171

HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIRST SESSION OF COUNCIL

19 & 20 June 2014

 

RESTRICTED, CLOSED AND OPEN SESSIONS

 

DIRECTOR GENERAL'S REPORT

The Director-General gave an oral report on the following matters:

  • Status report on the SCOAP3 initiative
  • CERN domain name
  • Establishment of the CERN & Society Foundation
  • Awards and distinctions in connection with the LHC
  • Results of CERN competitions for schools
  • The LHC and the Higgs boson included in school examination papers in the Member States
  • Protocol visits
  •  

STATUS REPORT ON THE PREPARATIONS FOR CERN'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

The Council took note of a status report by Dr S. Schmeling on the past and future events to mark CERN’s 60th anniversary.

 

MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2015-2019 AND DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE SIXTY-FIRST FINANCIAL YEAR 2015

The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1030-CERN/FC/5826-CERN/3117, of presentations by the Director-General and the Director for Administration and General Infrastructure, Mr Lettow, of the reports by the Chairs of the Finance Committee and the Scientific Policy Committee and of the comments by delegations during the extensive discussion and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, decided to approve the overall strategy for the reference period as set out in Chapters I and II of the document.

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council further decided to approve the 2015 Draft Budget in 2014 prices as set out in Chapter IV of the document. Finally, the Council took note of the Resources Plan for 2015 to 2019 as set out in Chapter III of the document.

 

2015 BUDGET: SCALE OF CONTRIBUTIONS

The Council took note of document CERN/FC/5827-CERN/3118, of the introductory remarks by Mr Lettow, and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, unanimously decided to approve the percentage scale of contributions for 2015, set out in Table 1, to be applied to the Final Budget for 2015 in 2015 prices.

 

FIVE-YEARLY REVIEW 2015

The Council examined five documents pertaining to the 2015 five-yearly review of financial and social conditions and heard a presentation by the Head of the Human Resources Department, Ms A.-S. Catherin, on the aims, process, timetable and proposed contents of the five-yearly review, a report by the Chairman of TREF, Mr B. Dormy, and a report by the Finance Committee Chair, Ms Jamieson.

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council unanimously decided to approve the proposals identifying the financial and social conditions to be reviewed for Staff Members, Fellows and Associated Members of the Personnel in the framework of the 2015 five-yearly review, as set out in document CERN/FC/5833/RA-CERN/3125/RA.

 

CLOSED SESSION

ENLARGEMENT PROCESS

Application for Associate Membership at CERN by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Report by the fact-finding Task Force

The Council heard an oral presentation by Dr S. Bertolucci in his capacity as Convenor of the Task Force on the Task Force's visit to Pakistan and noted, with satisfaction, the conclusion that Pakistan fulfilled the applicable criteria for the granting of the status of Associate Member State. The Council thus decided, by consensus, to authorise Director-General to submit to Pakistan the (revised) Model Agreement for the Granting of the Status of Associate Member (CERN/3057/RA) and to finalise the text once agreement had been reached with Pakistan on its financial contribution, within the framework set out in document CERN/2918/Rev.

Recent developments

The Council took note of the information provided by the Director-General on his recent contacts with Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Ireland and Lithuania.

 

SENIOR STAFF APPOINTMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL

The Council unanimously decided to approve the Director-General's proposal to extend the employment contracts of S. Bertolucci and S. Lettow until 31 December 2015.

 

PROCEDURE FOR SELECTING AND APPOINTING THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF CERN

The Council took note of the preliminary list of qualified candidates for the position of Director-General of CERN, of the presentation by the Chairman of the Search Committee, Professor T. Nakada, of the procedural clarifications provided by the President and of the additional names proposed by the Belgian, Norwegian and Swedish delegations. After discussion, the Council endorsed the timetable proposed by Professor Nakada for the continuation of the Search Committee's work and decided, by consensus, that:

  • the list of potential candidates tabled by the Search Committee, as supplemented by the additional names proposed by the Belgian, Norwegian and Swedish delegations, was now closed;
  • the shortlist to be submitted to the delegations by the Search Committee in early August should contain three names;
  • delegations should reserve in their diaries the date of 4 November 2014 for a special Council session dedicated to finalising the selection of the next Director-General, in the event that it was not possible to converge on a single candidate at the September Session.

 

ELECTIONS

Re-election of one Council Vice-President

The Council re-elected Dr C. Césarsky Vice-President of Council for a second period of one year from 1 July 2014.

SACA
Appointment of a Council delegate as SACA member

The Council decided to appoint Dr F. Ballestero as its representative on SACA for a term of office of three years with effect from 1 July 2014.

Pension Fund Appointments to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund

The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/3128/RA and, on the recommendation of the Pension Fund Governing Board, decided to appoint:

  • Mr P. Depireux as professional member of the Pension Fund Governing Board for a term of office of three years with effect from 1 July 2014; and
  • Mr J. Breckenridge as professional member of the Pension Fund Governing Board for a term of office of three years with effect from 1 January 2015.

 

OPEN SESSION

ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS (FINANCIAL STATEMENTS) FOR 2012

Annual Progress Report

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council decided to approve the Annual Progress Report set out in document CERN/SPC/1025/Rev.-CERN/FC/5802/Rev.-CERN/3102/Rev. and to endorse the External Auditors’ suggestions for future Annual Progress Reports.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF CERN

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council decided to approve the 2013 Financial Statements, set out in document CERN/FC/5818-CERN/3110, and to grant discharge to the Director-General.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE CERN PENSION FUND

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council decided to approve the Financial Statements of the CERN Pension Fund for the 2013 financial year, set out in document CERN/FC/5822-CERN/3114, and to grant discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board.

 

LHC MATTERS

The Council took note of presentations by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr F. Bordry, on the status of the LS1 activities, and by the Director for Research and Computing, Dr S Bertolucci, on the LHC experiments and computing. It also heard reports by the Chairs of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee and a statement by the Director-General expressing his pride in everyone involved in the challenging LS1 project and in the remarkable progress achieved over the past 18 months.

The Council expressed appreciation to all the staff, users and external teams involved in the LS1 project for their dedication and flexibility, which had ensured that the LS1 activities remained on schedule.

 

DRAFT TIMETABLE FOR COUNCIL SESSIONS AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS 2015

The Council took note of document CERN/3120/Draft and decided to hold the December 2015 Council Session in the week beginning Monday 14 December 2015 and to approve the draft timetable for Council Sessions and Committee meetings in 2015 set out in the document subject to that amendment.