HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIRST SESSION OF COUNCIL
16 and 17 June 2016
CLOSED SESSION
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The Council passed a Resolution relating to the 15-year repayment of Greece’s contribution arrears and a 15% reduction in its ordinary CERN contributions for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, to be compensated on terms to be determined by the Council in 2019.
ENLARGEMENT PROCESS
India
After hearing an oral report by Ms C. Warakaulle on the visit of the fact-finding Task Force to India, the Council noted, with satisfaction, the conclusions reached by the Task Force, namely that India fulfils the applicable criteria for the granting of the status of Associate Member State, and decided, by consensus, to authorise the Director-General to submit to India the Model Agreement for the Granting of the Status of Associate Member (CERN/3057/RA) and to finalise the text once agreement is reached with India on its annual financial contribution to CERN, within the framework set out in document CERN/2918/Rev.
Recent developments
The Council heard a report by the Director-General on the progress of the applications from Brazil, Croatia, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania1, the Russian Federation, Serbia2, Slovenia and Ukraine, and on recent contacts with Australia, Canada and Latvia, as well as with the International Parliamentary Union.
ELECTIONS
Dr T. Roth was reappointed as member and Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board for a period of three years, as of 1 November 2016.
Dr A. Raimondo was appointed as Vice-Chair of the Pension Fund Governing Board, with immediate effect, until 30 April 2018.
Mr O. Malmberg (Finland) was elected Chair of the Finance Committee for a first period of one year as of 1 January 2017.
Senior Staff Appointment Replacement of the Human Resources Department Head
The Council decided to appoint Mr J. Purvis (UK) as Head of the Human Resources Department for the period from 1 August 2016 to 31 December 2020, and further voiced appreciation to the outgoing Head of the Human Resources Department, Ms A-S. Catherin, for her services to the Organization and to the Council and its subordinate bodies.
RESTRICTED SESSION
DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT
The Director-General gave an oral report on the following matters:
- Update on the initiatives to strengthen relations with the Member States
- Waiting for preliminary results of the 2016 LHC data-taking
- Appointment of the new leader of the Education, Communications and Outreach Group
- External review of CERN’s financial and human resources
- Relations with the LHC experiments’ funding agencies
- Protocol visits since 1 January 2016
STANDING ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AUDITS (SACA)
On the recommendation of the Standing Advisory Committee on Audits, the Council decided to approve the procedure for the selection and appointment of the External Auditors of the Organization, as set out in Section II of document CERN/3250.
CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH (CERN) AND THE GOVERNMENT OF LATVIA
The Council approved a Cooperation Agreement with the Government of Latvia.
THE HIGH-LUMINOSITY LHC PROJECT
In response to requests from a number of Council delegations, the Management had produced a highly informative document (CERN/SPC/1068-CERN/FC/6014-CERN/3255) setting out the scientific and technical aspects and cost and schedule of the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC machine, the so-called HL-LHC project. After hearing an extensive presentation by the Director-General explaining the physics goals, technical challenges, overall cost and schedule of the HL-LHC programme, and on the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee, the Council formally approved the HL-LHC project which, as part of the overall LHC programme, implements the highest priority of the European Strategy for Particle Physics.
MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2017-2021 AND DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE SIXTY-THIRD FINANCIAL YEAR 2017
The Council approved the overall strategy for the reference period as outlined in Chapter I of document (CERN/SPC/1064-CERN/FC/6011-CERN/3246) and elaborated upon in the Appendices (Chapter IV.1), together with the 2017 Draft Budget in 2016 prices set out in Chapter IV of the same document. The Council further took note of the Resources plan for the years 2017 to 2021 set out in Chapter II of the document.
2017 BUDGET: SCALE OF CONTRIBUTIONS
The Council approved the percentage scale of contributions for 2017, set out in Table 1 of document CERN/FC/6008-CERN/3243, to be applied to the final Budget for 2017 in 2017 prices.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 11TH EDITION OF THE STAFF RULES & REGULATIONS
The Council approved the proposed amendments to the Staff Rules set out in document CERN/FC/6012-CERN/3247, on the understanding that the amended provisions concerning the status of apprentices would enter into force on 1 August 2016 and the remaining technical adjustments on 1 September 2016.
PENSION FUND
Periodic Actuarial Review of the Pension Fund as of 1.1.2016
The Council took note of the information on the 2016 periodic actuarial review set out in document CERN/FC/6013/RA-CERN/3248/RA, of the presentation of by the Pension Fund’s Consulting Actuary explaining the basis for the new best estimate assumptions used in the review, and of the improvement in the projected funding level at 1.1.2041 from 95.5% in 2013 to 113.6% today, confirming that the 2010/2011 package of measures was having the desired effect of helping to restore the financial balance of the Fund.
Draft Mandate for the Consulting Actuary for a cost analysis of measures relating to the CERN pension scheme
The Council approved a mandate for the Consulting Actuary to conduct a cost analysis of potential measures relating to the CERN pension scheme.
PENSION FUND GOVERNANCE
The Council also decided to establish a working group on the governance of the Pension Fund, the members of which are to be nominated by the various constituencies for the September Session of the Council and will start their work immediately thereafter, with the aim of concluding in 2017.
ACCESS STATUS OF COUNCIL DOCUMENTS
The Council approved a new set of provisions governing the access status of documents submitted to the Council and its subordinate bodies and the procedure for granting such access to duly authorised persons. The new provisions are set out in document CERN/3252.
OPEN SESSION
ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 2015
The Council unanimously approved the Annual Progress Report 2015, as set out in document CERN/SPC/1061/Rev.-CERN/FC/5986/Rev.-CERN/3228/Rev.
2015 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF CERN
The Council unanimously approved the 2015 Financial Statements of CERN set out in document CERN/FC/6001-CERN/3237 and granted discharge to the Director-General.
2015 ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE CERN PENSION FUND
The Council approved the 2015 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the CERN Pension Fund, set out in document CERN/FC/6004-CERN/3240 and granted discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board.
PARTICLE PHYSICS IN CHINA AND JAPAN
The Council heard informative talks by the Director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Y. Wang, on the major current and future particle and astroparticle physics projects in China, and by the Director-General of Japan’s KEK Laboratory, Professor M. Yamauchi, on developments in particle physics in Japan.
LHC MATTERS
Finally, the Council heard presentations by the CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr F. Bordry, and by the CERN Director for Research and Scientific Computing, Professor E. Elsen, and congratulated all CERN and contractors’ personnel, users and external teams involved on the excellent performance of the LHC machine, injector complex and experiments following the year-end technical stop, with peak luminosity close to the design value of 1034 cm-1s-1 and an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb-1 so far delivered in 2016, which augurs well for a bumper harvest of physics results in the coming months.
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1 Candidate for Accession since 2008, scheduled to accede to Member State status in 2016
2 Associate Member State in the pre-stage of Membership since 2012