Governance

The Euro-Argo ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) is governed by the following bodies:

- The Council is the body having ultimate decision-making authority. It is composed of one delegate per Member acting collectively. Observers may attend Council meetings and may be represented by one delegate per member state. The Council elects its Chair among its members for a duration of three years. A co-Chair shall be elected by qualified majority of the Council to carry out the duties of the Chair in case of her/his absence. The Council meets twice a year.

Jean-Marie Flaud Chair - MESR - France	Elena Mauri Vice-Chair    OGS - Italy	Jon Turton Met Office - U.K.
Aristomenis Karageorgis HCMR - Greece	Sibren Drijfhout KNMI - Netherlands	Mikko Strahlendorff FMI - Finland
Kerstin Jochumsen BSH - Germany	Marta Stawicka Ministry of Education and Science - Poland	Odd-Ivar Eriksen Research Council of Norway
Joaquin Tintore SOCIB - Spain	Glenn Nolan Marine Institute - Ireland	Atanas Palazov Institute of Oceanology - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Karen Edelvang DTU AQUA Denmark	Pierre-Yves Le Traon Special Advisor to the French representative

- The Management Board  supervises the operation of the infrastructure and ensures that it operates and evolves in accordance with the strategic direction set by the Council, and the requirements set forth by the research and operational communities. The Management Board is composed of delegates designated by the Members and Observers. The Programme Manager and the Euro-Argo ERIC team take part in a consultative capacity in the Management Board meetings. The Management Board meets three times per year.

Birgit Klein Chair - BSH - Germany	Alan Berry Marine Institute - Ireland	Virginie Thierry IFREMER - France
Dimitris Kassis HCMR - Greece	Andreas Sterl KNMI - Netherlands	Fiona Carse MET OFFICE - U.K
Vice-Chair - Laura Tuomi FMI - Finland	Waldemar Walczowski IOPAN - Poland	Kjell Arne Mork IMR - Norway
Giulio Notarstefano OGS - Italy	Pedro Velez IEO - Spain	Violeta Slabakova IO - BAS / Bulgaria
Colin Stedmon DTU Aqua - Denmark

- The Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG), consisting of independent experts, is established to advise the Council on any scientific or technical matters (including data management and instrumentation) relevant to the operation, development, and evolution of the Euro-Argo ERIC, and access to its data by research and operational users.  The STAG is also responsible of the scientific evaluation of the annual activities and participate to the User Workshop organised every 2 years.

The STAG formulates recommendations to the Council on scientific and technical aspects and direction of the Euro-Argo ERIC, taking into account the European and international context. The Council may request the STAG to consider, and make recommendations on issues that it needs to resolve.

Henry Bittig Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde - Germany	Susan Wijffels WHOI USA - Argo International	Johnny Johannessen NERSC Norway - Copernicus Marine Service
Inga Lips EuroGOOS Secretary General - EOOS	Philip Browne ECMWF UK - weather forecasting and Coupled Data Assimilation	Hervé Claustre LOV France - BGC Argo

- The Director General is appointed by the Council, as the executive officer and legal representative of the Euro-Argo ERIC.