Hi Denis, Thank you for explaining how you see your role. I would like to clarify a few things you mentioned in your mail. I hope this will be useful especially for RIPE community members who might not have the long history in the community that some of us have. 1. Regarding the role of the RIPE Community: The fact that the RIPE community is not a legal entity and that it is open to anyone who wants to participate, does not mean it is "undefined". From the beginning, the RIPE community has agreed to document its decisions and processes as RIPE documents that are publicly accessible. In the RIPE Terms of Reference (ripe-001) [1] the mission and scope of RIPE is defined. We have a clearly defined policy development process and clearly defined governance processes that the community agrees to follow. Decisions are made by consensus and RIPE documents go through a defined community review. 2. Regarding the relation between RIPE and the RIPE NCC: The RIPE NCC clearly states its role as the secretariat of RIPE in its mission, activity plan and budget. These are formal documents the RIPE NCC members vote on. Also, there is a long track record of the RIPE NCC following guidance from the RIPE community. 3. Regarding the role of a chair: It is the responsibility of a chair to listen and to guide discussions, to summarise and to actively build consensus. Those of us who serve in a special function or have a leadership role are aware of the fact that people tend to see us as being in that role. Therefore we need to take extra care if and when we decide to participate in a discussion as an individual. Kind regards, Mirjam (RIPE Chair) [1] RIPE Terms of Reference https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-001