CLARIN ERIC is a European research infrastructure providing access to language resources and technologies, supporting researchers in the social sciences, technology, and humanities in the discovery, use, adaptation, and reuse of linguistic data and tools.
CLARIN ERIC is an organisation based on a federation model, consisting of national consortia operating in 27 countries worldwide (based on data from early June 2026). The full list of national consortia is available on the CLARIN ERIC website.
Below is an illustration of the structure of the CLARIN ERIC Infrastructure Governance (refer to Figure 1).
Figure 1. CLARIN ERIC Governance Structure
➔ The General Assembly (GA) (see Figure 1) is the highest decision-making body of CLARIN ERIC. Read more on the CLARIN ERIC webpage and CLARIN ERIC Statutes.
➔ The Board of Directors (BoD) consists of the Executive Director and other board members, who are elected for a two-year term, with the option to extend their term for an additional two years.
➔ The Executive Director is the legal representative of CLARIN ERIC (elected for a five-year term, with the possibility of a two-year extension) and is appointed by the General Assembly.
➔ The Technical Centres Committee (TCC) maintains the uniformity, coherence, and stability of infrastructure services, makes decisions on infrastructure development, and manages the work of the centres and their members.
Various documents from the Technical Centres Committee are available here.
The presentation delivered by the Technical Centres Committee during the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is provided at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDm0ETfJGEM&list=PLlKmS5dTMgw1ML13ESECS16PXacpQSGYY&index=7.
➔ The National Coordinators’ Forum (NCF). Every CLARIN member country and observer country is required to appoint a National Coordinator, who serves as the primary point of contact, facilitating communication between CLARIN ERIC and the national consortium, ensuring that the country adheres to the policies and strategies of the General Assembly.
The National Coordinators’ Forum is composed of the National Coordinators from all member countries. National Coordinators from observer countries participate in the forum as observers, without the right to vote.
The presentation from the National Coordinators’ Forum at the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7DoInsicmQ.
➔ The Knowledge Infrastructure Committee offers counsel and conducts supervision, helps shape strategic direction, formulates policy recommendations, and ensures that CLARIN ERIC’s initiatives comply with the requirements of user groups and partners. It also provides expert recommendations on knowledge management, language resources, and methodological issues, coordinates the activities of the Knowledge Centres, and guarantees adherence to the FAIR principles.
The presentation from the Knowledge Centres Committee at the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is provided at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53F6AeOuUxo.
➔ The Legal and Ethical Issues Committee (CLIC) advises the Board of Directors on legal matters related to intellectual property rights, privacy and data protection, ethics, and other related issues. This committee is accountable to the Board of Directors.
The presentation from the Legal and Ethical Issues Committee at the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is provided at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQZzD7KVNAg&list=PLlKmS5dTMgw1ML13ESECS16PXacpQSGYY&index=10.
➔ The Standards and Interoperability Committee (SIC) provides guidance to the Board of Directors on standards-related matters.
Further information pertaining to the Standards and Interoperability Committee and its initiatives can be found here.
The presentation from the Standards and Interoperability Committee from the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is provided at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K99EWeW77v4&list=PLlKmS5dTMgw1ML13ESECS16PXacpQSGYY&index=11.
➔ The User Involvement Committee (UIC) represents the interests and needs of CLARIN ERIC users.
The presentation by the User Involvement Committee at the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRbwGLDcLWI.
➔ The Technical Centres Assessment Committee (TCAC) is responsible for assessing the level and quality of CLARIN centres.
The presentation by the Technical Centres Assessment Committee at the 2025 CLARIN Annual Conference is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vcnZ9ynms0.
➔ The Central Hub is the coordination centre for the CLARIN ERIC research infrastructure, located at the Faculty of Humanities of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. It is responsible for the coordination of the activities that are conducted in collaboration with its members and provides support to the General Assembly, the Scientific Advisory Board, the Board of Directors, the National Coordinators’ Forum, the Technical Centres Committee, and the Thematic Committees.
Additional details regarding the CLARIN Infrastructure governance can be found here.
Also, read the CLARIN ERIC Statutes, which outline the key aspects of CLARIN ERIC’s operations and governance.
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