[ncc-announce] [GM] Executive Board Meeting to Discuss Charging Scheme Input from Members

Dear members,

On 6 May, 2024, the Executive Board held a meeting to discuss the input 
we received from members regarding the Board proposal for the RIPE NCC 
Charging Scheme 2025. We will publish the minutes as soon as possible, 
but I want to first give you a summary of the discussions and the 
outcomes from the meeting.

Since we started engaging with the membership on the charging scheme 
this year, we have received over 400 emails on the topic. For the first 
time, we also have a member proposal for a GM agenda topic that has 
received the required number of expressions of support to be added to 
the GM agenda. Therefore, we felt it was important for the Board to have 
this extra meeting, review the various points that were brought forward, 
and consider the next steps in this process. There were many important 
points to discuss at this meeting, and although the outcome might not 
please everyone, the Board was fully aligned on how it should move forward.

First, we considered again what we had decided upon at the Board meeting 
in March. The Board consciously did not put forward a proposal to keep 
the charging scheme as it is because we don’t believe that it would be 
good governance to make a proposal that leaves us with a large deficit, 
and good governance is what is expected from us by the members who elect 
us.

Furthermore, some of the suggestions from members would change the 
funding model in a way that would put the organisation at risk, and 
while the Board represents the members, it also has legal and fiduciary 
responsibilities towards the organisation. It is clear that one of the 
main responsibilities of the Board is to propose a charging scheme that 
will properly fund the association, and the charging scheme options we 
put forward will do that for 2025 and 2026. So we will put forward the 
three options as proposed on 24 April 2024 for members to vote on at the 
GM[1].

There were many proposals to provide that funding in alternative ways. 
However, we believe that this is not the right time to make fundamental 
changes to the charging model. We are about to embark on a full review 
of the organisation and its structures, and that will take some time. 
For us to implement that review and any resulting actions, we need 
stable funding. All three of the proposed options offer us this. We also 
note that the redistribution mechanism allows us to return any surplus 
made to the membership in the following year should members vote to do 
so. The Board and the Managing Director will also continue to work to 
improve efficiency and identify areas for cost savings.

We did consider moving this vote to later in the year, but this would 
negatively impact our planning for 2025, and it would also distract from 
the very important discussions we need to have with members during the 
Activity Plan and Budget process this Autumn. During that discussion, we 
do expect that the members who are convinced that the RIPE NCC needs to 
reduce its budget will tell us which services need to be reduced or cut 
in order to accommodate such a reduction.

At our meeting, the Board also discussed the structural review that will 
take place. This will begin at the RIPE 88 Meeting in two weeks with a 
BoF on how to build a stable future for the RIPE NCC. We expect that 
there will be a productive discussion on many issues that need to be 
resolved so that the RIPE NCC can move forward stably and with a funding 
model that has the support of its membership. We will keep the 
membership updated on the outcomes of those discussions and how the 
members can contribute to the work that will surely emerge from them.

Regarding the membership proposal[2], we acknowledge that the threshold 
was met to add the GM agenda topic “Keep current billing scheme for the 
next year”. We will add this as a topic to the agenda as required by the 
Articles of Association. However, this will not be added as a proposed 
resolution for members to vote on. Articles 15.4, 15.5 and 15.6 of the 
RIPE NCC Articles of Association do not allow members to propose a 
Charging Scheme, as reaffirmed by the external law firm that gives us 
expert advice on Dutch corporate law.

This legal framework ensures that a Charging Scheme may only be proposed 
by those who were elected to serve on the Executive Board, who have 
better insight into the financials and the operations of the 
organisation, and who have a duty of care for the well-being of the 
organisation and are liable in case of mismanagement. Parties without 
such insight, responsibility and liability may not put forward charging 
schemes for voting that - although appealing for individual members - 
may be inappropriate for the sustainability of the organisation.

To summarise, the Board recognises the member sentiment and we are 
committed to addressing it for the long term. However, we must do what 
we believe is best for the stability of the organisation and its 
membership, even if it is not an easy or popular thing to do. This is 
what is required of us when we legally commit to be Board members, and 
we will faithfully execute on our commitments in this regard.

We listen to your feedback and ideas, and on behalf of the Board I thank 
you for engaging in these important discussions and look forward to 
seeing them continue as we work towards a sustainable outcome for the 
RIPE NCC.

The RIPE NCC Executive Board

Ondřej Filip, Chair
Raymond Jetten, Treasurer
Piotr Strzyżewski, Secretary
Maria Häll, Member
Remco van Mook, Member
Job Snijders, Member
Harald A. Summa, Member

[1] 
https://www.ripe.net/membership/meetings/gm/meetings/may-2024/documentation-and-archives/supporting-documents/

[2] https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/gm/member-proposals/