163

HUNDRED AND SIXTY-THIRD SESSION OF COUNCIL

21-22 June 2012

RESTRICTED SESSION

 

PARTICIPATION OF JINR DUBNA IN THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY GROUP

The Council unanimously agreed to invite the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) Dubna to join the European Strategy Group as an Observer.

 

PENSION FUND

STATUS OF THE PENSION FUND'S ASSETS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CAPITAL PRESERVATION STRATEGY

The Council heard a presentation by the Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Fund, Mr Economou, on progress on the implementation of the capital preservation strategy, the new monitoring and reporting structure and the risk management process within the Pension Fund and on their impact on the performance of the Fund’s assets in 2011 and to date in 2012.

The Council took note:

- of concerns voiced by some delegations relating to the situation of the Pension Fund, particularly in view of the financial and economic difficulties faced in the Member States and the continuing volatility of the world financial markets;

- of the statement by the Director for Administration and General Infrastructure that the situation was regularly monitored by the PFGB and that regular status reports were presented to the Finance Committee and the Council;

- of the statement by the President, who underlined that the package of measures to restore the Pension Fund to full funding had been finalised as recently as March 2012 and that it would thus be appropriate to await the next actuarial review, scheduled for 2013, to assess the impact of the measures on the funding ratio before deciding on possible further remedial action.

Finally, the Council agreed that, as important background information for the Council's future discussions on Pension Fund issues, the Director for Administration and General Infrastructure would give a presentation to the Council in September in his capacity as Chairman of the Pension Fund Investment Committee explaining the Fund's investment strategy and its impact on the evolution of the Fund's financial situation.

 

FINANCIAL REGULATIONS OF THE PENSION FUND

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council approved the Financial Regulations of the Pension Fund set out in the Annex to document CERN/FC/5639-CERN/3021, as proposed by the PFGB, for entry into force with immediate effect.

 

MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2013-2017 AND DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE FIFTHY-NINTH FINANCIAL YEAR 2013

The Council took note of the information set out in document CERN/SPC/990-CERN/FC/5642-CERN/3022, of the presentation and additional explanations of the Management’s planning strategy for the period 2013-2017 and beyond by the Director-General, and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, approved the overall strategy for the reference period together with the 2013 Draft Budget in 2012 prices. The Council further took note of the Resources Plan for 2013 to 2017.

 

2013 BUDGET: SCALE OF CONTRIBUTIONS

The Council approved the percentage scale of contributions for 2013 in Table 1 of document CERN/FC/5643-CERN/3027, to be applied to the Final Budget for 2013 in 2013 prices.

 

PROPOSAL FOR THE EXTENSION OF THE "CORRIDOR PRINCIPLE" FOR THE INDEXATION OF THE MEMBER STATES' CONTRIBUTIONS

The Council approved the proposal set out in document CERN/FC/5644-CERN/3023 to maintain the current arrangement for the indexation of the Member States’ contributions (i.e. the “corridor” of between 0% and 2%) for the coming years until the financial and economic environment changes substantially.

 

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 11TH EDITION OF THE STAFF RULES & REGULATIONS RELATING TO: THE GEOGRAPHICAL ENLARGEMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION, THE REDEFINITION OF CATEGORIES OF MEMBERS OF THE PERSONNEL AND MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS OF A TECHNICAL NATURE

The Council approved amendments to CERN's Staff Rules and Regulations, set out in document CERN/FC/5647-CERN/3026, taking into account the geographical enlargement of the Organization, the redefinition of categories of members of the personnel and other miscellaneous technical issues for entry into force on 1 September 2012 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Council further took note that, at its meeting the previous day, the Finance Committee had unanimously approved the proposed amendments to the Staff Regulations set out in the document with the same timetable for entry into force.

 

CLOSED SESSION

 

REPORT ON APPLICANT STATES

The Council took note of the Director-General’s status report concerning progress towards accession to Associate Membership as the pre-stage to Membership of Cyprus, Slovenia and Turkey and on his recent contacts with Brazil, Canada, Georgia, India and Russia.

 

APPOINTMENT OF THE NEXT EXTERNAL AUDITORS

The Council unanimously decided to appoint the Supreme Audit Office of Poland as External Auditors of the Organization for an initial period of three years from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2015.

 

APPOINTMENT OF THE VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE PENSION FUND GOVERNING BOARD

On the recommendation of the Pension Fund Governing Board, the Council unanimously decided to appoint Mr S. Weisz Vice-Chairman of the Board for a period of three years as of 21 June 2012.

 

OPEN SESSION

 

ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS (FINANCIAL STATEMENTS) FOR 2011

The Council, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, decided to approve the Annual Progress Report (APR) for 2011 and endorse the External Auditors’ suggestions for future Annual Progress Reports.

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council also decided to approve the 2011 Annual Accounts and grant discharge to the Director-General.

 

CERN PENSION FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR 2011

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council decided to approve the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the CERN Pension Fund for the 2011 financial year and to grant discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board.

 

LHC PROGRESS REPORT

The Council took note of the Director-General's report on the status of the LHC machine, computing and experiments and other aspects of the scientific programme and congratulated the CERN Management, the Organization, the collaborations and all those concerned on the achievements to date in 2012.

The Council also took note that the Management was planning to hold a seminar at CERN on 4 July 2012 to give an update on the status of the search for the Higgs boson particle, to coincide with the opening of the ICHEP conference in Melbourne.