151

HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIRST SESSION OF COUNCIL

RESTRICTED, CLOSED AND OPEN SESSIONS

18 & 19 JUNE 2009

 

RESTRICTED SESSION
18 JUNE 2009

 

NON-MEMBER STATE MATTERS

Second Report from the Working Group on the Scientific and Geographical Enlargement of CERN

The Council took note of the oral presentations by Mrs Kokkinakis, on the Working Group’s progress with respect to the issue of geographical enlargement, and by Professor Spiro on the its progress with respect to global projects and scientific enlargement.

Draft Terms of Reference for the High-Level Advisory Panel

The Council took note of the presentation by Professor Spiro on the Working Group’s deliberations with respect to the High-Level Advisory Panel, and agreed to defer the drafting of the HLAP’s terms of reference to after the September Council meeting, at the earliest.

Israel’s attendance to Restricted Council Sessions for LHC-related matters

The Council agreed by consensus to grant Israel the right to attend LHC-related items on the agendas of its Restricted Sessions, on the understanding that comprehensive information would be provided by the Management at the September meeting on the contributions of all non-Member States to the LHC.

Letter from Pakistan

The Council agreed that Pakistan should be informed that the Council will address the question on new Observer States once the ongoing process on Scientific and Geographical Enlargement has been concluded.

 

LHC PROGRESS REPORT

The Council took note of the presentation by the Director-General on the overall progress towards the LHC restart, of the reports by the Chairmen of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee, and of the statements by delegations during the discussion, and agreed to defer its general assessment of LHC progress to the following day's Open Session.

 

APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP OF CERN

Discussion on the relation between the procedure for the received applications and the ongoing process regarding the geographical enlargement of CERN

The Council decided to postpone further consideration of applications for membership pending submission of the final report of the Working Group on Scientific and Geographical Enlargement and to re-open the issue in December 2009 whether or not the Working Group’s report was available at that time.

Received applications

  • Israel
  • The Republic of Cyprus
  • The Republic of Serbia
  • The Republic of Turkey

The Council agreed that the applicant states would be informed of its decision under the previous sub-item on the agenda.

Received Expression of Interest

  • The Republic of Slovenia

 

STAFF RULES AND REGULATIONS 11TH EDITION PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER II AND ANNEX R A 11 (CONTRACT POLICY)

The Council unanimously decided to approve the proposed amendments to the Rules set out therein, on the understanding that the new provisions would come into force on 1 August 2009.

The Council further took note that the Finance Committee had approved the proposed amendments to the Staff Regulations set out in the document, subject to the Council’s approval of the Rules.

 

FIVE-YEARLY REVIEW 2010

The Council, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, unanimously decided to approve the proposals identifying the financial and social conditions to be reviewed in the forthcoming five-yearly review, on the understanding that, if necessary, the Management would submit for consideration at a later stage proposals for amendments to Annex 1 of the Staff Rules and Regulations for application at subsequent reviews.

 

REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SCIENTIFIC POLICY COMMITTEE

Areas of competences to be covered by the SPC

The Council agreed on the following guidelines for the Scientific Policy Committee in making its recommendations to the Council for the appointment of new members:importance should continue to be accorded to accelerator expertise;

  • the Chairman of the new Machine Advisory Committee should be an ex officio member of the SPC;
  • membership should also include expertise in fixed-target physics;
  • the SPC should retain neutrino expertise, bearing in mind that three members possessing such expertise would be leaving the Committee at the end of 2009;
  • bearing in mind also the possible scientific enlargement of the Organization, the SPC should ensure it maintains a high level of expertise in astroparticle physics;
  • the LHC physics-related membership should not be unduly weighted towards any one LHC collaboration.

 

MEDIUM-TERM PLAN

Modified Strategy and Goals for 2009

The Council took note of the information set out in the document and of the oral presentation by the Director-General.

Medium-Term Plan for the Period 2010-2014 and Draft Budget of the Organization for the Fifty-Sixth Financial Year 2010

Noting the recommendation made by the Finance Committee, the Council decided to approve the overall strategy for the reference period set out in Sections I and II of the document and took note of the Resources Plan for the period 2010 to 2014 set out in Section III.

The Council unanimously decided to approve the 2010 Draft Budget in 2009 prices set out in Section IV, noting that the 2010 goals for Outreach and Scientific Exchange and for Knowledge and Technology Transfer, as stated by the Director-General and annexed to the minutes of the meeting, should be considered as part of the programme in the Medium-Term Plan.

 

PROPOSAL FOR FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE INDEXATION OF THE MEMBER STATE CONTRIBUTIONS

The Council decided to approve a “corridor” for the indexation of the Member States’ contributions of between 0% and 2% for the initial period 2010 – 2012 to be applied according to the procedure outlined in the document.

 

FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CALCULATION OF THE SCALE OF THE MEMBER STATES’ CONTRIBUTIONS

The Council agreed to postpone further consideration of the matter pending additional input from the Finance Committee at its September meeting, in particular on the latter's assessment of the arrangements applied by other international organisations in Europe.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

Revised CERN/ESO Agreement on the Admission of ESO Staff to the CERN Pension Fund

The Council unanimously decided to approve the revised Agreement between CERN and ESO concerning the admission of ESO staff to the CERN Pension Fund, as set out in the Annex, which would enter into force once signed by the Directors-General of CERN and ESO.

 

CONFIRMATION OF THE ACCESS STATUS OF DOCUMENTS

The Council unanimously decided to approve the access status of the documents, as shown on the Agenda.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

Accuracy of the time shown on CERN clocks

 

CLOSED SESSION

ELECTIONS:

 

COUNCIL

President of Council – Preliminary discussion of the full list of candidates

The Council decided to invite the two nominees for the Council Presidency to attend interviews to be held during the September Closed Session.

Vice-President of Council – Call for nominations of candidates

The Council took note of the President's call for nominations for the position of Vice-President of Council.

Re-election of One Vice-President of Council The Council unanimously decided to re-elect Professor B. Sitar Vice-President of the Council for a third and final period of one year from 1 July 2009.

 

CERN AUDIT COMMITTEE

Discussion on proposed candidates for the CAC’s Chairmanship

The Council agreed to postpone a general discussion about the future of the CERN Audit Committee to its September meeting, pending consultations with the External Auditors by the President of Council and the Chairman of the Finance Committee.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

Appointment of the General Manager of the Pension Fund

The Council unanimously decided to appoint Mr T. Económou General Manager of the CERN Pension Fund for a term of office of three years from 1st September 2009.

The Council further requested the Management to convey its sincere thanks and appreciation to the outgoing Administrator of the Pension Fund, Mr C. Cuénoud, for his stewardship of the Pension Fund over the past twenty years.

 

WORKING GROUP ON THE SCIENTIFIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL ENLARGEMENT OF CERN

Appointment of the High-Level Advisory Panel

The Council agreed, in the light of its discussions in the Restricted Session, to postpone further consideration of the composition and terms of reference of the High-Level Advisory Panel to its September meeting.

 

SENIOR STAFF APPOINTMENT

Appointment of the Head of the Human Resources

The Council unanimously decided to approve the early termination of the mandate of Dr E. Chiaveri as Head of the Human Resources Department on 31 July 2009 and the appointment of Mrs A-S. Catherin as Head of the Human Resources Department for the period from 1 August 2009 to 31 December 2013.

The Council further requested the Management to convey its sincere thanks and appreciation to Dr Chiaveri for his management of the Human Resources Department over the past four years.

 

APPOINTMENT PROCEDURES

Discussion on the question whether or not the selection procedure for the Director-General should be reviewed now

The Council agreed to postpone further consideration of the matter to its December 2009 Closed Session.

 

OPEN SESSION

19 June 2009

 

REPORT ON THE DECISIONS TAKEN AT RESTRICTED AND CLOSED SESSIONS

The Council took note of the President's report on the decisions taken at the Restricted, Closed and European Strategy Sessions in March and June 2009, and of the statement by the representative of the European Commission, Dr L. Karapiperis.

 

REPORT BY THE COORDINATOR FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The Council took note of the presentation of the new website of CERN’s External Relations Office by the Coordinator for External Relations, Professor Pauss.

 

ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS (FINANCIAL STATEMENTS) FOR 2008

Annual Progress Report for 2008 - Assessment and comments by the External Auditors on the Annual Progress Report for 2008

Assessment and comments by the SPC on the Annual Progress Report for 2008

Assessment and comments by the FC on the Annual Progress Report for 2008

The President delivered the Council’s overall assessment of the Organization’s performance in 2008, as agreed in Closed Session the previous day:

“The 2008 Annual Progress Report has not been possible to write with respect to goals decided by the Council, since 2009 is the first year with such goals defined. This Performance Assessment is therefore primarily targeted at the structure of the Annual Progress Report. Nevertheless, since last year was dominated by the LHC commissioning, some statements have to be made with respect to this.

In general, the Council considers that CERN performed well in 2008 by getting the LHC fully assembled and obtaining circulating beams at injection energy in record time. This demonstrated the qualities of its design. The personnel and its leadership worked remarkably hard and in a devoted way to make this happen.

Referring to the SPC reports to the Council, what has been learned following the machine failure shows that some of the quality control should have been stronger. It also became clear that the quench-protection system and the capacity of the pressure relief system were insufficient.

The efficiency and competence with which the Organization acted after the machine failure, shows the competence and motivation of its staff and the personnel involved from other institutions. This makes the Council confident that the LHC will enter into operation as the energy frontier accelerator of the world when all appropriate measures have been taken.

The experiments become operational in 2008. This is an outstanding achievement of the experimental collaborations and the involved CERN staff.

The deployment of the computing grid is a major achievement.

The remainder of the statements in this Assessment refer to the structure of the Annual Progress Report for the reasons described in the beginning of the text.

The Council fully supports the recommendations of the External Auditors (CERN/2848), which should be implemented in the next Annual Progress Report.

The Council supports and would like to see implemented in the next Annual Progress Report the proposals presented by the Chairman of the SPC, as annexed to the minutes.

The Council supports and would like to see implemented in the next Annual Progress Report the proposals presented by the Chairman of the FC, as annexed to the minutes.”

On the basis of the overall performance assessment, the Council unanimously approved the Annual Progress Report for 2008.

Annual Accounts (Financial Statements) for the Financial Year 2008

Report by the External Auditors on the Annual Accounts of CERN for the Financial Year 2008

External Auditors’ Report on the Annual Accounts for the Financial Year 2008Comments by the Management

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council unanimously decided to approve the 2008 Annual Accounts and grant discharge to the Director-General for the financial year 2008.

 

CERN PENSION FUND

Annual Report and Financial Statements 2008

Report by the External Auditors on the Accounts of the CERN Pension Fund for the Financial Year 2008

Report by the External Auditors on the Accounts of the CERN Pension Fund for the Financial Year 2008

Comments by the Administration of the Fund

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council unanimously decided to approve the Annual Report and Accounts of the CERN Pension Fund for 2008 and to grant discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board.

 

LHC STATUS REPORT

The Council took note of the technical status report by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Myers, on the LHC machine, including on the machine repairs, on the measures being taken to enhance performance reliability, on the spares and operational consolidation policy and on a preliminary estimate of their associated cost. The Council further took note of the oral status report on the LHC experiments and computing grid by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Bertolucci, and of the oral reports by the Chairmen of the Scientific Policy Committee and the Finance Committee.

The Council further took note of information provided by the Director-General i) on the Management's cautious start-up strategy in connection with the measures to ensure operational reliability, including the possible warm-up of the currently cold sectors if resistance measurements showed that to be necessary, and ii) on the LHC's initial operating energy (a maximum of 5 TeV per beam), and further noted that, on the basis of present knowledge, there was currently a two-to-three-week delay with respect to the start-up date announced in February but that the Management remained fully committed to producing LHC collisions by the autumn of 2009.

The Council also strongly endorsed a statement by the Director-General i) acknowledging the great efforts entailed by the repairs and additional operational reliability measures on the part of CERN personnel, users and manpower seconded from other institutes, and ii) expressing appreciation for the invaluable input provided by the two external panels.

The Council also took note that further operational consolidation measures would be required for operation at 7 TeV per beam.

Finally, the Council expressed its appreciation for the flexibility and ingenuity shown by CERN staff and Management in responding to the September 2008 incident and performing the resulting repair and reliability enhancement work, and looked forward to sustained good progress over the coming months.

 

DRAFT TIMETABLE FOR COUNCIL SESSIONS AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS 2010

The Council unanimously approved the draft timetable for Council Sessions and Committee meetings in 2010 with the proviso that the December session of the Council and its Committees should be held during the week starting 13 December 2010.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

Letter from the Director-General of UNESCO

On the request from the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, the President read a letter from Mr Matsuura addressed to the CERN Director-General, expressing his appreciation of the cooperation between UNESCO and CERN.

Departure of a member of the Austrian delegation

The Council warmly thanked Ms C. Kokkinakis who has been an alternate Council delegate for Austria since January 2005 and was attending her last meeting.

Departure of the Human Resources Department Head

The Council warmly thanked Dr E. Chiaveri for his stable leadership of the Human Resources Department since he started at its Head in 2005.

Retirement of the Administrator of the CERN Pension Fund

The Council warmly thanked Mr C. Cuenoud for his services since 1989 as the Administrator of the Pension Fund; a responsibility of large magnitude.

Departure of an interpreter

The Council warmly thanked Ms U. Barth who has been interpreter for the Council since 40 years.

Departure of the Chairman of ECFA

The Council warmly thanked Prof. K Meier who steps down as Chairman of ECFA.

Departure of a member of the Dutch delegation

The Council also asked the Dutch delegation to convey its warm thanks to Ms J. Mout-Leurs.