Dear Colleagues, The RIPE NCC Executive Board asks that the membership consider the charging scheme model that the RIPE NCC currently uses. The current "one LIR-one fee" charging scheme was first used for the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2013. This scheme was introduced following the formation of a Charging Scheme Task Force in 2011, a discussion of the issue on the Members Discuss mailing list, and the presentation of three types of charging schemes for the members to vote on at the September 2012 General Meeting (GM). The three types of charging scheme presented to the members in 2012 can be seen at: https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/gm/meetings/september-2012/documen... Since the approval of the "one LIR-one fee" charging scheme, annual fees per LIR have reduced from EUR 1,800 per annum to 1,400 per annum. Since 2015, members can also vote to approve the redistribution to the members of any surplus accumulated by the RIPE NCC in a year. The Executive Board believes that the current charging scheme model still meets the three broad criteria that the Charging Scheme Task Force recommended for the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme: - The Charging Scheme model that is decided upon should be applicable for several years. - There should be stable fees per member. - A small number of members should not pay most of the membership fees. However, the Executive Board recognises that the membership has grown considerably since the current charging scheme model was introduced and that some members now feel that the current model is not a equitable way to pay for the RIPE NCC's activities. This is evident from emails the board has received, from comments received in the RIPE NCC Survey 2016, and from discussions among the members on RIPE working group mailing lists. The Executive Board therefore proposes to discuss this issue at the upcoming GM. We ask that prior to the GM the membership discusses this issue on <members-discuss@ripe.net>, keeping the discussion focused on whether or not the "one LIR-one fee" model is the best model for RIPE NCC charging schemes and, if not, what the alternative should be. The Board has been contacted with a question regarding how a member could propose a topic to be voted on at a General Meeting. I would like to confirm that the board is always open to proposals regarding agenda items for the General Meeting. For the full background on how the agenda for a RIPE NCC General Meeting is set, please refer to articles 15.3 - 15.6 of the Articles of Association; as provided at the end of this email. Finally, I encourage all members to register to participate in the upcoming GM to ensure that the decisions reached reflect the overall wishes of the membership as far as possible. All details about the GM, including how to register, are available at: https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/gm/meetings/october-2016 Best regards Nigel Titley RIPE NCC Executive Board Chairman RIPE NCC Articles of Association https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-602 === 15.3 The agenda for the Annual Meeting shall include the following subjects: a. the adoption of the Financial Report; b. the discharge of the Executive Board with regard to its actions as they appear from the Annual Report; c. the filling of any vacancies in the Executive Board. 15.4 The following subjects shall be placed on the agenda for the Annual Meeting or on the agenda for another General Meeting to be held in the same calendar year: a. a discussion of the draft Activity Plan and draft budget after a presentation by the Executive Board; b. the adoption of the Charging Scheme with respect to the coming financial year upon proposal of the Executive Board; c. a discussion of the policy and the quality of services (to be) rendered by the Association. 15.5 If applicable, the agenda for the Annual Meeting or another General Meeting shall also include the following subjects: a. the extension of the period within which the Executive Board shall submit the Annual Report (as referred to in paragraph 14.2), which shall also constitute an extension of the period within which the Annual Meeting - at which the Annual Report is to be submitted - shall be held; b. the filling of any vacancies in the Executive Board; upon proposal by the Executive Board: adoption of amendments to the Standard Service Agreement; c. upon proposal by the Executive Board: approval of new arbiters and/or dismissal of current arbiters and/or adoption of amendments to the arbitration procedure; e. other proposals and/or discussion points put forward by the Executive Board or (a group of) Members of the Association (pursuant to paragraph 15.6) and announced in the convocation for the Meeting. 15.6 On the written application of a group of Members who are jointly entitled to cast at least two percent (2%) of the total number of possible votes, other subjects will be added to the agenda. Such an application, accompanied by the verbatim text of the resolutions proposed by the said Members, shall have to be sent to the Executive Board at least two weeks before the Meeting. The Executive Board shall immediately send the verbatim text of the resolutions proposed by the said Members to all the Members of the Association.