Alex,
At the same time, this text from RIPE-510, Section 4 has been removed
Network operators taking routing decisions based on prefix length are requested and encouraged to route at least blocks of sizes corresponding to the longest prefix and larger.
If this means what I naively think it does, I'd have missed the entire discussion about what I would perceive as a fundamental change in policy. So, I guess I'm just thoroughly confused. Can somebody help me understand what exactly RIPE-555 means?
I share your confusion to the extent that I'd say 555 is not self contained. E.g., mentioning "longest" in the headline to continue with "smallest" in the text is, while strictly applicable, misleading ...
4. Longest Prefix Tables
The smallest prefix assigned by the RIPE NCC from any IPv4 range is a /29. The smallest prefix assigned by the RIPE NCC from any IPv6 range is a /48.
... as is the sole focus on assignments, isn't it? -Peter