HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THIRD SESSION OF COUNCIL
15-16 December 2016
RESTRICTED SESSION
DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT
The Director-General gave an oral report on the following matters:
- 2016 performance of the accelerator complex and of the LHC experiments and computing
- Update on the AWAKE experiment
- Extension of the North Area for the CERN neutrino platform
- Update on the AD facility
- New High-School Students Internship Programme
- Brochure on the impact of CERN on society
- Protocol visits in 2016
OVERVIEW OF PROTOCOLS CONCLUDED SINCE NOVEMBER 2015
The Council took note of the overview of protocols concluded since November 2015, set out in document CERN/3284/RA.
STATUS REPORT ON PARTICIPATION OF NON-MEMBER STATES IN THE CERN PROGRAMMES 2015-2016
The Council took note of the status report set out in document CERN/3285/RA.
CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH (CERN) AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA
The Council approved the conclusion of the proposed International Cooperation Agreement with Sri Lanka, set out in the annex to the document CERN/3286/RA.
THE COST-VARIATION INDEX FOR 2017
The Council took note of document CERN/FC/6061-CERN/3278 and approved:
- a basic salary and stipend index of 0% and a subsistence allowances and family benefits index of 0%, bringing the overall cost-variation index for the personnel budget to -0.01%, including the applicable indexation for home leave of -1.80%, on the understanding that:
1. the difference of 0.7% with respect to the calculated basic salary and stipend index for 2017 would be subtracted from the cumulative memory from previous years of 1.1%, and future positive calculated basic salary and stipend indexation would be reduced by the resulting total memory of -0.4%;
2. while the Geneva cost-of-living movement applicable to subsistence allowances and family benefits was 0.1% for the reference period, an index of 0% would be applied, leaving a memory of -1.1% to be applied in 2018;
- a materials budget cost-variation index of -4.93%;
- an overall cost-variation index of -2.39%;
- indexation of the Member States’ contributions for 2017 by 0%, in line with the “corridor principle” decided by the Council in June 2012.
FINAL BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE SIXTY-THIRD FINANCIAL YEAR 2017
The Council took note of the final Budget for 2017 in 2017 prices set out in document CERN/FC/6060-CERN/3277.
CERN HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME: PROPOSALS FOR MODIFICATIONS BY THE MANAGEMENT
The Council approved the proposed modifications to the CHIS benefits, contributions and affiliation conditions set out in document CERN/FC/6066/Rev.-CERN/3282/Rev., which will take effect from 1 July 2017.
CERN PENSION FUND
Report by the Chair of the Governing Board
The Council took note of a report by the Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board, Dr Roth, on the activities of the Board, the Investment Committee and the Actuarial and Technical Committee since the last Council Session in September 2016.
Technical Amendments to the Agreement between CERN and ESO concerning the Admission of ESO Staff to the CERN Pension Fund
The Council approved a set of technical amendments to the agreement between CERN and ESO concerning the admission of ESO staff to the CERN Pension Fund, set out in document CERN/FC/6067-CERN/3283.
Report by the Chair of the Working Group on Pension Fund Governance
The Council heard a report by the Chair of the Working Group on the Governance of the Pension Fund, Mr Pardo, on the outcome of the group’s first meeting, held on 30 November 2016.
Reform of the CERN pension scheme
The Council agreed to invite the President to submit a formal proposal on the next steps, for approval in March 2017.
STANDING ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AUDITS (SACA)
Report on Activities 2016
The Council took note of a report on the activities and conclusions of the Standing Advisory Committee on Audits (SACA) over the course of its four meetings in 2016, set out in document CERN/FC/6064/RA CERN/3279/RA.
Draft Terms of Reference for a CERN Audit Committee submitted by SACA
The Council agreed to invite SACA to submit a formal proposal for the Terms of Reference of a CERN Audit Committee for approval at the March 2017 Session.
PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS
The Council took note of a presentation by Dr C. Bianchin (Wayne State University) on the preliminary findings of a study on the career development of young scientists after a period of association with CERN.
OUTCOME OF THE OCTOBER 2016 LIU AND HL-LHC COST & SCHEDULE REVIEW
The Council heard an oral report on the second LIU and HL-LHC cost and schedule review.
REVIEW OF THE LIMITED-DURATION STAFF COMPLEMENT: REALLOCATION OF RESOURCES
The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1079/RA-CERN/FC/6065/RA-CERN/3281/RA, which outlined the reasons for the Management’s planned one-off recruitment of some 80 additional staff on limited-duration contracts, to be assigned to key technical areas where crucial needs had been identified in the course of a recent comprehensive analysis of resources.
PREPARATION OF THE MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2018-2022
The Council took note of an oral presentation by the Director-General of the main pillars of the 2018-2022 Medium-Term Plan and the specific items that would require the Management’s close attention over the coming months.
TIME FRAME FOR THE NEXT UPDATE OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY FOR PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ONE AMENDMENT TO THE APPLICABLE PROCEDURAL FRAMEWORK (CERN/3092/RA)
The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/SPC/1080/RA-CERN/3289/RA, decided that May 2020 was the optimum time frame for the approval of the next update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. It further decided to amend the procedural framework for the European Strategy for Particle Physics so as to allow the appointment of the Strategy Secretary and the establishment of the Strategy Secretariat more than half a year before the formal launch of the update process, i.e. by September 2017 in the present case.
FUNDAISING - LIST OF PROPOSED PROJECTS
The Council approved the addition of the CERN Entrepreneurship Student Programme to the list of existing projects within the framework of the CERN and Society programme.
CLOSED SESSION
ENLARGEMENT PROCESS
Slovenia
The Council decided, by consensus, to approve the Resolution set out in document CERN/3288/RA pertaining to the admission of the Republic of Slovenia as Associate Member State in the pre-stage to membership of CERN, in accordance with the provisions of document CERN/2918/Rev., subject to the signature and entry into force of the Agreement annexed to the Resolution.
Recent developments
The Council took note of the report by the Director-General on the status of discussions with Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Ireland, Lithuania, Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation, and on possible future international cooperation agreements with other countries.
ELECTIONS
The Council re-elected Professor S. de Jong as President and Professor E. Rabinovici as Vice-President, each for one year as of 1 January 2017.
On the proposal of the SPC, it elected Professor Keith Ellis (UK) as Chair of the Scientific Policy Committee for a first period of one year, starting 1 January 2017; it appointed Professor C. Biscari (IT), Professor B. Heinemann (DE), and Professor H. Montgomery (USA), as new members of the Scientific Policy Committee for a period of three years from 1 January 2017; and it re-appointed Professor B. Gavela (ES), Professor M. Huyse (BE) and Professor V. Rubakov (RU), as members for a second period of three years from 1 January 2017.
The Council elected Professor U. Dosselli (IT) Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee for a first period of one year as of 1 January 2017 and it re-elected Ms B. Vizkelety (HU) Vice-Chair of TREF for a second period of three years as of 1 January 2017.
On the proposal of SACA, it appointed Mr T. Rajaobelina as an expert member of SACA for a period of three years starting on 1 January 2017.
OPEN SESSION
COMMITTEE REPORTS
The Council heard reports by the Chairs of the Finance Committee, the Scientific Policy Committee and ECFA on their respective activities since the last Open Session of the Council.
REPORT ON THE WORK PLAN ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MoU BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND CERN FOR THE PERIOD 2017-2018
The Council took note of the report on the work plan on the implementation of the MoU between the European Commission and CERN for the period 2017-2018, set out in document CERN/3291.
TALKS BY YOUNG SCIENTISTS
(Item 10 of the Agenda)
- Accelerator performance and plans
The Council heard a presentation by G. Iadarola.
- ALICE
The Council heard a presentation by C. Loizides.
- ATLAS + LHCf
The Council heard a presentation by F. Meloni.
- CMS + TOTEM
The Council heard a presentation by Z. Demiragli.
- LHCb + MoEDAL
The Council heard a presentation by Y. Li.
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