all informational and we would keep the Board updated as the project developed.

12.4 AFRINIC

Hans Petter noted a new CEO was appointed for AFRINIC, which is a positive development. He said an AFRINIC policy meeting is planned for 18 November in Cape Town.

13. Rob Blokzijl Foundation

The Board received a letter from Falk von Bornstaedt saying that he would step down from the Board of the Rob Blokzijl Foundation. Falk was designated by the RIPE NCC Executive Board in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Rob Blokzijl Foundation Articles of Association. It was suggested that Falk should send his resignation to the Board of the Foundation, while the RIPE NCC Executive Board would need to designate someone else to the Foundation position.

There was a discussion on whether the Board should designate someone from the RIPE NCC Board or someone else, and there were pros and cons identified for this.

It was pointed out that Article 5.2 of the Foundation AoA allows the RIPE NCC to designate more than one person as board members of the Foundation.

It was decided, since it was determined that two people could be designated at this time (the maximum number of Board members allowed is five and the current Board members excluding Falk are three), that Lars-Johan Liman, RIPE NCC Executive Board member, and Franziska Lichtblau, community participant recommended by Falk, would be designated by the RIPE NCC Executive Board as Board members of the Foundation.

The Board noted its appreciation for the time and effort that Falk put into the Rob Blokzijl Foundation since he was appointed to its Board.

Resolution EB#195-R-09
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves to designate Lars-Johan Liman and Franziska Lichtblau as Board members of the Rob Blokzijl Foundation.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board adopted the resolution by majority, with one Board member abstaining due to a conflict of interest.

14. AOB

There were three items brought for AOB at the end of Day 2.

A Board member noted the email to the DNS Working Group about an Italian ISP being designated a terrorist group by the US and their .org designation being removed. There was a general discussion about this, and questions were asked about potential risks for other parties, including the RIPE NCC. Hans Petter said there is a lot to consider with this, as it could have a big impact. He said contingency plans should be put in place. It was agreed to accept the risk for now and check whether there were any safeguards that could be put in place.

It was noted that a 2026 NRO NC Report from the Chair of the NRO NC was sent to the Board by Hervé Clement. The Board noted its appreciation to Hervé for the report and to the NRO NC more generally for the work it carries out.

Finally, a Board member who attended the recent APNIC Meeting gave a report on the meeting and on his interactions with members of the APNIC Board and two ARIN Board members.

Ondřej closed the meeting at 16:16 UTC+2.

Resolutions

Resolution EB#195-R-01
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the minutes of EB#194.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-02
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves that the RIPE NCC will fund physical participation of Working Group Chairs at RIPE Meetings in accordance with the process described in the document RIPE Working Group Chair Financial Support as amended from time to time. The RIPE NCC Executive Board reserves the right to re-evaluate and, if appropriate, amend or revoke this resolution in the future.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-03
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves:

To temporarily restrict the ability of RIPE NCC members to acquire additional LIR accounts, including the acquisition of additional LIR accounts due to changes in two RIPE NCC members' business structures (e.g., merger or acquisition between two organisations that are RIPE NCC members);

To temporarily suspend existing, ongoing or pending requests of RIPE NCC members to open additional LIR accounts;

The RIPE NCC Executive Board may revisit their decision on this matter at any time.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-04
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the amendments to the “RIPE NCC Articles of Association” and instructs the preparation of a relevant resolution for the adoption of the proposed amendments by the next General Meeting.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-05
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves to nominate the following people to the Arbiters Panel according to Section B.2.2 of the RIPE NCC Conflict Arbitration Procedure and directs the RIPE NCC to put them forward for election at the upcoming General Meeting.

  • Giuseppe Pitzus
  • Victor Bolaños Guerra
  • Matyas Koszik
  • Benjamin Nivois
  • Klaus Landefeld
  • Kurt Jaeger
  • Ralph Karseboom
  • Jean-Paul M. Chia

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-06
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the publication of the draft agenda for the RIPE NCC General Meeting in October 2026.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-07
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed amendments to the “RIPE NCC Certified Professionals Service Terms and Conditions”.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-08
The RIPE NCC Executive Board approves the proposed amendments to the document “RIPE NCC Privacy Statement”.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board unanimously adopted the resolution.

Resolution EB#195-R-09
The RIPE NCC Executive Board resolves to appoint Lars Johan Liman and Franziska Lichtblau to the Board of the Rob Blokzijl Foundation.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board adopted the resolution by majority with one Board member abstaining.

Action Items

Ongoing action items

Action EB459 / 22/06/2026 / CV
To select a vendor for the office improvements and specify the requirements.

Status 15/09/2026: Ongoing.

Closed action items

Action EB455 / 20/03/2025 / HPH
To develop a proposal to transition from an Executive Board to a Supervisory Board, taking into account a transition plan, employment consequences, remuneration and the relevant amendments to the Articles of Association for GM approval.

Status 28/06/2025: Ongoing. The Board discussed the proposal for transition in topic 5 of EB#186 and agreed to move forward with the proposed actions.

Status 05/09/2025. Ongoing. The Board discussed the proposal in topic 7 of EB#188 and agreed to further in the training session that will be planned for the Board in January 2026.

Status 11/12/2025: Ongoing. As part of the transition plan, the Board conducted a self-evaluation during EB#189 at topic 9 and a training session is planned for January 2026.

Status 27/03/2026: Ongoing, The Board discussed the governance structure in topic 7 of EB#191 and agreed to change to a one-tier model. Following this decision, amendments to the Articles of Association will be proposed at the next meeting.

Status 22/06/2026: Ongoing. The Board reviewed and discussed suggested amendments to the Articles of Association in topic 4.1 of EB#194 and a next version based on the discussion will be shared soon.

Status 15/09/2026: Done. The Board agreed on the amendments to the “RIPE NCC Articles of Association” and instructed the preparation of a relevant resolution for the adoption of the proposed amendments by the next General Meeting.

Action EB458 / 27/03/2026 / HPH
To identify possible cost savings for the years 2027-2031 and review where cost efficiencies/reductions can be made.

Status 22/06/2026: Ongoing.

Status 15/09/2026: Done. Possible cost savings were suggested in the proposal for the Draft RIPE NCC Activity Plan and Budget 2027.