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HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF COUNCIL

20 & 21 June 2013

 

RESTRICTED, CLOSED AND OPEN SESSIONS

 

DIRECTOR GENERAL'S REPORT

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

  • VIP and media visits - Inauguration of “Passport to the Big Bang”
  • Inauguration of the Wigner Tier-0 computing centre in Budapest
  • Ground-breaking for new experimental facilities
  • International Linear Collider TDR event
  • CERN presentation to the United Nations ECOSOC
  • Signing of the CERN-EC Agreement on SESAME
  • Prizes and honours awarded to CERN and its staff
  • Preparations for the Open Days on 27, 28 and 29 September and for CERN’s 60th anniversary celebrations in 2014.

 

LHC MATTERS

  • Status Report on the Shut-Down Activities
  • Status Report on the LHC Experiments and Computing

The Council heard presentations on LS1 activities by the Head of the Technology Department, Dr F. Bordry, and on the LHC experiments and computing by the Director for Research and Computing, Dr S. Bertolucci.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

The Council heard an oral report by the Chairman of the Pension Fund Governing Board, Professor Riska, on the Pension Fund management structure and principles, the investment challenges and strategy, the activities of the Governing Board at its April and May 2013 meetings and the year-to-date asset performance figures.

 

MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2014-2018 AND DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE SIXTIETH FINANCIAL YEAR 2014

The Council took note of document CERN/SPC/1012- CERN/FC/5747-CERN/3069, of the presentation by the Director-General, of reports by the Chairmen of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee and of comments by delegations during the discussion and, on the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee, decided to approve the overall strategy for the reference period as presented in Chapters I and II, with the introduction of rolling reporting and evaluation of the budgetary consequences, in particular the cumulative budget deficit, during the MTP discussions in the coming years.

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council further decided to approve the 2014 Draft Budget in 2013 prices as set out in Chapter IV. Finally, the Council took note of the Resources Plan for 2014 to 2018 set out in Chapter III.

 

2014 BUDGET: SCALE OF CONTRIBUTIONS

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council unanimously decided to approve the percentage scale of contributions for 2014 set out in Table 1 of document CERN/FC/5748-CERN/3070, to be applied to the Final Budget for 2014 in 2014 prices.

 

STANDING ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AUDITS (SACA)

The Council heard an oral report by the Chairman of the SACA, Dr Jacobsen, on the Committee’s meeting on 4 June 2013.

 

CLOSED SESSION

 

ENLARGEMENT PROCESS

  • Model Council Resolution for the admission of new Member States

The Council took note of document CERN/3075/RA and decided, by consensus, to approve the Model Resolution set out in the Annex as the basis for all future admissions to Membership, thus permitting the related decision-making process to start.

  • Further developments

The Council took note of various status reports by the Management on its ongoing contacts with Israel, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Cyprus, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Canada, India and Pakistan.

 

SENIOR STAFF APPOINTMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL

The Council, on the recommendation of the Scientific Policy Committee, unanimously decided to appoint Dr L. Mapelli Head of the Physics Department for a period of two years, from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2015, and to extend his contract of employment with the Organization until 31 December 2015.

 

ELECTIONS

  • Next Finance Committee Chairman The Council decided, by consensus, to appoint Mrs C. Jamieson Chairman of the Finance Committee for a period of one year with effect from 1 January 2014.
  • Appointment of two members to the PFGB The Council decided, by consensus, to appoint Dr T. Roth (Germany) and Professor B. Sitar (Slovakia) members of the Pension Fund Governing Board for a period of three years.
  • Appointment of the Chairman of the PFGB

The Council decided, by consensus, to appoint Dr Roth Chairman of the Pension Fund Governing Board for a period of three years starting on 1 November 2013. Finally, it decided that the three-year term of office of Professor B. Sitar as member of the PFGB would begin on 1 January 2014.

 

OPEN SESSION

 

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

  • Annual Progress Report for 2012

The Council took note of documents CERN/SPC/1004/Rev.-CERN/FC/5718/Rev.-CERN/3055/Rev. and CERN/FC/5738-CERN/3062 and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, decided to approve the Annual Progress Report set out in document CERN/SPC/1004/Rev.- CERN/FC/5718/Rev.- CERN/3055/Rev., and to endorse the External Auditors’ suggestions for future Annual Progress Reports.

  • Annual Accounts (Financial Statements) for the Financial Year 2012

The Council took note of documents CERN/FC/5739-CERN/3063, CERN/FC/5740-CERN/3064 and CERN/FC/5743-CERN/3067, and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, decided to approve the 2012 Annual Accounts set out in document CERN/FC/5739- CERN/3063 and to grant discharge to the Director-General.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

  • Financial Statements for the Financial Year 2012

The Council took note of documents CERN/FC/5742-CERN/3066, CERN/FC/5741-CERN/3065 and CERN/FC/5744-CERN/3068, and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, decided to approve the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the CERN Pension Fund for the 2012 financial year set out in document CERN/FC/5742-CERN/3066, and to grant discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board.

 

REVISION OF THE CERN PROCUREMENT RULES

The Council took note of document CERN/FC/5750- CERN/3071 and, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, decided to approve the amendments to the CERN Procurement Rules set out in therein, and to review the impact of the Rules after a trial period of two years.

The Council further took note of the modifications of the General Conditions of Invitations to Tender by CERN (CERN/FC/5312) to be introduced as a consequence of the amendments to the Procurement Rules proposed in document CERN/FC/5750- CERN/3071.

 

REPORT BY THE SCIENTIFIC SECRETARY OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY SESSIONS

The Council heard an oral report by the Scientific Secretary, Professor T. Nakada, on the adoption of the updated European Strategy for Particle Physics in Brussels on 30 May 2013 and the future challenges associated with the implementation of the Strategy over the coming years.

 

REPORT OECD

The Council heard a report by Dr S. Michalowski on the study being carried out by the OECD Global Science Forum on the social and economic impact of large basic research facilities, focusing on specific case studies taken from CERN.

 

REPORT EPS

The Council heard a presentation by the former President of the European Physical Society (EPS), Professor L. Cifarelli, of the report prepared by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr, UK), on behalf of the EPS on the importance of physics to the economies of Europe.

 

DRAFT TIMETABLE FOR COUNCIL SESSIONS AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS 2013

The Council decided to approve the draft timetable for Council Sessions and Committee meetings in 2014 set out in document CERN/3072/Draft.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

The Council expressed appreciation to the External Auditors of the Italian Corte dei Conti for their work on the Annual Progress Report and on the annual financial statements and current operations of the Organization and its Pension Fund during their five-year term of office and welcomed the new External Auditors, the Supreme Audit Office of Poland (NIK).