Functioning: Afnic’s bodies

Thanks to the neutral position conferred upon it by its association-based model, Afnic promotes a constant dialogue within the internet community, and incorporates different bodies in its governance representing all stakeholders: scientists, public authorities and private players, users, registrars, foreign counterparts, etc.

These bodies are as follows: 

• Decision-making bodies: Board of Trustees, General Assembly, General Management;
• Consultative bodies: consultative committees (registrars and users), International College.

All of these parties contribute to constructing Afnic’s road map, with the general interest and the development of the internet made in France as the overarching goals.

DOWNLOAD AFNIC’S ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
DOWNLOAD THE ASSOCIATION RULES OF PROCEDURES
DOWNLOAD THE CODE OF CONDUCT AND ETHICS
DOWNLOAD THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION

General Assembly

The General Assembly comprises all of the members of the association. It meets at least once a year, and as many times as necessary.

It alone has the power to:

• elect the members of the Board of Trustees (other than those appointed by the founding members);
• approve the accounts for the financial year;
• amend the articles of association;
• dissolve the association.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees meets at least once every six months. It is composed, by statute, of ten members: 

• five representatives appointed by the founding members: two for Inria and one each for the ministries concerned (Electronic Communications, Industry and Research);
• five member representatives, elected by the General Assembly: two representatives of ‘Registrar’ members, two representatives of ‘User’ members, and one representative of Correspondent members.

The Board elects a Chair from among the representatives of the founding members by secret ballot. 

The CEO attends meetings of the Board of Trustees in an advisory capacity. Individuals who are not members of the Board of Trustees may be asked to attend Board meetings by the Chair, in an advisory capacity.

Four thematic committees of the Board of Trustees have been created to assist the trustees in their decision-making. These committees meet as often as necessary to structure discussions, provide well-researched guidance, and give opinions and advice to the Board of Trustees to facilitate its decision-making:

• Commitment Committee;
• Finance and Risk Management Committee;
• Registry Policy Committee;
• Appointment Committee.

Members of the Board of Trustees (latest change to the Board: 1 June 2022)

Mr Godefroy Beauvallet – Elected Chair of Afnic
Founding member appointed by Inria (National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control)

Mr Luc Saccavini
Founding member appointed by Inria (National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control)

Ms Mireille Campana
Founding member appointed by the French Ministry for Electronic Communications

Ms Isabelle Amaglio-Terisse
Founding member appointed by the French Ministry for Industry

Mr Boris Dintrans
Founding member appointed as the representative of the French Ministry for Research
Director of the National Electronic Communications Network for Technology, Education and Research – RENATER

Mr Sébastien Almiron
Chief Sales & Marketing Officer appointed to represent NETIM, elected by the Registrar members

Mr Eric Lantonnet
Chief Operating Officer, appointed to represent DGS Monaco, elected by the Registrar members

Mr Nicolas Pawlak
Elected by the User members

Mr Paul Perpere
Representative of INPI, elected by the User members

Mr Souleymane Oumtanaga
Representative elected by the Correspondent members, International College
Lecturer/researcher at the INPHB (Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët Boigny) and creator of the .CI (Côte d’Ivoire TLD)

Mr Laurent TOUTAIN
Profesor at IMT Atlantique
President of the Afnic Scientific Council

Mr Pierre Bonis
CEO of Afnic

General Management

The CEO establishes the organisation and management procedures under the authority of the Board of Trustees and its Chair.

Consultative Committees

Afnic has two consultative committees, tasked with debating strategic guidelines and proposals and providing professional or user advice and opinions prior to decisions of the Board of Trustees.

• The Registrar consultative committee which comprises all the registrar members of Afnic;
• The User consultative committee which comprises all individual user and corporate members.

These consultative committees are chaired by the representatives elected by the Registrars and Users. They meet twice a year, and can be consulted as often as needed by the Board of Trustees or Management. They can also trigger a vote on proposals, the results of which are conveyed to the Board of Trustees.

International college

As members of Afnic, the foreign registry operators in the International College meet once a year, over two days, before the Association’s General Assembly.

Like the consultative committees, the International College can be invited to debate strategic questions and issue proposals that will be discussed by the Board of Trustees.

Scientific Council

The Scientific Council is a statutory body of the association since 2024 that also contributes to determining Afnic’s strategy, particularly in the fields of R&D and Internet governance.

Composed of 10 members appointed by the Board of Trustees, the Scientific Council meets four times a year.