On 12 August 2026, the HR department issued a statement regarding the update to the implementing measures for Operational Circular No. 2 (Rev. 3).
The statement indicated that:
‘Members of the personnel and other persons concerned are hereby informed that the Director-General has approved, further to consultation with the Staff Association, an update of the document “Implementation measures, subsidiary document to Operational Circular No. 2 (Rev. 3)”.
The revision clarifies that parking facilities are primarily intended for persons accessing the site in the framework of official CERN activities.
It also introduces limitations on parking duration. For persons accessing the site in the framework of official CERN activities, the maximum authorised parking duration is five consecutive working days. In the case of duty travel, a longer period may be agreed with the Registration and Access Control Service in designated long-stay parking areas.
For persons accessing the site outside the framework of official CERN activities, the maximum parking duration is three hours.
The updated document entered into force on 1 August 2026 and is available at the following link.’
Surprised to learn of the approval of such measures via an official news, the GAC-EPA interviewed the department responsible for drafting and implementing these measures, which stated, regarding the three-hour time limit:
‘The aim of this measure is, above all, to establish a framework for correcting certain abusive situations currently being observed, regardless of the status of the persons concerned or the type of access card used. It forms part of a specific context, marked by ongoing works and by the LS3 period (high activity). It is therefore not a question of applying the rule rigidly, but of providing a proportionate response to behaviour that deviates from expected usage, in order to free up capacity for the benefit of all users.’
There should therefore be no issue with parking for longer than three hours, particularly to attend a meeting, a conference, our end-of-year drinks party, etc.; however, please do let us know if you encounter any problem so that we can pass on the information.
Finally, we would like to remind you that you cannot use the car parks within the fenced CERN site to get to the city by public transport!