Governance
Mercator Ocean International is a non-profit organisation in the process of becoming an intergovernmental organisation. Its ten Associates/Shareholders from five countries are leading international scientific actors: CMCC, CNR, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Météo-France, Met Office, NERSC, Puertos del Estado, SHOM.
| Governing role | General Assembly |
| Executive role | Management Board Director General |
| Advisory role | Scientific Board |
The General Assembly
The General Assembly (GA) is the highest decision-making body of the organisation and brings together all the Shareholders. The GA sets the strategy of the organisation and approves the annual programme of activities and budget necessary for its implementation. It appoints the Director General and the members of the Management Board and the Scientific Board. The General Assembly decides on the evolution of the organisation, including the opening of its governance to new members and States, and the evolution of its statutes to support its mission.
The members sitting at the General Assembly are the legal representatives of the Shareholders (see below) or the persons mandated to represent them:
- CMCC (President : A. Navarra)
- CNR (President : MC. Carrozza)
- CNRS (CEO : A. Petit)
- Ifremer (CEO : F. Houllier)
- IRD (CEO : V. Verdier)
- Met Office (Exec. Director of Science : S. Vosper)
- Météo-France (CEO : V. Schwarz)
- NERSC (Director : T. Furevik)
- Puertos del Estado (President : Gustavo Santana Hernández)
- SHOM (Director General : L. Kerléguer)
The Management Board
The Management Board is composed of as many co-managers as there are Partners. It supervises the implementation of the programme of activities and the budget, the execution of which is delegated to the Director General, and takes any management decision necessary to achieve the objectives within the framework set by the General Assembly.
Its composition is fixed and can only be modified by the General Assembly; each member of the Management Board thus has an individual mandate as co-manager registered in the company’s records and cannot delegate it. The current members are :
- Hervé Roquet (Météo-France)
- Giovanni Coppini (CMCC)
- Fabrizio D’Ortenzio (CNRS)
- Fabien Durand (IRD)
- Johnny Johannessen (NERSC)
- Cyril Lathuiliere (Shom)
- Begoña Pérez Gómez (Puertos del Estado)
- Rosalia Santoleri (CNR)
- Andrew Saulter (Met Office)
- Jean-Marc Daniel (Ifremer)
The Director General
The Director General oversees the effective operation of the organization, ensuring the fulfillment of objectives established by the General Assembly and the execution of activity programmes within the allocated budget. Responsible for overall leadership, the Director General guides the team and manages all organizational resources.
Acting as the primary representative, the Director General engages with key stakeholders, notably the European Commission for the implementation of European delegations, as well as major UN and international partner organizations. Additionally, the Director General is responsible for organizing statutory changes on behalf of the General Assembly.
Pierre Bahurel has led Mercator Ocean International since its inception in 1995.
The Scientific Board
The Scientific Board (SB) is a consultative body whose purpose is to make recommendations on Mercator Ocean’s strategic scientific orientations, taking into account the national, European and international contexts of its development.
The SB is made up of its President and a maximum of twelve other experts. It formulates its opinions in complete independence and reports to the General Assembly.
The current members are :
- Mike Bell
- Lotfi Aouf
- Miguel Castrillo
- Sophie Cravatte
- Franck Dumas
- Ronan Fablet
- Swen Jullien
- Angela Landolfi
- William Llowel
- Simona Masina (Co-chair)
- Annette Samuelsen
- Joanna Staneva (Co-chair)