TWO-HUNDRED-AND-TWELFTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL
22-23 JUNE 2023
RESTRICTED COUNCIL
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The President reported that, since the Council’s March Session, he had attended meetings of the Council’s subordinate bodies, the Scientific Policy Committee, the Finance Committee, the Audit Committee, the Pension Fund Governing Board and TREF, as well as meetings of the Working Group on the Governance of CERN. He had also attended the FCC week in London, from 5 to 9 June, during which he had also participated, as an observer, in a meeting of the FCC Feasibility Study Steering Committee and noted with satisfaction the progress achieved. Finally, he had remotely attended a meeting of early career researchers and been encouraged to see the thoughtfulness displayed by the younger generation in analysing how the future plans for the field might align with their own plans.
IMPLEMENTATION PRIORITY AND TIMELINE OF POSSIBLE COST-SAVING MEASURES FOR THE PERIOD 2024-2032
The Council heard a presentation by the Director-General outlining the impact, implementation priority and timeline of the various possible cost-saving measures for the period 2024-2032 that had been devised as part of the package of measures to mitigate the impact of inflation and electricity prices on the CERN Budget.
PROPOSAL FOR AN ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION FROM THE MEMBER AND ASSOCIATE MEMBER STATES TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF INFLATION AND ELECTRICITY PRICES ON CERN’S BUDGET
The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Finance and Human Resources, Mr Bello, and reports by the Chair of the Scientific Policy Committee, Dr Montgomery, and the Chair of the Finance Committee, Dr Salzarulo, and, on the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee, approved an additional contribution by the Member and Associate Member States of 73.8 MCHF as part of the package of measures, involving all stakeholders, to mitigate the impact of inflation and electricity prices on the CERN budget. The Council further took note of expressions of appreciation by the President and the Director-General for the Member and Associate Member States’ strong support of CERN, particularly in the difficult economic situation currently facing all countries.
MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2024-2028 AND DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE SEVENTIETH FINANCIAL YEAR 2024
The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1206/Rev.-CERN/FC/6678/Rev.- CERN/3731 and of a presentation by the Director-General outlining the scientific and financial strategy for the period 2024–2028, the draft Budget for 2024, the ten-year outlook and the scientific priorities, based on the 2020 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. The Council further heard reports by the Chair of the Scientific Policy Committee, Dr Montgomery, and the Chair of the Finance Committee, Dr Salzarulo, providing the feedback given by those committees at their May and June 2023 meetings, and, on the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee and Finance Committee, approved the overall strategy for the reference period, as outlined in Chapter I of the document and elaborated upon in the appendices (Chapter IV.1), and the 2024 draft Budget in 2023 prices, as set out in Chapter III of the document. The Council further took note of the resources plan for the years 2024 to 2028, as set out in Chapter II of the document.
2024 Scale of Contributions by the Member and Associate Member States
The Council approved the scale of contributions for 2024, as set out in document CERN/FC/6686-CERN/3732, shown as percentages to be applied to the final 2024 Budget in 2024 prices, thereby confirming the correctness of the calculation.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
1) Revised Rules of Procedure of the Council
The Council took note of document CERN/3388/Rev.4 and of a presentation by the Chair of the Working Group on the Governance of CERN, Dr Bassler, and approved the revised Rules of Procedure of the Council, for entry into force on 1 July 2023.
2) Revised Terms of Reference of the Audit Committee
The Council took note of document CERN/FC/6675/Rev.-CERN/3561/Rev.3, of a presentation by Professor Schieck in his capacity as Chair of the Audit Committee and of a report by the Chair of the Finance Committee, Dr Salzarulo, and, on the recommendation of both the Audit Committee and the Finance Committee, approved the revised Terms of Reference of the CERN Audit Committee, for entry into force on 1 July 2023.
PENSION FUND
The Council heard a report by the Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB), Mr Malmberg, on the key issues discussed at the joint meeting of the PFGB and the Investment Committee held on 1 June 2023, notably the performance of the Fund’s assets as at 31 March 2023, namely +1.29% for the year to date and +3.62% on a five-year annualised basis.
REPORT ON NON-LHC EXPERIMENTS
The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Mnich, on recent activities at ISOLDE, n_TOF and the Neutrino Platform, the progress of the renovation of the CERN Library and the status of the SCOAP3 for Books initiative.
HL-LHC MATTERS
The Council heard a presentation by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Lamont, on the status of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, including the progress of the various work packages, in particular the magnet programmes, the earned-value management (EVM) status of the project, and the main upcoming procurement contracts.
The Council heard a second presentation by Professor Mnich on the progress of the Phase 2 upgrades of ATLAS and CMS, noting in particular that, despite the generally good progress achieved, the time contingency for certain subsystems was continuing to decrease.
LHC MATTERS
The Council received updates from Dr Lamont and Professor Mnich on the status of the LHC and the rest of the accelerator complex and on the LHC experiments, respectively. Dr Lamont reported, in particular, on the availability of the various components of the injector chain, the excellent performance of the LHC machine to date, including the new record integrate luminosity of 1.2 fb-1 achieved in a single 24-hour period, and the plans for running the accelerator complex for the rest of the year. Professor Mnich's presentation covered, in particular, the evidence for Higgs to Z gamma decay obtained by combining results rom ATLAS and CMS, the measurement by LHCb of the sin(2beta) angle, and the smooth operation of the Worldwide LHC computing grid (WLCG).
The Council expressed appreciation to everyone involved in the accelerator complex, the experiments and the computing for their continued excellent work.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 11TH EDITION OF THE STAFF REGULATIONS
The Council took note of document CERN/FC/6704-CERN/3736, of a presentation by the Director for Finance and Human Resources, Mr Bello, and of the report by the Chair of the Finance Committee, Dr Salzarulo, and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, approved the proposed amendments to Article R III 1.10 of the Staff Regulations relating to compensation or remuneration of special working hours performed during duty travel in specific situations, and to Article R IV 1.08 of the Staff Regulations relating to the non-concurrence of family benefits, both for entry into force on 1 July 2023.
FCC FEASIBILITY STUDY STATUS REPORT
The Council heard a presentation by the FCC Feasibility Study Leader, Dr Benedikt, covering the significant progress on the Study reported at the FCC week in London, including recent discussions with the French power utility, EDF, relating to the powering concept for the FCC-ee, 3D-modelling of the underground structures and conceptual design studies of the surface structures, recent engagement with elected officials in France and Switzerland in the municipalities situated along the planned path of the FCC tunnel, progress with the layout of the FCC-ee injectors, and the plans for site investigations and exploratory drilling in 2024.
UPDATED STRATEGY AND FRAMEWORK APPLICABLE TO KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER BY CERN FOR THE BENEFIT OF MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1091/Rev.-CERN/FC/6125/Rev.- CERN/3311/Rev. and of a presentation by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Lamont, and approved the updated strategy and framework for projects for the benefit of medical applications, as set out in the document.
CERN’S 70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
The Council took note of document CERN/3745/RA and of the presentation by the project leader for the 70th Anniversary celebrations, Dr Musa, outlining the strategic objectives, target audiences, project organisation and main themes and topics of the celebrations, which would culminate in an official ceremony at CERN on 1 October 2024, to which heads of state and government would be invited.
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closed COUNCIL
ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS
a) Reappointment of a Vice-President of the Council
The Council reappointed Professor Konstantinos Fountas (Greece) as a Vice-President of the Council for a second term of office of one year with effect from 1 July 2023.
b) TREF: appointment of a new TREF Chair
The Council appointed Ms Sarah Verth (United Kingdom) as the new Chair of the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF) for a first term of office of three years with effect from 1 January 2024.
c) Pension Fund: membership of the Pension Fund Governing Board
The Council:
- reappointed Mr Ossi Malmberg (Finland) as member and Chair of the PFGB, from 25 September 2023 until 31 December 2023;
- appointed Professor Cristina Biino (Italy) as member of the PFGB, for a first term of office of three years with effect from 1 January 2024.
d) Pension Fund: Reappointment of the Chief Executive Officer
The Council reappointed Mr Doug Heron as Chief Executive Officer of the CERN Pension Fund for a second term of office, of five years’ duration, with effect from 1 August 2024.
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open COUNCIL
CERN ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 2022
On the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee, the Council approved the Annual Progress Report of CERN for 2022, as set out in document CERN/SPC/1199/Rev.-CERN/FC/6653/Rev.-CERN/3709/Rev.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF CERN FOR 2022
On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council approved the Financial Statements of CERN for the 2022 financial year, as set out in document CERN/FC/6682-CERN/3728, and granted discharge to the Director-General.
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE CERN PENSION FUND FOR 2022
On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council approved the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the CERN Pension Fund for the 2022 financial year, as set out in document CERN/FC/6683-CERN/3729, and granted discharge to the Chief Executive Officer.
The Council expressed appreciation to the team of External Auditors from the National Audit Office of Finland for the five years of excellent service and collaboration, despite particularly trying conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the same time bade a warm welcome to the incoming team of External Auditors from Portugal’s Tribunal de Contas.
STATUS REPORT ON THE SCIENCE GATEWAY
The Council heard an oral report by the Science Gateway project leader, Mr Geeraert, on the status, cost and funding of the building and exhibitions.
REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN PARTICLE PHYSICS COMMUNICATION NETWORK
The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1203-CERN/3720 and of a presentation by the co-chair of the European Particle Physics Communication Network, Dr Mexner, and voiced appreciation to the Network for its valuable work.
REVISED TIMETABLE OF COUNCIL SESSIONS AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS IN 2023
The Council took note of document CERN/3619/Rev. and approved the revised timetable of Council Sessions and Committee meetings for 2023, including additional meetings of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee on 20-22 November 2023.
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