HUNDRED AND SIXTIETH SESSION OF COUNCIL
15 September 2011
RESTRICTED SESSION
NON-MEMBERS STATE MATTERS
General Report on non-Member State Matters
The Council took note of the information provided by the Director-General on his recent discussions with the US Department of Energy and on contacts with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, India, Pakistan and Russia.
LHC PROGRESS REPORT
The Council took note of the presentations by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Myers, and the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Bertolucci, of the additional comments by the Director-General and of the oral reports by the Chairman of the Scientific Policy Committee, Professor Zwirner, and the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Jacobsen.
The Council warmly congratulated everyone at CERN and in the LHC collaborations and the Worldwide Computing Grid for the rapid progress made and the excellent performances to date on all fronts.
PENSION FUND
Report by the Chairman of the Governing Board
The Council took note of the oral report by the Chairman of the Governing Board, Professor Riska, covering items addressed by the Pension Fund Governing Board since June, of the report by the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Jacobsen, and of the statement by the French delegation regarding the status of discussions on the levying of registration taxes on the Organization’s real-estate holdings on behalf of the Pension Fund in France.
QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL TO THE SPC
Report on: The scientific significance of the possible exclusion of the SM Higgs boson in the mass range 114-600 GeV and how it should be best communicated
The Council took note of the SPC's report on the scientific significance of the possible exclusion of the SM Higgs boson in the mass range 114-600 GeV and how it should be best communicated, set out in document CERN/SPC/978/Rev. CERN/2986/Rev., of the oral presentation by Professor Zwirner and of the observations made by delegations during the discussion.
Finally the Council expressed its appreciation to the SPC for its extensive work, which represented an important step forward in preparing the communication of LHC results, especially the significance of the possible exclusion of a SM Higgs boson, and invited the Director-General to have a 1-2 page summary drawn up of the main points raised by the SPC, targeted at politicians, the press, the general public and schools.
* * *
CLOSED SESSION
REPORT ON APPLICANT STATES
The Council took note of the Director-General's report on the progress of the Membership applications from Cyprus, Israel, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey and, in particular that formal negotiations with Serbia and Slovenia had begun during the summer and were scheduled to start with Turkey and Cyprus in the autumn.
COUNCIL RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE ADMISSION OF ISRAEL AS ASSOCIATE MEMBER STATE IN THE PRE-STAGE TO MEMBERSHIP AT CERN:
The Council took note of document CERN/2985/RA, and decided, by consensus, to adopt the Resolution set out therein and thus to admit Israel as Associate Member State in the pre-stage to Membership, as defined in document CERN/2918/Rev., subject to the signature and entry into force of the Agreement annexed to the Resolution.
The Council further expressed its appreciation to the Director-General and the Legal Service for the efficient manner in which they had elaborated the Resolution and the Agreement.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - TREF CHAIRMAN
The Council took note of the introductory remarks by the President, recalling the procedure for the election of the Chairman of TREF, set out in document CERN/2762/Rev., which required the call for nominations to take place three Council Sessions prior to the commencement of the new Chairman's term of office.
Given the departure of the present incumbent before the end of his term of office, the Council agreed that, exceptionally, an accelerated election procedure could be adopted and therefore unanimously decided to invite delegations to send nominations and CVs to the Council Secretariat with a view to the election of the new Chairman of TREF at the December 2011 Closed Session.
Finally, the Council took note that the one remaining TREF meeting scheduled in 2011, on 13 October, would be chaired by the Forum's Vice-Chairman Mr B. Dormy.
PENSION FUND RE-APPOINTMENT TO THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE PENSION FUND
The Council took note of document CERN/2987/RA and of the oral presentation by the Chairman of the Pension Fund Governing Board, Professor Riska, and, on the recommendation of the Pension Fund Governing Board, unanimously decided to re-appoint Mr Richard Balfe as professional member of the Pension Fund Governing Board for a period of three years as of 1 January 2012.
REVISED PROCEDURE FOR SELECTING AND APPOINTING THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF CERN
The Council took note of the document CERN/2329/Rev. and, subject to the amendment agreed during the discussion, unanimously decided to approve the revised procedure for selecting and appointing the Director-General of CERN set out therein.