147

HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF COUNCIL

RESTRICTED SESSION

19 June 2008

 

ROMANIA’S APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF CERN

The Council took note of the oral report by the President of Council and, after discussion, agreed that Romania should be invited to follow the standard procedure for accession applications laid down in document CERN/2368/Rev.

In that regard, the Council decided to establish a Task Force for the Accession Application of Romania with the remit set out in the tabled document "Taskforce for the Accession Application of Romania" and comprising the Chief Scientific Officer Professor J. Engelen, who would act as task force convenor, the ECFA Chairman Professor K. Meier, Professor Z. Horvath (Hungary) and Mr C. Guilhou (France).

 

REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SCIENTIFIC POLICY COMMITTEE

The Council took note of the report by Professor Fernandez on the 254th meeting of the Scientific Policy Committee (SPC), held on 16-17 June 2008.

  • Review of Terms of Reference – Progress Report

The Council took note of the progress report by the SPC Chairman on the Committee’s review of its terms of reference and of the remarks and suggestions by delegations during the discussion, and agreed to invite the Chairman of the SPC to draw up, on that basis, a revised draft terms of reference for further discussion by the Council at its September Restricted Session.

  • SPC report on LSAG documents

The Council took note of the report tabled by the Chairman of the SPC on the examination by five SPC members of the documents produced by the LHC Safety Assessment Group (LSAG), and in particular of the SPC’s conclusion that there is no basis for any concerns about the consequences of new particles or forms of matter that might possibly be produced at the LHC, and agreed that the SPC’s report should be tabled at the following day’s Open Session.

 

QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL TO THE SPC

  • Question from the 146th Session “Scientific Case for a SLHC”

The Council took note of CERN/SPC/899-CERN/2786 and of the additional remarks by the Chairman of the Scientific Policy Committee. The Council further took note that, following consultation with M. Spiro at its 254th meeting, the SPC had decided to set up a Panel comprising seven members, who would prepare a report on the “Scientific reach of the Super-LHC” for submission to the Council in December 2008.

  • New questions from the delegations

The Council agreed to invite the Scientific Policy Committee to examine the Management’s plans for optimising heavy-ion running at the LHC, and to present its findings to the Council at its September Restricted Session.

 

MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2009-2013 AND PRELIMINARY DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE FIFTY-FIFTH FINANCIAL YEAR 2009

The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/SPC/903-CERN/FC/5258-CERN/2796, of the reports by the Chairmen of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee, of the statement by the Director-General Designate and of the remarks by delegations during the discussion and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, unanimously decided:

i) to approve the overall strategy for the period 2009-2013 set out in
Sections I and II;

ii) to approve the 2009 Draft Budget in 2008 prices set out in Section IV.

The Council further took note of the Resources Plan for 2009 to 2013 set out in Section III.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

  • Report by the Chairman of the Governing Board
    (Oral)

The Council took note of the oral report by Professor Riska on behalf of the Chairman of the Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB), Professor Ferrini, and of the additional remarks by the Chairman of the Finance Committee.

  • Revised Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA)
    (CERN/FC/5252/Rev.2-CERN/2794/Rev.2)

The Council took note of document CERN/FC/5252/Rev.2-CERN/2794/Rev.2, of the report by Professor Riska on behalf of the Chairman of the PFGB, and of the report by the Chairman of the Finance Committee and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, unanimously decided to approve the proposal by the PFGB for a revised strategic asset allocation (SAA) as set out in Table 1, column 3, of the document, on the understanding that the implementation schedule for the SAA would be determined by the PFGB.

  • Actuarial Review as at 01.01.2007

The Council took note of the actuarial review, as set out in documents CERN/FC/5226-CERN/2775 and CERN/FC/5226/Corr.-CERN/2775/Corr., of the report by Professor Riska on behalf of the Chairman of the PFGB and of the report by the Chairman of the Finance Committee on the latter's decision to postpone any recommendation for short-term action in response to the actuary's recommendations, in particular for an increase in contributions by 0.76 percentage points of the reference salaries, until the comprehensive review of the impact of parameters affecting the financial position of the Pension Fund, currently being undertaken by the PFGB with a view to restoration of the Fund’s long-term stability, had been completed, and, after discussion, agreed to take no action on the actuary's recommendations until that review had been completed.

The Council further agreed to invite the Management to begin studying the possibility of (partial) internal taxation of pensions or of retrocession of (parts of) the taxes levied on pensions, in line with Recommendation 11, unanimously agreed by Council in 2005.

 

CLOSED SESSION

19 June 2008

 

INVITATIONS TO OBSERVER STATES TO ATTEND EUROPEAN STRATEGY SESSIONS

The Council agreed by consensus to approve the document tabled by the President regarding the policy for inviting Observer States to attend European Strategy Sessions.

 

ELECTIONS:

 

COUNCIL

  • Re-election of One Vice-President of Council

The Council unanimously re-elected Professor B. Sitar Vice-President of the Council for a period of one year from 1 July 2008.

  • Re-election of the Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee

The Council took note that the present incumbent of the Finance Committee vice-chairmanship was unavailable for re-election and unanimously decided to adopt an accelerated appointment procedure with respect to the formal procedure set out in Section 4.2 of document CERN/2762. It was thus agreed that delegations should forward names and CVs of candidates to the President in time for the September Closed Session, at which the procedure aimed at convergence on a single candidate would be followed.

 

SCIENTIFIC POLICY COMMITTEE

  • 6-Months’ Extension of the Terms of Office of Three Members

The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/2799 and, in order to align all the SPC members to a “January-December" cycle, unanimously decided to extend the terms of office of Professors M. Cavalli-Sforza, T. Kondo and B. Webber as members of the Scientific Policy Committee for a period of six months from 1st July 2008.

 

PROPOSED NEW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR CERN BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL DESIGNATE

The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/2800 and of the presentation by the Director-General Designate, Professor Heuer, and unanimously endorsed the proposed management structure.

 

SENIOR STAFF APPOINTMENTS
RE-APPOINTMENT OF HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS FROM 1 JULY 2008 UNTIL 31 DECEMBER 2008

The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/2801 and unanimously decided to re-appoint :

  • J.-J. Blaising as Head of the PH Department,
  • P. Geeraert as Head of the FI Department,
  • P. Lebrun as Head of the AT Department,
  • S. Myers as Head of the AB Department,
  • W. Von Rüden as Head of the IT Department, - V. Vuillemin as Head of the TS Department,
  • M. Metzger as Secretary-General, from 1 July to 31 December 2008.
  •  

OPEN SESSION

20 June 2008

 

ACCOUNTS FOR 2007

The Council took note of documents, of the report by the Chairman of the Finance Committee and of the presentation by Dr Jaros on behalf of the External Auditors.

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council unanimously approved the Annual Accounts for 2007 and further unanimously decided to grant discharge to the Director-General.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

The Council took note of documents, of the report by the Chairman of the Finance Committee and of the presentation by Dr Jaros on behalf of the External Auditors.

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council unanimously decided to approve the Annual Report and Accounts of the CERN Pension Fund for 2007 and to grant discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board, on the understanding that the Consulting Actuary's report on the year 2007 on pages 53 and 54 of document CERN/FC/5248-CERN/2790 was included for information only.

 

STAFF RULES AND REGULATIONS 11TH EDITION PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER III – SECTION I (WORKING HOURS)

The Council took note of document CERN/FC/5251-CERN/2793 and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, unanimously approved the proposed amendments to the Staff Rules set out therein, on the understanding that the new provisions would come into force on 1st July 2008.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE WORKING GROUP ON THE REVIEW OF CERN PURCHASING POLICY AND PROCEDURES

The Council, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, unanimously approved the report and the conclusions and proposals set out therein, on the understanding that:

  • the proposals would come into force with effect from the date of their approval;
  • where appropriate, the proposals would be integrated into the revised Purchasing Rules as part of the revised Financial Rules and the Implementing Regulations to be submitted for approval later in 2008, and
  • any conflicting provisions in the present Financial Rules and Regulations would be superseded by the provisions of document CERN/FC/5259-CERN/2797.