Dear Katrina, dear Council I am honoured to have now been formally confirmed by the ECA as the Members' selection from the ccNSO to the ICANN Board, starting in October 2018. As you know, according to the By-Laws, a Board Member may not simultaneously serve on the Council, so, in accordance with the assurance I gave as part of the election process, I wish formally to inform you that I will, of course, be standing down from Council at the appropriate time. However, in addition . . . I am of the view that I do not think appropriate to stay on as a Council member until the very end of the Barcelona meeting (the latest time when I am required by the By-Laws to depart). There are several reasons for this view, including wanting to give Council the time needed for the process for electing a replacement, as well as the expected increased involvement in Board-related activities before formally taking up the role at the end of the Barcelona meeting. I would therefore like to inform Council that, so as to ensure a trouble free transition, I should wish to be relieved of my position as one of the three Council Members representing Europe (a) as soon as it is convenient after we have held the necessary Special Election to find a replacement (b) in any event, no later than the end of the F2F Council Meeting that is scheduled for ICANN 62 in Panama). It's for the Council as a whole, working with the Elections Manager, to decide on the timing of elections etc., of course, but I decided to write to let you know today of my plans, since it appears to me that it might be useful for the Council to appoint the election manager and begin the process of seeking my replacement sooner rather than later. Kind regards