HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIFTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL
15-16 June 2017
RESTRICTED SESSION
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The President gave an oral report on the following matters:
- Recent international particle physics events
- Meeting of the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF) on 23 May 2017
DIRECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT
The Director-General gave an oral report on the following matters:
- Open Access publishing and SCOAP3
- SESAME inauguration and Fermilab 50th anniversary ceremonies
- Protocol visits January-June 2017
- Management Liaisons
- Beamline for Schools 2017 winners
CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH (CERN) AND THE GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL
The Council unanimously decided to approve a Cooperation Agreement with the Government of Nepal, as set out in the annex to document CERN/3316/RA.
MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2018-2022 AND DRAFT BUDGET OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE SIXTY-FOURTH FINANCIAL YEAR 2018
The Council approved the overall strategy for the reference period as outlined in Chapter I of document CERN/SPC/1090-CERN/FC/6124-CERN/3310 and elaborated upon in the Appendices (Chapter IV.1), together with the 2018 Draft Budget in 2017 prices set out in Chapter III. The Council further took note of the Resources plan for the years 2018 to 2022, set out in Chapter II of the document.
2018 Budget: Scale of Contributions
The Council approved the percentage scale of contributions for 2018, set out in Table 1 of document CERN/FC/6127-CERN/3312, to be applied to the final Budget for 2018 in 2018 prices.
FINANCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES: RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE EXTERNAL REVIEW COMMITTEE SET UP BY THE DIRECTORATE - FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS
The Council heard a presentation by Dr Steinacher on the recommendations by the External Review Committee set up in April 2016 to optimise CERN’s use of financial and human resources and spending practices and on the status of implementation in the various departments of the Finance and Human Resources Sector.
STRATEGY AND FRAMEWORK APPLICABLE TO KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER BY CERN FOR THE BENEFIT OF MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
The Council approved the strategy and framework for medical applications-related activities set out in document CERN/SPC/1091/RA-CERN/FC/6125/RA-CERN/3311/RA.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CERN FINANCIAL RULES (IN PARTICULAR PROCUREMENT RULES)
The Council approved a set of substantive amendments to the Financial Rules, primarily relating to the purchasing rules and procedures, set out in document CERN/FC/6129-CERN/3313.
CLOSED SESSION
ENLARGEMENT PROCESS
The Council decided, by consensus, to adopt the Resolution set out in document CERN/3315/RA/Rev. pertaining to the admission of Lithuania as Associate Member State at CERN in accordance with the provisions of document CERN/2918/Rev. subject to the signature and entry into force of the Agreement annexed to the Resolution
The Council heard a report by the Director-General on the status of discussions with Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Slovenia. It also expressed strong support for her suggestion that CERN should apply for observer status on the Council of the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), and invited her to submit a formal proposal to that effect at the September Session.
ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS
The Council:
- re-elected Professor Jens-Jørgen Gaardhøje Vice-President of the Council, for a second period of one year with effect from 1 July 2017;
- elected Professor Barbro Åsman as Chair of the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF) for a first period of three years, as of 1 January 2018;
- re-appointed Mr Matthew Eyton-Jones as Chief Executive Officer of the CERN Pension Fund for a term of office of three years as of 1 July 2018;
- appointed the National Audit Office of Finland as the next External Auditors of the Organization, to serve for the period 2018 to 2020.
OPEN SESSION
ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 2016
The Council unanimously approved the Annual Progress Report 2016, as set out in document CERN/SPC/1084/Rev.-CERN/FC/6096/Rev.-CERN/3294/Rev.
2016 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF CERN
The Council unanimously approved the 2016 Financial Statements of CERN set out in document CERN/FC/6117-CERN/3303 and granted discharge to the Director-General.
2016 ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE CERN PENSION FUND
The Council approved the 2016 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the CERN Pension Fund, set out in document CERN/FC/6120-CERN/3306 and granted discharge to the Pension Fund Governing Board.
PARTICLE PHYSICS IN SOUTH KOREA
The Council heard an informative talks by the Head of the Physics Department at the University of Korea, Professor Choi, on the major current and future particle physics projects in South Korea, including details of the domestic programme and participation in experiments at CERN and in other international laboratories.
LAUNCH OF THE CERN ALUMNI PROGRAMME
The Council took note of a presentation by the Director for International Relations, Ms Warakaulle, on the launch of the CERN Alumni programme and the web-based “High-Energy Network” platform on 8 June 2017 and expressed appreciation for the initiative.
LHC MATTERS
The Council heard reports:
- by the Director for Accelerators and Technology, Dr Bordry, on the resumption of physics operation at the LHC after the extended year-end technical stop (EYETS), the goals for the new production year at 13 TeV and on the earned-value management (EVM) status of the LIU and HL-LHC projects,
- and by the Director for Research and Computing, Professor Elsen, on the LHC experiments and computing, including the progress of searches at the highest energy, preparations for the experiments’ Phase II upgrades and plans for the construction of a computing centre on the Prévessin site.
CERN IMPACT ON YOUNG PEOPLE'S CAREERS OUTSIDE HEP
Finally, the Council heard a presentation by Professor Giacomelli, Chair of the Students Career Study Group, on the preliminary results of an online questionnaire of CERN users designed to study the impact of young people’s experience at CERN on their future career outside high energy physics.