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Editorial

This second Bulletin of the Ancients of CERN brings us already to the end of 1990.

Bulletin No 1 had an extremely good reception, which encourages us to pursue our task of informing and bringing together all the members of G.A.C.

This welcome, even by people not in the Group has prompted us to continue sending the Bulletin to all beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.

We hope that their realisation of the importance of the problems facing us all and of the seriousness with which we are tackling them will encourage those who are not already members to join our Group.

For we shall continue to repeat that the more numerous we are, the greater will be our influence with the decision makers.

This Bulletin covers almost all the activities of the G.A.C..

After the President’s message, those responsible for the various activities give you résumés covering the past six months.

Don’t forget, in passing judgement, that there have been two holiday months (even we pensioners have holidays!) and that the dead line for contributions was 15 october - the way is long for the Bulletin to reach your letter-box.

If nothing particular has emerged from the discussions on the new contract with Austria, on the other hand it appears that its overall cost and distribution will be reexamined.

It seems, furthermore, that there is now a greater awareness of the problems of the Pension Fund.

The Governing Board of the Fund is following the situation with increased vigilance.

These points have been vigorously taken up by the Staff Association in its discussions with the CERN Administration and a more detailed account of them is given in further contributions.

To the extent of its capabilities, our Committee is there to support the Staff Association in these dicussions.

Furthermore we feel very strongly that the Pension Fund beneficiaries should have a fairer position on the Governing Board: at present we are represented only by observers.

We also wish to take part in the future in the working groups dealing with the problems of pensions and health insurance.

You can see that, besides the activities already undertaken by the G.A.C., there is plenty of work for the coming year, for which the Editorial Staff of the Bulletin wish you health and happiness.

The Editorial Staff

GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT

The President of the CERN Ancients’ Group sends you his best wishes for 1991.

In 1990 our planet has been shaken by many happenings.

The turbulences caused by these events do not seem, so far, to have reached CERN.

Let us hope that this continues in the year to come.  Nevertheless the problems which CERN now must face, problems which concern its budget in general and the Pension Fund and Health Insurance in particular, form a large part of our work in 1991.

The Ancients’ Group consists today of some 500 members out of the 900 beneficiaries of the Pension Fund;  some 55% which is reasonably satisfactory.

I hope, however, for the G.A.C. that in 1991 the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund understand how important it is for them to join us.

The greater our number, the greater our weight vis-à-vis the CERN Management.

A Happy New Year to you all.

Jean Gervaise
President of the G.A.C.

THE PENSION FUND SITUATION

INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE WEEKLY BULLETIN

Certain questions concerning the pensions of the CERN staff were raised in the first number of this Bulletin, to which was attached a copy of the motion voted at an extraordinary General Assembly of the staff.

The members and the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund have been kept informed of developments in the situation by information published in the CERN Weekly Bulletin severally by the Governing Board of the Fund and by the Staff Association.

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund has in particular expressed itself to be in favour of an increase in the overall rate of contributions to 30% of the reference salary.  [Reference salary = Basic salary × Coefficient C (See Rules of the Fund - Annex A, 01.01.86]

It has also considered that CERN’s total debt to the Pension Fund should not exceed 20% of the Fund’s capital and that the principal of the debt should be able to be amortized over a period of 30 years.

It is of the opinion that a global solution should be found which would ensure to the Fund the servicing of the debt, which comprises not only the interest rate of 3.5% and the inflation index, but also the amortization of the debt.

As to garantees the Board has, amongst other points, considered that it is essential to reactivate and to make progress with the discussion concerning the creation of a “Fondation de droit suisse", as foreseen by the CERN Council, in the case of dissolution of the Organisation.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PENSION FUND

Other interesting information was given during the annual General Assembly of the Pension Fund, on 18 September 1990.

The 1989 annual report, which was presented by the Administrator, C. Cuénoud, mentions an annual performance of 6.23%, without a correction for inflation.

Taking into account a 3.50% inflation leads to a net annual total yield of 2.63% for the investments of the Fund in 1989.

On the 31 December 1989, there were 3612 members of the Fund and 891 beneficiaries.

There is no reason for quoting here other figures, since important extracts of this report, which is carefully worded and very interesting, have been published in the Weekly Bulletin dated 3 and 10 September 1990.

In his exposé concerning actuarial questions, G. Maurin vice-president of the Governing Board recalled that the economic hypotheses used till now to establish the technical balance of the Fund have not in practise been borne out.

For this reason actuarial calculations have been made, at the request of the Governing Board, based on more realistic economic hypotheses. These calculations demonstrate that contributions of at least 30% of reference salaries are necessary for the Fund to be in technical equilibrium, assuming a future financing period of 30 years (period of open fund) during which time the number of members would be stabilized at 3'250 from the end of 1996, the yield on capital would be 6%, the revaluation of salaries 3.5% and indexing of pensions 3%.

G. Maurin underlined that, while being an administrative body whose function is to apply the pension policy decided by the CERN Council, the Governing Board of the CERN Pension Fund should, in accordance with its Rules, ensure the long term stability of the Fund and should submit its opinions concerning the operation of the Fund to Council and to the Finance Committee.

This was confirmed by the Chairman of the Governing Board, P. Levaux, who declared his intention to be active in this field.

Concerning CERN’s debt to the Fund, G. Maurin gave estimates of the increases in the debt which could be produced by inflation in the next four years, if the CERN budgets only provided for the payment of the 3,5% interest on its present value.

He recalled the opinion expressed by the Fund’s Governing Board that inflation should be taken into account in the servicing of the debt and the request of this Board to be consulted when the payment schedule is brought up to date.

OUTCOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN CERN MANAGEMENT AND THE STAFF ASSOCIATION

Pension problems have also been discussed during the negotiations on salaries started this summer, at the request of the CERN Council, by the CERN Management and the Staff Association under the auspices of the President of Council.

The package of measures which was unanimously agreed at the plenary session on August 29 presided by the President of Council includes the increase of overall contributions to the Pension Fund to 30% of reference salaries, the contribution of the staff going from 7% to 9% and that of the participating organizations (CERN and ESO) to 21%, these increases taking effect with the same rhythm for all parties over the period from now to 1997.

These agreements have been disputed by the Finance Committee and the Committee of Council in their meetings of October 3 and 4:  for the Pension Fund contributions a distribution which is more burdensome for the staff (10% staff, 20% organizations) has been considered.

Lorenzo Resegotti.

WHAT’S NEW WITH HEALTH INSURANCE

PRESENT SITUATION

In conformity with the CERN/Austria contract, contributions for 1990 have been increased as follows:

1. the percentage which serves as base for the establishement of the premium has increased from 7.5 to 7.9% — an increase of about 5%. [These percentages include 0.5% covering the professional risk of active staff which is taken over by the Organization.].
   A back payment will be deducted next January.
2. the primium has been increased by 1% as a result of the increase of salaries of the staff members by 1% in real terms last july.
   An increase applied to the premiums of the pensioners who do not benefit from it !!  A back payment will be retained next January.
3. the franchise has increased from 30 to 60 SF.

You may have noticed this in the last reimbursement made by Austria.  Increases a- and c- are due to the rise in medical costs during recent years.

RENEWAL OF THE CONTRACT WITH AUSTRIA

This contract is due to expire at the end of 1991.

A working group consisting of representatives from the CERN management, Austria and the Staff Association (S.A.) have negociated the possibility of prolonging the contract for a further period of 5 years (01.01.92-31.12.96).

An agreement has been reached, which must however be approved by the several managements.

The major proposal, to our knowledge, consists in world wide cover for medical expenses without supplementary premium, within the limits of the corresponding tariffs of the Geneva Cantonal Hospital.

It is clear that, as this year, annual modifications of the premiums and franchises remain always possible.

The final text is to be prepared by the CERN Management in agreement with the S.A.  and Austria and will be put before the Standing Concertation Committee in due time.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE FINANCING OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE

Austria reimburses us, as you know, 90% of expenses incurred for most categories.

The total sum paid by Austria, increased by about 6.5% to cover administrative expenses, is covered by CERN and the insured population.

This expenditure is then divided between CERN, the active staff members and the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.

The premiums paid by the staff members and the pensioners are calculated in different ways.

The premium of a staff member is calculated by multiplying his basic salary for the current year by 35% of the percentage mentioned above minus the amount for the professional risk (at present:  7.9 - 0.5%), while that of a pensioner is calculated by using the same factors but applied to the theoretical maximum pension that he would have received if he had 35 years of service at CERN.

The distribution of the overall cost is approximately as follows:

• For the pensioners:
  1. 10% of medical expenses + franchise
  2. 35% of the percentage (see above) applied to their theoretical maximum pension
• For the staff members:
  1. 10% of medical expenses + franchise
  2. 35% of the percentage of their current salaries
  3. 35% of the 65% not covered by the pensioners.
• For CERN:
  1. 65% not covered by the staff members
  2. 65% of the 65% not covered by the pensioners.
  3. 0.5% of the basic salaries to cover the professional risk of active staff.

A working group of the CERN Administration is studying the question of the overall cost of the Health Insurance Scheme and its distribution between the partners.

We shall certainly have the occasion to come back to these important questions.

But it is clear that the pensioners would feel deeply damaged by any attack on the principle of mutuality which has prevailed until now.

Albert Burger

Editorial

When considering the creation of this Bulletin we had thought of publishing three or four numbers per year.  We now realize that the situation does not develop sufficiently rapidly for us to have enough information for you even three times a year.  Furthermore, our work depends on the goodwill of members of the Committee whose availability (despite their devotion to duty) does not always fit in with the requirements of a publishing time-table extending over three months.  Consequently you will have a Bulletin twice a year, unless there is an event of sufficient importance to warrant a special edition.

Members of our Association have requested that the Bulletin should be entirely bilingual, French and English.  Here again it is not the wish to satisfy the maximum of our members which lacks, but rather the means to do.  Translation takes time and cannot be done before the manuscripts are available and have been edited.  We do it this time and shall do our best in the future.

In the following sections our colleagues give you news of our various activities and on questions of particular interest to us all.

We should like briefly to underline what appears to be of particular importance to the pensioners that we are.

A significant step in the right direction was taken concerning the Pension Fund at the end of last year with the increase in contributions, as is described in chapter 7.  There remain, however, serious worries concerning CERN’s debt and the future of the Fund in the event of the dissolution of the Organisation.

As concerns the Health Insurance Scheme considerable progress has been made with the official participation of a member of our Committee in a sub-group of the Standing Avisory Committee (CCP) charged with the examination of certain problems of Health Insurance.  Our major worry is that the mutuality of the Scheme should be preserved and that, in the long term, adequate cover should be assured for beneficiaries of the Fund in the case of the dissolution of the Orga-nization.  Lorenzo Resegotti now represents us in this sub-group and has written the article on Health Insurance, having accepted to replace, until the forthcoming elections, our colleague Alfred Burger who died at the beginning of the year.

We hope that the encouraging signs that mark the emergence of our Association from the shade will be followed by other marks confirming its role as representing the thousand pensioners that we are.

This brief survey of our problems, to which we shall not cease to return, shows how important it is that all pensioners should join our Association which works with the Staff Association to reach satisfactory solutions to these problems.  It is no less important that all the active members of CERN realize that our action is also theirs, for they are the pensioners of tomorrow.

The Editors

The President’s Piece

To be convinced of CERN’s success one has only to have a quick look at its history.

1949-1954:

The difficulties at its creation.

1955-1959:

The construction of the biggest accelerator in the world : the 25 GeV proton synchrotron (PS).  Much was written and much was said about transition energy : at 7.35 p.m., on November 24, 1959, accelerated proton beam practically without loss at transition.

1963-1971:

The first large proton-proton collider in the world (ISR).  The beam life time : three minutes, three days, eight days ? Very quickly eight days.

1962-1971:

When politics hides behind techniques : the search for a site in Europe for a 300 GeV proton synchrotron.  January 26, 1970, the interministerial conference to be held in Geneva on January 28 and 29 is adjourned sine die.

1970-1976:

Luckily, the molasse hill on which are built the PS and the ISR turns out to be big enough to contain a 2'200 m diameter ring, the SPS, larger than that under construction at Fermi Lab in the USA.  An advantage not initially forseen, the PS could serve as injector and the West Area of the ISR as the first experimental area of the SPS.  Project put before the CERN Council on June 18, 1970.  SPS start up June 1976.

June 1978:

Approval of the p-bar project ; transformation of SPS to proton-antiproton collider, UA1, UA2.

17 October 1984:

The Nobel prize for Carlo Rubbia and Simon Van der Meer.

Then LEP, not an easy decision to take, but tomorrow LEP 200 and soon after the LHC (Large Hadron collider)

What ground covered since 1949 !

This quick survey of CERN’ history illustrates the successes of an exemplary Organization.  Thousands of people, physicists, engineers, technicians, craftsmen and administrators have with their skills and their devotion contributed, each according to his ability, to the quality of its achievements.  These achievements have made the reputation and the success of physics at CERN.  A certain number have left this world.  More and more numerous are those who have retired and continue to cultivate their affection for our Organization, particularly as members of our Association.

Help us to support the Association and bring in new members.

Jean Gervaise

The Committee Mourns

Our friend and member of the Committee, Albert Burger, is no more with us .

The news of his death, at the end of January, has left us all in the deepest sadness.  He was still with us at the December Committee meeting, as always smiling, calm, level-headed, intervening in our some times animated discussions with clarity and moderation.

As observer representing the pensioners at the Staff Council, he was ex-officio member of our Committee.

His task, of the highest importance, was to follow the development of the Health Insurance Scheme, particularly at the moment of the renewal of the Austria contract, a delicate task for wich he could use all his diplomacy and wide experience.  During his long career at CERN, he had to resolve numerous difficult administrative problems and acquired a reputation as an agreeable negociator, making his part in his last activity particularly effective.

Despite his sudden departure we shall continue, as he would have wished, to work for the community of the pensioners.  His memory will remain with us, always at his place at our Committee table.

The Committee

Echos from the Comittee

Since the last Bulletin (Nov 90- march 91), the Committee has held five meetings.  Despite our good resolutions and due to heavy Agenda some sessions have ended well after 11 pm.  We shall have to make an effort to take into account our age and the remoteness from Geneva ofsome of our colleagues.

Our friend Albert Burger, ex-officio member of our Committee, died on January 20.  He watched over, for the pensioners, Health Insurance matters.  Lorenzo Resegotti is carrying on this task until the elections of a new representative to the Staff Association.

The idea of a Directory of the members of our Association has been put forward.  A consultation document will be sent to you in the coming months.

Some modifications to our Statutes are be put before you at the General Assembly in April.  These modifications appear necessary in the light of experience acquired in the work of both the Committee and the Association.

There will be a postal vote on the proposals before the end of the year.

Numerous meetings have been organized, there will be a trip to Florence in June.  Occasions for pensioners to meet again multiply—to everyone’s satisfaction.

The CERN Mangement allocated us an office (Building 54-R010 ; Ph.: 022-767.57.59) at the beginning of March.  We now have a place to gather together our papers, to install a PC, a place where the Bureau of the Committee can meet—in a word to be able to work more efficiently.

Marcel Mary
Secretary
(March 91)

News of the “Permanences”

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet — or at least the beginning of answers to these problems — so encouraging you to come and see us the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the “Permanences” are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.  We give here two of the questions which are of general interest.

Taxation of Orphan’s Pensions.

A widow, whose child continues his education, receives the orphan’s pension until the child reaches the age of 25.

In Switzerland, from the year he has his 21st birthday, the child must complete an income tax return.  The Geneva tax authorities accept that the orphan’s pension can be entered on the child’s tax return, which, in general, reduces the tax payable.

Installation in France

If one of our pensioners wishes to reside in France, he should first make a request to the Mairie of the Commune in which he wishes to live.  The procedure is relatively simple for a citizen of the EC, although the Commune has always the right to exercise its veto.  Madame Janine d’Altilia, of the CERN Social Service knows all the steps to be taken and has kindly offered to advise those who are interested.

Activities for Pensioners.

We have read in the press of the Pays de Gex concerning an association of volunteers (more than 2'000) offering their services, covering a very wide field of competences, to developing countries in Africa and in Asia.  We think that the information could interest you.  The adress of the Regional Delegation is :

A.G.I.R.  Conseil social, 233, rue Vendôme, 69003 Lyon.  Téléphone: 78.25.46.01

A similar announcement has been made in the Swiss Press.  The address is : Senior Expert Corps Dôltschiweg 39, 80055 Zürich, tél.  01/463 94 11.

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  Courtesy visits are appreciated, they make for general discussions, wdhich often open new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying:

“GAC-Permanences”

Milan Georgijevic

The Treasurer’s Note

Since the official constitution of the Association in 1988, the Committee has noted with satisfaction the growth in the number of members, which has now reached 515.

Some of them, after leaving CERN, have settled either in their country of origin (Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, The Nederlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden) or in other countries sometimes as far-flung as the USA.  The majority of members live, however, in France and Switzerland for reasons of their family ties or the social environment which they have built up over a considerable part of their life.  Many have also wished to keep a contact with CERN and with their former colleagues.

Among the half-thousand members one finds that 135, nearly one third of the total, are women, retired staff members or widows who are beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.  Often more attentive to our events than the men, they are more numerous to take part in the visits, organized tours and meetings, particularly those organized especially for them.  The Association is happy to see - and is encouraged by - this interest shown in its activities.

As with all dynamic associations, financial means are needed to prepare information and to distribute it to the members, to organize gatherings, to assure the representation of the Association at meetings or at ceremonies.  It is for this that our capital has been used until now.  We receive, happily, considerable support both from CERN Administration and from the Staff Association.  We are very grateful to them.

During the years, due to the lack of an infra-structure which is only now being built up, the Association’s capital has grown to the non-negligable sum of about SFR 22'000-.  Rigourously managed by the Committee this enables to carry on our social activities and also to equip the office which has just been allocated to us; thus the Committee work will be done in good conditions and in greater efficiency.

The annual subscription of SFR 20- is certainly not too heavy a charge for the members and should not be an obstacle for all pensioners, those recently retired or those of some years’ standing, to join our Association.

Membership of the Association is first of all a gesture of solidarity towards those who strive to defend our social conditions.  It is also the evidence of well understood interests, for the greater the size of an Association, the greater its influence.

For those who have not yet joined us a Membership Application form is inserted in this Bulletin.  Just fill it in and send it to the Association.

J. Dozio
Treasurer

What’s New in Pensions ?

The CERN Weekly Bulletin has published the decision of the CERN Council taken on Dec 14th, 1990 to increase progressively the overall contribution to the Pension Fund to 30% of reference salaries (21% being paid by the Organizations and 9% by the Staff members) and the schedule to implement the increase between now and 1995.  This decision marks an important step towards the consolidation of the Fund.

The CERN Council also decided, as all beneficiaries have been informed individually, to adjust pensions in alignment with the Geneva cost of living index, which was 5.1% for the period concerned.  Although this decision corresponds to what was expected, one should remember that a recommendation for this increase was only voted by the Finance Committee as the result of a last minute compromise proposed by its President.  This compromise included firstly an acceleration in the contribution increases and secondly a request to the Management which was asked to present to the Finance Committee, before September 1991, opinions concerning pension adjustments which would take into account the beneficiary’s place of residence.  The Finance Committee had initially recommended a pension adjustment of only 3%, although 5.1% had been proposed by the Management Board of the Pension Fund in accordance with article II 1.15 of the regulations of the Fund.

The Finance Committee has recommended to the CERN Council that the CERN Management should make an overall study of the rescheduling of the debt to the Pension Fund, including the financing of the increase in contributions to the Fund.  It also recommended that the Management should put before the Committee of Council in March 1991 a proposal to examine the outstanding problems concerning guarantees for the Fund.

All these decisions and recommendations speak for themselves and merit the greatest attention.  It is, happily, the Management Board of the Pension Fund that the Standing Concerting Board (CCP) has requested, at its meeting on January 16, to study in detail the problems of guarantees to the Fund and its beneficiaries.  Furthermore, as published in the Weekly Bulletin of February 18 the Management Board of the Pension Fund is brooding over all the questions raised by the Finance Committee, questions which require study in depth before taking any position.

Concerning pension guarantees in the case of dissolution of the Organization, the second report of the President of the “Special group on reintegration” has been made to the CERN Council.  The results obtained are pretty slender, except in the case of Austria which has not only taken special mesures to allow Austrian staff members to be reintegrated into the social security system but, in addition, offers all CERN staff exemption from direct taxation on their pensions if they retire in Austria.  The report recommends that Council designates a new President and two members that the special Group may continue its activities.  In its meeting in March 1991, the CERN Committee of Council enlarged the mandate of the Working Group : this mandate must be confirmed formally by the CERN Council in June.  The membership of this Group has been partially renewed; the Staff Association is represented.

L. Resegotti
(april 1991)

Obituary

We think that the names of those who have left us should be noted in our Bulletin.  Henceforth we shall publish the list.

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

News of the Health Insurance

The CERN Council accepted, on December 14, 1990, the proposal to increase the overall Health Insurance premiums to 8.98% of basic salaries as from January 1st, 1991, an action made necessary by the increase of medical expenses.  The premiums of staff members have increased from 2.59% to 2.97% of basic salaries and the premiums of pensioners have increased by the same proportion.  The Management’s proposal (document CERN/1840) notes the creation of a working group to study the question of the increase in health costs in view of foreseeing their future evolution and to examine possible economy measures.

The report of Management’s working Group chaired by H.Hoffmann, Director for Technical and Administrative Questions, has been put before the Standing Concertation Committee (CCP) and a summary to the Staff Council.  The report depicts Health Insurance at CERN and retraces its history leading to the present Service Contract with the Company Austria.  It compares its characteristics with those of the insurance schemes of other organizations and shows that the premiums at CERN are at approximately the same level and that the benefits are also at a normal level for the region.  It concludes that the present system, based on full mutuality, and the contract with Austria should be continued.  It also proposes a series of measures to stabilize or reduce costs, starting with better information for the staff (both active and pensioners) and encouragement to choose, when possible, the least expensive treatment : this is also in the interest of the assured since they pay (directly and indirectly) a non negligible part of their medical costs.

As regards the pensioners, the Group recognizes that CERN has a direct duty to provide proper health insurance cover, but does not contribute for them in the same proportion as for the active staff.  The Group proposes to make a serious study of the problems arising from the increase in the number of pensioners, which increases the burden on the active staff, a problem aggravated by the diminution in the number of the latter.  In particular it suggests, on the one hand, making economies by the use, whenever possible, of national insurance schemes with Austria as a complementary fund; and on the other hand, a possible modification to the premiums.

The Group has also considered the problem of continuation of health insurance cover for beneficiaries in the event of the dissolution of CERN.

The Standing Concertation Committee has just set up a subgroup with equal membership representation from the Management and from the Staff Association to give its advice as to the possibility and expediency of bringing into force the proposed measures for the stabilization or reduction of costs.  In agreement with the Management the Staff Association has asked one of the representatives of the pensioners on the Staff council to be a member of the sub-group.

This is a new mark of the collaboration between the active staff and the pensioners that the Staff Asssociation wishes to promote ; the agreement of the Management is an encouraging sign.

L. Resegotti
(march 1991)

Meetings and Travel

This activity has flourished since the publication of the second Bulletin and all the projects evoked in it have taken place.

At the end of 1990, about a hundred pensioners found themselves in the hall of building 33 to take part in a walk through the world of fundamental physics as shown by the permanent exhibition “Microcosme”.

What strange feeling to travel through this admirably laid out “Palais de la Découverte” recognising in places items which one has, oneself, contributed even in an infinitely modest fashion, to scientific knowledge or research.

Many have promised themselves to come back another time, at their own convenience, bringing grand-children, or nephews to follow at leisure the by-ways of research they have been so close to during their career.

The new year begun, courageously braving cold, the ladies of the Association took part on January 12 in a visit to CERN organized by the Visitors Service whom we wish to thank for their never failing cordiality, their competence and devotion to their work.

It was with great pleasure that the participants met within a programme that allowed them to make a “ballade” in the world of Particle Accelerators (some times, we must say, difficult to follow !).  But how charming were the stags and how gracious the does in the haven that CERN has thought to create at Prévessin to preserve their innocent existence ! Many of us were ignorant of this aspect of fundamental physics !

Everyone was able to meet together, on March 2, for a visit to CERN and particularly to one of the active experiments at LEP.  Thanks again on this occasion to all the guides “official” or “occasional” who together with the “gérants de zones” enabled us to satisfy our curiosity.  For some the emotion was great to see the place were they last worked or the developments to which their work had led.

All were impressed by the gigantic character of the experiment L3 installed in pit 2 of LEP,

The new year begun, courageously braving cold, the ladies of the Association took part on January 12 in a visit to CERN organized by the Visitors Service whom we wish to thank for their never failing cordiality, their competence and devotion to their work.

with its 2'800 m³ magnet.  Each, from the oldest to the most recent pensioner rediscovered again the terms and expressions heard throughout their careers and around our guides one spoke of nothing but “electromagnetic calorimeters”, “muon spectrometers”, “drift chambers” or “time expansion chambers” In brief, the “Anciens” were up-to-date and remain there !

We sincerely think that these visits have been extremely fruitful to tighten our bonds of friendship, as several among you have told our President at the end of the visit.

Which is why we should try to keep a good rythm of meetings on subjects which we hope will interest the great majority.

There is no lack of subjects.  Meanwhile we shall have made a splendid journey in pictures in the region of the Tassilis of the Hogar under the guidance of our colleague Robert Razurel, and we shall make, under the guidance of Jean Robert, our big trip to Florence for which 53 people have enrolled.  But, as one says in the best tales, that is another story and we shall talk about it in the next Bulletin.

R. Cartier

Rédaction : Alfred Gunther, Robert Lévy-Mandel, Peter Standley.

EDITORIAL

There was no extraordinary event to warrant a special number of our Bulletin after the publication of No. 3 and the happy decision to increase the rate of contributions to the Pension Fund.  One can however regret this, for it is the evident sign that the very numerous other questions which have remained on the agenda for many years and which affect us directly are not finding rapid solutions.  The technique employed brings to mind the well known story of the managing board one of whose members was constantly asking embarrassing questions.  He was sent on mission and each time that he returned to his home station he found an assignment for a new destination awaiting him at the airport.  With us, it is a series of working groups which succeed each other putting off indefinitely the answers to preoccupying problems.

The CERN pensioners are the first to wish the well functionning of the Organization.  They are conscious of their interest, as it is of the active staff, to see CERN pursue its path with the best possible image of a good system of social protection.  They well understand the interest of the loan which the Pension Fund has made to CERN, a loan which has ensured the way through a delicate budgetary period when new projects necessarily appeared over the horizon requiring the mobilization of all available resources.  They have, however, more difficulty in understanding why the initial agreements made on this subject and confirmed by the CERN Council should be repeatedly brought back into question and that the repayment schedule should be constantly modified.  This debt stands today at nearly 390 million Swiss Francs.  Where would they be found if perchance the career of CERN was suddenly cut short, which God forbid ? Our attitude is cruelly divided between doing all in our power to support CERN in the present contingency and our worry not to compromise the future of the Pension Fund in a situation where guarantees are singularly lacking.

As to the Health Scheme and the distibution of contributions between active staff, pensioners and the Organization, it must be recalled that the CERN Council has accepted in a resolution passed in June 1986 that the pensioners had the right to belong to the CERN health protection scheme.  This scheme makes no distinction in the benefits paid to active staff, between young and old nor between high and low salaries.  Its fundamental principle can be expressed as follows : payment according to one’s means, benefits according to one’s needs.  The above mentioned resolution gives pensioners equivalent rights to active staff.  As we have often said, we attach great importance to integral mutuality.

Our object is not to give you, by bringing up these questions, bad dreams at the end of the year but to point out the very serious problems which constitute so many threats to those who have worked with such success in the field of the infinitely small and who continue to do so.  It is to recall the amount of work that remains to be done in order to reach an acceptable equilibrium.  The pensioners of today have the worry as to what may befall them in the future and in this they think also of the pensioners of the future.  They are convinced that with good will on all sides it will be possible to find acceptable solutions without shelving the real problems.

This shows once again how important it is that the Association which we constitute should be as strong as possible so as to make its voice heard, together with the Staff Association.  Those of you who have not yet joined, do not stay at the side of the road, as

The Editors wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, spectators watching our efforts, join us without delay, it is also a question of

fellowship.

The Editors

THE PRESIDENT’S GREETINGS.

These greetings are addressed to all the CERN pensioners and their families.

I wish them, in my name and on behalf of the Committee, a very good year in 1992.  Health, Wealth and Happiness and much enthusiasm in a gloomy surrounding, faced with the problems wich threaten Europe and the world, we always believe in the success of CERN.

International Organizations, like men, have need of good fortune in their mission.  CERN has so far lacked it.

Still under the charm of the beautiful cruise on the lake, on 16 September, active and retired staff all together we should all proclaim our confidence in the everlastingness of CERN and in its future which we want to be brilliant.  May GAC contribute to it .

A good and happy new year to you all.

Jean Gervaise

THE PENSIONERS’ SHIP

There are moments when, as a result of a mysterious concurrence of events, of a conjunction of unknown parameters the arrow of time seems to stop its flight, even to reverse its direction : for the moment the past, the present and the future live together.

Such a moment happened on 16 September for some three hundred members of CERN embarked on board the “Helvétie” for a mini-cruise on Lac Leman, as a result of the generous invitation of our Director General Carlo Rubbia.

At 15.30 on that day the gate was opened to the gangway from the esplanade in front of the Brunswick monument and a crowd of guests, greeted by Thea Vermeulen and smiling members of the GAC Committee, took possession of the boat, all decorated with its festive bunting.  This lively joyouscrowd dispersed throughout the ship, some to the bow, some to the stem, some to the upper deck in the shelter of the large windows, where a magnificent buffet was laid out and the tables decorated with flowers.

Our President, Jean Gervaise, overcoming the heavy handicap of his recent accident was present with us, supported by his wife and by all the friendly hands who guided him to his table.

Promptly at 16:00, shortly after the arrival of the Director General, the magnificent young CERN Pompier who watched over the gangway came aboard, the Captain of the CGN passed an order down the voice-pipe, the engine throbbed, the immense paddle-wheels shuddered and majestically the Hélvetie left the Quai du Mont Blanc in the direction of the Paquis jetty, and then, slipping between the breakwaters, steamed out into the open water between the verdant shores of the lake.

The weather was splendid — the most beautiful autumn day, clear and mild.

While the charming sight of the Genevan shores unfolded before our eyes Carlo Rubbia greeted the CERN Pensioners and the guests and explained the reasons for this meeting.  He expressed the desire of the Management thus to honour those who have made CERN, his wish that ties of friendship and understanding formed throughout years of work should not be broken and, finally, that this meeting, the first of its kind, should be repeated in the future.  In his reply on behalf of the Pensioners’ Association the President Gervaise showed how much the Association appreciated such a generous and discerning gesture by the Director General and how much this event brought our Association the recognition which will enable it to work even more effectively for the good of all pensioners, both present and future.

After the applause, and that little moment of emotion which goes with it, a deliciously varied buffet circulated throughout the boat, served by an impeccably turned out staff, helpful and friendly, for which the Restaurant Service of the CGN must be congratulated.

Everyone had by now taken up his quarters on the decks, on the gangways the handrails and in the saloons of the ship, which like a bubble floating outside time, furrowed the peaceful waters in two plumes of misty foam, lulling the conversations between “actives” and “retired”, between refound pensioners, while memories, jokes and anecdotes from the past come back to mind interspersed with the latest news from the laboratory.  Pensioners of all ages demonstrated here what they had always been : always active, always energetic and decided.  And even Cemois who over the years had only passed each other on the site, greeting each other from afar, met at last in a personal conversation for the first time in their professional life !

After coasting along the French bank of the lake and greeting villages tucked away behind the trees at the water’s edge, the ship made a wide sweep off Nemier towards the port of Nyon and returned to Geneva, following the Swiss shore past Coppet, Tannay and Bellevue.  We could once again admire magnificent views of the shores, stretching away on both sides of the ship towards the rainbow shaft of the Jet d’Eau, tinted by the roses of the setting sun.

On board discussions continued to be just as lively, plans and memories were exchanged, while Jean joked with Simon, Robert laughed with Giorgio, Marcel hobnobbed with Yvette, Roland and Sergio had a private chat, Fernand and his wife let themselves go with Georges and Nelly, Gisella leant against the bulwarks dreaming ...

But time slowly regained its unrelenting flow.  At 18:00 the Helvétie, still under way with engines stopped, came alongside the Mont Blanc landing stage with a final flurry of her paddle-wheels.

Our ship of the sages had completed its beautiful journey.  In little groups the passengers left the vessel and found themselves again on shore in the golden sunset.  Longtime the conversations continued, then the “au revoir”, the “à precious moments we had just lived, bientôt” and slowly and regretfully we disappeared into the crowd on the quay-side, each of us taking away memories of the

René Cartier

RESUME OF THE REPORT OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR 1990-1991

(given by the President Jean Gervaise to the General Assembly on 25 April 1991.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

I have the honour of opening the Assembly General of the CERN Pensioners’ Association - (GAC).  It is, for the President and the Committee, the first Assembly General after a year of working with the new statutes adopted after the postal vote of 18 July 1989.  On April 25 1990, exactly one year ago today, the President and the Committee, elected in conformity with the new statutes, took up office.

(Before coming to the activities of the Association, the President recalled briefly the successes of LEP, both of the machine and of the physics done there).

The CERN Pensioners’ Association has lived a year of work, with the introduction of a new Committee.  Since the General Assembly of 25 April, 1990 the Committee has met ten times.  In 1990 on 16 May, 21 June, 28 August, 2 October, 13 November and 5 December;  in 1991 on 17 January, 14 February, 5 March, and 9 April.

Bureau

The President’s proposal to create a Bureau consisting of five members (President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer) was accepted at the Committee meeting of 28 August 1990.  Its role is to prepare meetings of the Committee and detailed agenda.

(The President gave some details on the operation of the Bureau.)

The office allocated to the Pensioners’ Association is in building 54, room R-010.  The telephone number (5759) is listed in the directory which has just been issued.  The office is not yet completely equipped, but the first meeting of the Bureau of the Committee was held there on Thursday, April 18 from 10.00 till noon.

Membership

Concerning the Cern Pensioners’ Association as a whole one notes a consolidation of its membership during the past year, and a regular growth which follows the evolution of the number of beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.  As President of the Association I must say that I should like to see a more rapid increase in our numbers.

The following table, originating from the Management Board of the CERN Pension Fund shows the evolution of the Fund.

The categories of beneficiaries of the Pension Fund comprise pensioners, the handicapped, surviving spouses and orphans, ex gratia and deferred pensions, They break down as follows:

The CERN Pensioners’ Association numbered 513 end 1990.

The ratio between GAC members and Beneficiaries of the Pension Fund (excepting orphans, ex gratia and deferred pensions), over the years, is as follows:

an increase of 1% for the last year.

(The President showed the distribution of pensioners by country of residence)

A more informative classification can be made of this distribution of the beneficiaries by country of residence:

A more detailed analysis of beneficiaries resident in the French neighbourhood (Ain and Haute-Savoie) and in nearby Switzerland, compared with all beneficiaries living in the same countries gives very interesting results:  out of 434 residing in France, 343 reside in Ain or Haute-Savoie and 177 (52%) of the latter are members of GAC.  In Switzerland, out of a total of 350 residents, 336 are in the Geneva region of whom 239 (71%) belong to GAC.  The remaining pensioners, living outside the local regions total 142 of whom 97 (68%) belong to GAC.

These last two percentages are practically the same.  On the other hand the 52% of residents in Haute-Savoie and the Pays de Gex show that a big recruiting drive is needed in neighbouring France.

Objectives for 1990 and their present state

(The President recalled the career of Albert Burger and his active role in the Committee.  He evoked the great personality of Leon Van Hove, member of the Association)

Throughout this period—25 April 1990 to 25 April 1991—the relations between the Director-General, Carlo Rubbia, and the President of the Association were fruitful and led to concrete results.

A frank cooperation has continued with the Staff Asssociation, its President, Michel Borghini and all the members of its Committee where we have always found an attentive ear.

The ‘Permanences’ have continued throughout the past year under the resposibility and diligence of Milan Georgijevic.  For all those who come with questions, it has been possible to find answers, or at least the beginnings of answers.  A Permanence is held on the first Tuesday of each month, from 14:00 to 17:00, except during the summer.  The times of the Permanences are published regularly in the CERN weekly bulletin.  In this context I should like to thank Jeanine d’Altilia of the CERN Social Service, who is always ready to advise people who so desire.

(The President recalled the utility of courtesy visits and of letters from members.)

Mme T. Vermeulen takes care especially of the widows of those of our comrades who have left us.  She and the other ladies on the Committee now take part in the Permanences.  There are problems that widows prefer to discuss with those who are already widows.  This is reflected in the percentage of women who come to the Permanences.  There was only one visit organized this year by the ladies of the Association.  On 12 January 1991, courageously braving the cold they took part in visit of CERN guided by the Visitors’ Service whom I should like to thank for their competence and devotion.  It was with great pleasure that these ladies walked through the world of particle accelerators.

They were also present at the meeting, for all members of the Association, on March 2, 1991 which ended with a visit to experiment L3 at LEP.  Everyone was impressed by the gigantic character of this experiment, installed at LEP Point 2, with its magnet of some 2'800m³.  All who took part in this visit left the site, and thanked us, with tears in their eyes.  There are priceless moments which reward the organizers for their work in continuing to promote CERN.

Jean Gervaise
President

SUMMARY OF THE PROGRAMME OF WORK APRIL 1991—APRIL 1992

The Pensioners’ Association has the good fortune still to count among its members some of the pioneers of CERN, those who arrived at what was to become the greatest research centre in the world.

I speak of those rare creatures recruited in 1952, 1953 and 1954.  It was on 1 July 1953 that the Convention to establish a European Organization for Nuclear Research was signed.  On 29 September 1954 the required number of ratifications by the member states was reached.  At this date the CERN personnel numbered 120.  But I am regretful that our Association does not have more members from this first epoch.

At the end of 1990 the CERN Pensioners’ Association counted 513 members.

For this reason, as President of the Association, I ask all the pioneers who have not yet joined, engineers, technicians, but especially the physicists to come into our Association.

(For the President, the Pensioners should proclaim the excellence of CERN to the world outside.  He underlines the ties which bind us to CERN at all levels.)

Among the events foreseen for this period, two points have already been announced: the first concerning the modification of our statutes and the second the elections which will be held in 1992.

I have asked that the statutes of GAC, adopted on July 18,1989 after a postal vote, should be modified in two points.

In the present statutes Article 17 states:

Article 17 leads to difficulties when the Committee is renewed owing to the difficulty in finding candidates for the office of president.

The new article reverts practically to the original statutes of the Association:

The other change that I wished concerns Article 20: “The Committee is authorized to nominate Honorary Members.”

In accordance with the statutes, this Annual General Meeting does not include the approbation of elections as the President and Committee were elected for two years.

It will therefore be necessary to prepare the election of the Committee and for this a timetable must be established.

In October 1991 the Committee will call for candidates.  I think it would be good if those who wish to join the Committee should think about it now.

Elected the first President of the Association on 9 February 1987, I shall have, at the Annual General Meeting of 1992, presided over the Association for more than five years.  It is not my intention to seek a new mandate of two years, either as member of the Committee or as President.

There are, doubtless, some members of the present Committee who also feel that it is time to leave room for others.  The President and Committee encourage, therefore, the numerous personalities among the members of the Association to present their candidature.

These should reach the Committee in December 1991.  Ballot papers for the election of the members of the Committee will be sent out in January 1992.  The votes will be counted at the end of March and the results announced at the Annual General Meeting in April 1992.  Those elected will take up office immediately after the announcement.

The other tasks of the President and Committee for the period April 1991 to April 1992 continue within the framework of the four main groups of activities defined at the Annual General Meeting of April 1990; ceasing, of course, those that are now completed, such as the search for an office, whose usefulness we hope to increase during this coming year.

We shall try to go deeper into our current work and to follow closely the work of the Pension and Health Insurance Committees.

With our ‘Permanences’ we shall continue to listen to our members and we shall more and more bring the widows into our work so as to merit the confidence which they show to us.

I am sure that in general the Pensioners Association works well but a strong recruiting drive is still necessary.  We count on all our members for this.  We must have imagination, contacts with other organizations of pensioners, courage and strength of will for us to remain proud to be CERNOIS, even as honorary members, to the limit of our possibilities.

Jean Gervaise
President

ECHOS FROM THE COMMITTEE

As I noted in the last Bulletin we have made an effort to schedule our meetings to take account of our age and, in some cases, our distance from Geneva.  The traditional 20:00  evening meeting has been displaced to ten in the morning.  This obliges us to get on with the agenda so as to end our meetings without fail in time for lunch.

Between April and September we have met six times.

We have to deplore two car accidents involving two Committee members : in April Milan Georgijevic (and also his wife) came out of it without too much harm and was able to rejoin us fairly quickly.  In July, it was the turn of our President, Jean Gervaise, to be the victim of a road accident.  He was more seriously injured, but is well on the way to recovery.  He is, however, still absent from our meetings.

At the end May we received with great regret the resignation of Mme Busi for personal reasons.  We have appreciated her devotion and her clarity on all the topics treated at our meetings.

The poll of all the pensioners has elected Jacques Trembley as the representative of the pensioners to the Staff Council.  He thus becomes ex-officio member of our Committee.  We wish him welcome.  He has kindly accepted to take care of the Health Insurance problems.

The modifications to the Statutes, presented at the Annual General Meeting of April 25,1991, have been finalized and put to the vote of the members of GAC.  The recent count has shown a large majority in favour of our proposals.

We were numerous to accept the invitation from the Director general Carlo Rubbia to all the pensioners.  As you have seen in the preceding account, it has been a very successful occasion.

Amongst our social activities let us mention the excursion to Florence, which was a great success according to the participants.

The Association is at last to be computerised.  The production of a Directory is under way.  All this is, in fact, taking much more time than had initially been thought.

A request to end with: we often have mail returned to us marked “unknown”.  When you move house please send us your new address as soon as possible.  Thanks.

M. Mary
Secretary
(September 1991)

NEWS OF THE “PERMANENCES”

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet - or at least the beginning of answers to these problems so encouraging you to come and see us the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the “Permanences” are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.  We give here three of the questions which are of general interest.

AUTHORIZATION FOR THE HOLDER OF A PERMIS C TO BE ABSENT FROM SWITZERLAND.

It appears that the holder of a Swiss Permis C can obtain from the competent authorities an authorization to be absent from Switzerland for a maximum period of two years for personal reasons.  This authorization would lead to the temporary suspension of the Permis C.  During his absence, he would not be taxable in Switzerland on his income.  This information is given with no commitment.  Each person interested in this question should obtain confirmation for his case from the competent authorities (Contrôle de l’Habitant first, Hôtel des Finances afterwards).

EXEMPTION FROM THE AUSTRIA EXCESS (FRANCHISE).

Pensioners who receive benefits from the French Social Security System obtain the complement of their expenses up to 100% from Austria.  The question put is whether these pensioners are still subject to the Austria excess (franchise) of SFR 60 per year and per person.  Austria has replied in the affirmative, considering that it is not in a position to accept the considerable administrative complication that an exemption would incur.

OBITUARY

At the request of a certain number among you, conscious that the role of our Bulletin is to inform you, even of matters which are of little joy, we published in our last Bulletin a list of pensioners who had died.  It must be known that we do not have this information directly.  It is given us by a very helpful, but already overloaded, service from whom we ask extra work to produce information which is not directly available.  It is not surprising if unfortunate errors slip into this list.  We are making efforts to improve the situation.  We take this occasion to thank the members of thisService who are always ready to help us.  We offer our deeply felt apologies for the omissions that have been made and ask those who see any future errors to point them out to us.  Thank you in advance.

General

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information wich would be useful to other pensioners.  Courtesy visits are appreciated, they make for general discussions, which often open new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying: “GAC-Permanences”

Milan Georgijevic

LETTERS TO THE GAC LADIES

Dear friends,

I have just taken my grandson for a walk in the rain, the apples and grapes have been harvested, the leaves are turning and I have the feeling that this long and beautiful summer of 1991 is over.

The snow is not far away and the adepts of cross-country skiing will soon be able to start again.

During the calm of these few weeks between the vendanges and the festivities of the end of the year I always think that I have plenty of time but the weeks fly past and suddenly Christmas is nearly there ! !

And you? Have you written your cards, sent off your parcels, made the biscuits, cleaned the house, invited your friends, ordered the presents from Father Christmas?

Perhaps you will be leaving for other horizons.  In any case I wish everyone of you a happy Christmas followed by a very good New Year.  May it bring you health and happiness and all that you may wish.

Théa Vermeulen

Dear friends,

Coming to the end of o.ur mandate with the Committee of GAC we ask you to send us your suggestions that they may be published in our next Bulletin.At the same time we appeal for your support in the renewal of the Committee, to share in the decisions to be taken and to sustain our colleagues in their devotion, and to follow closely the meetings concerning the Pension Fund and the Health Insurance Scheme.

You could also participate in the preparation of the outings, in the editing of the Bulletin and in giving your advice on those problems which particularly affect the widows.

Hoping that you will be many to respond to this call, please accept my best wishes for a happy New Year.

Yours sincerely.

Jacqueline Roesslinger

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

The increase in our membership and the heartening increase in the Association’s activities are a demonstration, if such was needed, that its work is appreciated by those who wish to keep privileged ties with the Organisation and who are conscious of the important problems that will in the future face CERN pensioners.

In the framework of the Association, which is both a meeting place for its widespread members and an organ to stand up for their interests, the Treasurer’s task is firstly to keep the accounts and to look after the financial administration in conformity with the decisions of the General Assembly and of the Committee.  More important to my eyes, however, are the contacts with our members: when they pay their annual dues, when they ask about some possibility of the Association, or at meetings on more personal matters.

Whether by telephone or by post, a conversation, a short note or a letter contact is made, thoughts come together and bring back the distant colleague who wishes not to be forgotten.

Since the beginning of 1991, 69 new memberships have been registered, from people in different, and sometimes very distant countries.  These memberships result from the wish of the pensioner to be an “extraordinary member” of the Staff Association and to join the GAC by returning the application form in the Bulletin.  The Treasurer and his assistant then send documentation informing the applicant of the aims and possibilities of the Association.  This invitation assumes a participation of the ex- “CERNois” in acts of solidarity which are sometimes disputed, but often very appreciated.

Each year, when the General Assembly fixes the annual dues, all members are sent a recapitulation of their dues so that, if necessary, contributions can be brought up to date.  This procedure has the advantage of preventing delays, mainly due to forgetfulness, and it is only after two years of non-payment that the member is no longer considered to belong to the Association.  The spouse of a deceased member automatically takes over the membership unless otherwise requested.

On August 31, 1991 the GAC had 573 members, of whom 532 were fully paid up (this includes 123 women ex-staff members or widows).  Since 1988 there have

been 25 resignations or cancellations while we regret the death of 16 of our members.

The exceptional fidelity of the Association should be underlined, for this constant support favours the spirit of initiative of the Committee members and encourages them in their voluntary service.

The GAC is already recognized by the higher echelons of CERN and its growing effulgence is certainly one of the means of reassuring Pensioners, especially those for whom the quality of life is diminished by age or by infirmity.

J. Dozio
Treasurer
(September 1991 )

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

In our last Bulletin we omitted to announce the death, on 29 October 1990, of M. Jean Bastard.  We hope that Madame Bastard and her children will accept our sincere sympathy and our deep apologies.  (see the ‘News of the permanences”, No 3)

The Editors

THE PENSION FUND

Since the review of the situation in Bulletin No. 3, the main subjects of interest have been the rescheduling of CERN’s debt to the Pension Fund and the guarantee for the payment of pensions in the event of the dissolution of the Organization.

Concerning the debt, CERN Management put before the June Finance Committee meeting a paper’ proposing a repayment over 30 years, until 2021, with a net annual interest rate of 3% and annuities fixed at 1991 prices which would be indexed on the Geneva cost of living.  This document was examined by the Management Board of the Pension Fund on May 15,1991.  This Board did not oppose the proposals concerning the rescheduling of the debt over a period of 30 years.  On the other hand, it was in favour of maintaining the present interest rate, as a reduction of the real rate of interest from

3.5% to 3.0%would go against the objective of the Fund, to improve its yield.  It pointed out, on the other hand, that the maintenance of the real interest at 3.5% should make it possible for the Fund to take over its operating costs, as was foreseen in its Rules and Regulations.  As the CERN Management did not accept the advice of Management Board of the Fund, this advice was annexed to the CERN Management’s paper.

The Staff Association, for its part, has stated its position in a separate document sent to all the delegates of the member States.  After recalling its preference for the debt amortization schedule going only until 2013, as approved by the CERN Council in June 1987, because of the uncertainties that exist as to guarantee for the repayment of this debt, the CERN Staff Association conjointly with the ESO Staff Association, have nevertheless requested the CERN Council to follow the advice of the Management Board of the Pension Fund.  The CERN Council, at its June meeting, did not take final decisions on the rescheduling of the Organization’s debt as the Finance Committee was waiting for an addendum to the above mentioned document from the CERN Management.  Consequently a wide- ranging discussion could take place between CERN Management and the Management Board of the Pension Fund : this enabled a compromise to be reached between the divergent positions and the formulation of a common proposal to be presented to the Finance Committee.  The essential points of the arrangement reached are as follows : 1) the real interest rate on the Organization’s debt to the Pension Fund is maintained at 3.5%, to be reexamined in five years, 2) the Fund takes over, starting in 1992, its administrative running costs.  For the rest the document before the Finance Committee follows the main lines of the previous proposals.

(According to a report by the President of the Staff Association to the Staff Council, the above mentioned common proposal by the CERN Management and the Management Board of the Pension Fund has been approved by the Finance Committee at its meeting on September 25).

Concerning the guarantee for the payment of pensions in the event of the dissolution of the Organization the CERN Council has, at the request of the Management, approved the appointment of Dr.O.Ottosson as president of the “Special Group on Reintegration” and of C.Cuénoud and G.Maurin as new members, in place of the outgoing president M.Gigliarelli-Fiumi and G.Ullmann and C.J.Zilverschoon.  It has also approved the widening of the Group’s mandate in accordance with the recommendation of the CERN internal working group (see insert).

The CERN Management paper (CERN / 1861) puts the accent on the extension of the mandate on the study of possible guarantees during the active period of the participating Organizations, whereas the second report of the president of the Group, already mentioned in Bulletin No.  3, stressed lack of developments, during four years, in the field of guarantees in the case of dissolution, notably concerning the situation in the host countries.  Preoccupied by this state of affairs the Staff Association has set up, under the presidency of Henri Piney, an internal working group on pension guarantees which will endeavour to contribute to the study of the most urgent questions in the event of the dissolution of CERN and to draw the attention of the “Special Group on Reintegration” to them.  The undersigned represents the pensioners in the Staff Association working group.

L. Resegotti
(October 1991)

HEALTH INSURANCE

The spring and summer have seen the start to the introduction of the measures suggested by the CERN Health Insurance Working Group (CHIWG) in order to stabilize or reduce health insurance costs.  Information meetings announced in the letter from Hans Hoffmann, Director for administrative and technical tasks, of which a copy was published in our Bulletin No 3, were held on April 23 and 24 : the desire to promote economies was seen to be shared widely by the participants.  Some of the questions put and of the suggestions made have since been studied by the CHIWG, whose work continues.

The case of gainfully employed spouses of members of the CERN Health Insurance Scheme has been discussed at the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC) and its subgroup “health insurance”.  It was recalled among other things that when the spouse is insured with another scheme, Austria should only intervene in second place, after the other scheme has paid its benefits : in this case the total benefits can reach 100% of the costs (after deduction of the annual exemption (franchise)).

On 9 October, the SCC approved the draft new health insurance agreement between CERN and the company Austria, valid for five years from 1 January 1992.

L. Resegotti
(October 1991)

Meetings and Travel

FLORENCE OF COURSE

It was the wish of the majority amongst us, expressed in the travel questionnaire.

This wish, we have fulfilled with the participation of 48 “courageux” who gave us their confidence and who, in everyone’s opinion, were very satisfied.  This journey to Florence, Sienna, Pisa and back via Genoa

took place from 3 to 7 June.  The atmosphere was happy and relaxed, convivial and tolerant.  May we thank our chauffeur and all those who organized it so excellently.  In place of a long and tedious account we cannot resist the pleasure of letting you discover this delightful tour through the eyes and agile pen of one of the participants, Madame N. Dinkel.

Spontaneously she has sent us this charming poem (see French text), both complete and original.  What a pleasure to have such companions with us!

René Cartier

Rédaction : Alfred Gunther, Robert Lévy-Mandel, Peter Standley.

Editorial

Here we are, equipped with a Committee, the majority of whom are newly elected.  Change is in itself a good thing, it brings around the table people casting a fresh look on GAC’s problems.  On the other hand these people do not have the experience acquired by those who have worked for years on these questions.  This means that we shall pass through a learning period.

As the outgoing President wished that the name of the new President and of the two Vice-Presidents should be announced at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 29 April 1992, it was necessary to introduce a procedure in conformity with the Statutes. So, after the approval of the vote by the AGM, the meeting was briefly suspended.

The new Committee, which now had a ‘legal’ existence, met for the first time and made these elections.  A preliminary discussion made during the informal life of the new Committee allowed the matter to be dealt with in 18 minutes.  Furthermore the 1992/1993 programme, which it had not been possible to discuss properly with the newcomers, was presented by a spokesman.  Perhaps our procedure should be modified to overcome these inconveniences, for example by an early election, leaving at least three months between the vote and the AGM confirming it.

You will find below ample information on the composition of the new Committee.  Thanks to the public spirit of the numerous people who stood for election, and who are heartily thanked.  it was possible to have a list of 24 candidates from which 15 were elected.  To the 15 elected are to be added the two ex officio members who are our observers on the Council of the Staff Association.  The distribution of the tasks which you will find below shows you that with 17 at the Committee table we shall not be too many to cover the numerous activities of interest to the Pensioners.

This Bulletin No 5 is largely devoted to presentations made at the Annual General Meeting.  This is a convenient way of informing the 85% of our members who could not be present at this AGM.

The GAC has left its childhood and now enters its sixth year of existence.  With the retirement of many members of CERN in the coming years the weight of the pensioners will be felt more and more heavily.

The GAC must, however, constantly recall that the pensioners are only the natural and foreseeable extension of the CERN staff into the third age, and that they are for this reason also part of CERN, even if they no longer appear formally on the books of the Organization.  Furthermore CERN Management has recognized this in accepting our representatives on certain committees dealing with pensions and health insurance, the matters of greatest importance to us, and in taking the greatly appreciated initiative of a gathering, the cruise on the lake, of which many of us keep happy memories.

On our side, we are conscious of the financial problems that CERN could meet in the carrying out of its future plans.  The interest of European particle physics lies in the construction of LHC, after LEP has reached its second stage energy.  This is also our interest, we do not forget it.  On this point,we have all noted the impressive differences in health costs between the two sides of the frontier, figures which were given in the Weekly Bulletin No 18/92 of 27 April 1992.  It is clear that pensioners should be particularly attentive to the recommendations made in the conclusion.

These rather arid thoughts should not let us forget the social and human activities of our Committee:  the organization of meetings between Pensioners, bringing them out of their solitude, the ‘permanences’ which give information and advice to those who need them, the study of questions pertaining to women, which will be of growing importance in the future, and all that you can suggest should be done.

The Editors

REPORT ON PROGRAMME

(April 1991 - April 1992) Exposé by President Jean Gervaise to the Annual General Meeting held on 29 April 1992.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends,

I have the honour to open the sixth Annual General Meeting of the Pensioners’ Association and to present the report on the activities that have taken place this year. Before coming to the factual part of this meeting, allow me to speak to you of CERN in quoting from the article published in volume 32 of the Courier for January/February 1992.

At the December meeting of CERN’s Council, the Organization’s Governing body, the delegates from the 16 Member States unanimously agreed that the LHC proton- proton collider proposed for the 27-kilometre LEP tunnel is the ‘right machine for the advance of the subject and of the future of CERN’.  Detailed information on costs, technical feasibility and prospective delivery schedules, and involvement of CERN Member States and other countries, together with an outline of the LHC experimental programme, its goals and its implications, including funding, will be provided before the end of 1993 so that Council can move towards an LHC decision.

Following the vote, Council President Sir William Mitchell said ‘this is a historic occasion’.  ‘The LHC project now exists’ he added.

As last year I want to remind the Pensioners that the successes and the projects of the laboratory assure the continuity of the Organization.  The continuity of the Organization is the guarantee for work for the active staff and for the pensions of those who have retired.

EVOLUTION OF THE STRENGTH OF THE ASSOCIATION

The increase of 4% in the numbers of the Association allow one to note a strengthening of GAC which is greater than in past years, and follows the evolution of the number of beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.

The following table, originating from the Management Board of the CERN Pension Fund, shows the evolution of the Fund’s membership.

The categories of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund comprise the pensioners, the handicapped, surviving spouses and orphans, ex gratia pensions and deferred pensions. They are distributed as follows :

The CERN Pensioners’ Association has 630 members in April 1992.

The ratio GAC Members/Beneficiaries of the Fund (excepting orphans, ex gratia and deferred pensions) is as follows :

an increase of 4%

The following figures show the distribution of beneficiaries by country of residence :

THE GAC OFFICE

I announced at the AGM of 25 April 1991 that an office had been allocated to the CERN Pensioners’ Association, Building 54, Room R-010, telephone 5759.  The office has been equipped and the first meeting of the GAC Bureau was held there from 10 to 12.30 on 18 April 1991.

As a consequence of this, conference rooms could be freed to hold Committee meetings in building 54 and the times of these meetings could be changed.  Instead of interminable evening meetings it became possible to meet from 10 to 12.30 in the morning.  The Bureau, consisting of President, the two Vice-Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer, meet regularly in our office.  This has been equipped with a Macintosh computer and a laser printer paid for by the Association.

RELATIONS WITH CERN MANAGEMENT

Relations with the Management were excellent throughout all this period.  Proposed on 22 February 1991, we received the letter of invitation from the Director General on 2 May.  I quote from it :  I have the pleasure to invite through you, in your quality of President of the CERN Pensioners’ Association, all its members to take part in a cruise on the Lake of Geneva on Monday, 16 September from 16.00 to 19.00.  This will be an occasion, for which the present CERN Management is happy, to maintain friendly contact with all those who have given so much to CERN during their professional lives.

You have, I am sure, all read in GAC Bulletin No. 4 the lyrical account of this cruise “The Pensioners’ Ship”, by our Vice-President René Cartier.

This was a great success and the pictures taken by the CERN photographers show how well we were, all of us, happy with this warm reception by the Director- General, Carlo Rubbia.  Thank you Director- General and, as you ended your letter hoping that this meeting would be the beginning of a tradition, I leave it to my successor to help in the fulfilment of this wish.

RELATIONS WITH THE STAFF ASSOCIATION

Relations with the Staff Association have continued in a spirit of frank collaboration throughout this period, which was marked by a certain number of positive results,

The statutes of the Staff Association have been modified :

Article 18c :  Candidates to represent the extraordinary members must be members of the CERN Pensioners’ Association, a body constituted within the Staff Association for the Beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund, as foreseen by article 3c.

Likewise modifications have been proposed in the Rules for Elections to the Council of the Staff Association :

Article 4:  Add :  “Only Pensioners members of the CERN Pensioners’ Association are eligible to be Observers representing the extraordinary members of the Staff Association.”

We have proposed Jacques TREMBLEY as candidate representing the pensioners on the Staff Council to take the place of Albert BURGER.  This candidature was accepted at the AGM on 7 May 1991 and he was elected on 18 June 1991.

Similarly, as a result of the resignation of Hans HORISBERGER from the post of substitute to the Observer of the Beneficiaries on the Management Board of the Pension Fund, and after a discussion,followed by an exchange of letters between M.  BORGHINI and myself Lorenzo RESEGOTTI was proposed for this post.  The Staff Council agreed to this name and L.  Resegotti was unanimously elected on 11 February 1992.

It is this sort of example that shows the progress made since 1987 in the de facto and now de jure, recognition of the Pensioners’ Association.

VOTES - NEW STATUTES - ELECTIONS OF 1992 - 1994 COMMITTEE

At the AGM of April 25, 1991, I requested that the Statutes of GAC, adopted after a postal vote on July 18, 1989, should be modified in seven points of which the most important concerned Article 17 and Article 20.

Article 17 stipulated :  The election of the President is made by written vote, by simple majority, from a list of at least three candidates on a ballot paper.  The election of the members of the Committee and of the Auditors is made by written vote, from a list of candidates on a ballot paper”.

This could have caused problems between the President and the Committee which would not have facilitated the working of the Committee.  Happily this was not the case.  But it seemed wiser to modify article of the 1989 statutes and revert to the statutes of 1987.

“The newly elected Committee shall at its first meeting elect by secret ballot and by a simple majority its President and its Vice- President(s) chosen from among the members of the Committee”.

Thus the President, having emanated from the Committee, has a joint responsibility with it.

As for Article 20, this gives the Committee the possibility of electing “Honorary Members”.  The final voting date was 10 September 1991 and the count was made on 19 September.  The number of ballot papers sent out was 516, the number of voters 289.  The participation in the vote was 56%.  According to the articles modified the “ayes” varied between 263 and 281.

The preparation of the elections for the Committee were also a heavy load for the year 1991.  The biggest difficulty was to find new candidates, given that a non negligible number of the outgoing Committee did not wish to stand for reelection.  Having overcome this difficulty the vote was made by correspondence and the count took place on 10 March 1992.

For the Committee, there were 386 votes expressed, of which 381 were valid and 5 rejected.  This represents a percentage of 60%.Out of 24 candidates, 15 were elected, six sitting and nine new members.  For the Auditors, 384 votes were expressed, of which 380 were valid and four were not.As two candidates were elected to the Committee. two candidates were elected as Auditors and two as substitutes.  The detailed results of these elections will be given to you under point 10 of the Agenda by J.  GOLLIET, the chief Scrutineer.

If I have somewhat insisted on the results of these two elections in the year 1991 - 1992 it is to show the vitality of GAC and the work of the Committee which has known how carry out its work with tenacity and success.  I shall leave to the Committee members responsible for other actions carried out in the past year to report on them and to show us the successes that have been obtained,

Before concluding, I should to thank Mrs. Thea VERMEULEN for the excellent work which she has accomplished, particularly concerning the widows in our Association.  Since 1989 efforts have been made to identify problems specific to their situation.  Noting that a lack of information was often at the root of these problems, those responsible for the permanences have done what is necessary to assure contacts that are more personal and more appropriate.  All the widows now receive the Bulletin and the CERN Courier.  They participate greatly in the GAC tours and excursions, we do not think that it would useful to organize other activities,

CONCLUSIONS

Elected five years ago President of CERN Pensioners’ Coordination Group, which became the CERN Pensioners’ Association in 1989, I have known two changes of the statutes and I have worked with three committees.  The Coordination Group had 127 members in 1987.  The GAC has today 630 members out of 1042 pensioners.  The de facto recognition of GAC by the Management of CERN and our individual adherence to the Staff Association as extraordinary members give the Association possibilities of action which were not even contemplated, nor could be imagined in 1987.

I shall allow myself as a conclusion to bring a more personal note to this report on the year 1991 since, as I announced last year, I have not sought a new mandate.  May I be allowed to thank here all the members of the Committee and of the Bureau who have all brought me their friendship and their never failing support throughout the five years during which we have all together built the Association.  I would like to thank also all the members of GAC for the confidence they have shown me.  I have wished to be a President who was economical with the funds of the Association, as you will soon be able to see in the Report of the Treasurer, Jean DOZIO, who has carried out this heavy task during all this period with a remarkable and quiet efficiency.

To end, I wish that the future President and the members of the newly elected Committee to continue the impetus given to GAC during the last five years.

I thank you for being so numerous at this AGM and I wish you all much enthusiasm in the Association, a very good health and, above all, the joy of living an excellent retirement...

Jean Gervaise
Outgoing President

PROGRAMME 1992 -1993

Exposé by R.  Lévy-Mandel to the Annual General Meeting held on 29 April 1992.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends,

The Association is not yet old enough to have the experience to deal with all the situations it may meet.  In past years the Committee which presented itself to you after an election was, with the exception of a few people, that which had been in office for two years.

This time it is a considerably altered committee which takes over the reins of office.  Of the 17 members of the new Committee only eight come from the old committee.  Thus the nine new people, who only knew of their election just over a month ago have not had much leisure to delve into the mysteries of GAC.  Furthermore the new Committee officially came into being a few minutes ago, after this Assembly approved the election results.  Finally, the new statutes foresee that the President and Vice-Presidents shall be elected by the Committee at its first meeting.  This we have just done.

The new President is Gordon Munday, his two Vice-Presidents are Théa Vermeulen and Robert Lévy-Mandel.

Owing to the very short time between the counting of the votes and this meeting it is but a spokesman, designated at an informal meeting of the newly elected, who addresses you today.  (Here followed the details of the ‘organization, to be found on page 22)

The programme which I am going to outline is the result of a first discussion with our colleagues and so reflects their ideas.  But for obvious reasons it will not be possible to go beyond generalities.

Thanks to the efforts of those who have preceded us and who have not spared their efforts in successive committees the GAC has become a solid association,having some 630 members.  But compared to the thousand pensioners and other beneficiaries there remains some way to go to reach a full membership and it is the task of all of us to persuade the others to join us.  For the greater our number, the less our representivity can be challenged and the further our voice will carry.  Without wishing to cultivate an inappropriate pessimism, we can note however that our path is beset with dangerous reefs.  We must remain vigilant and work at all levels for the preservation of our rights.

We have the satisfaction to find two remarkably competent people, Lorenzo Resegotti and Jacques Trembley as official members of the commissions which discuss pensions for the first and health insurance for the second.  These are the key problems in our lives as pensioners.  Clearly we shall remain very watchful as to their evolution.

In this list of preoccupations it seems highly desirable that we take up again the comparison of our situation to that of other international organizations.  This dossier has hardly progressed,despite our good intentions, for lack of means.  The strength of the new committee is 17, two more than the last.  Ingrid Plass and Gordon Munday have accepted to take this on.  Thus we are sure that the enquiries will be taken up again with efficiency:  however one must have no illusions :  this is a difficult and arduous task - a long term affair.

New treasurers will take over from J.Dozio who has remarkably organized GAC’s administration.  The presence, beside Wemer Albrecht, of Jean-Paul Buathier who assisted J.Dozio during the previous period will facilitate this transition.  Due to the increasing size of GAC we must computerize, a small revolution for some of our colleagues, but a fortifying revolution.  To be in one’s century, is it not to refind one’s youth ?

The secretariat also passes into new hands after the departure of Marcel Mary, our very active secretary for the preceding periods.  An organization of more than 600 members generates volumes of paper calling for an orderly secretariat.  Thanks to the perseverance of the outgoing President, Jean Gervaise, we now have an office.  Here also a computer must be introduced to deal with the difficult problem of our archives which swell with the time.  Problems which the new secretaries, Suzanne Brèches and Raymond Grégoire will have to resolve.

As the outgoing president has already said, contact with the widows has changed in character.  It has become more personal.  The number of our women members grows constantly, firstly because women staff members also reach the happy age of retirement and also because, sadly, the number of wives who lose their husbands increases, All these ladies are cordially invited to take an active part in the events organized by our Association.  Continuity will be assured by Théa Vermeulen, who already carried out this mission in the preceding Committee, and Marcelle Rouiller.

With the departure of Milan Georgejevic, which we regret enormously, new people must take over the permanences held on the first Tuesday of the month.  This will be done by Ernst Hugi and Bruno Nicolai.  The trend of the last few months shows that the attendance at the permanences does not correspond to the efforts made by the people running them.  Which is why it is useful to recall that they exist to answer, within the limits of our means, questions by which our members may be confronted.  But they can also be a meeting place where suggestions on the running of the Association can be made.  The permanences are a link between the Committee and the members of the Association which must not be allowed to die out.  So come to these rendezvous and tell us how you live your retirement and take us out of our possible isolation.

Meetings and travel will have no problem of continuity despite the departure of René Cartier, as Jean Robert is a member of the new Committee.  He will be seconded by Théo Krowerath.  The highly appreciated programme is abundant.  Here again we await your suggestions.

Finally a word on the Bulletin.  The editorial team, in place since the first number, remains:  Alfred Gunther, Robert Lévy- Mandel and Peter Standley.  We shall try to make it look less austere but, for that, we need data processing tools which we have not yet mastered.  You will have to be patient and accept it as it for some time.  Here again we strongly wish that this Bulletin becomes a more living link between us.  For that, we repeat our invitation to write and let us know what problems preoccupy you and what Suggestions you have to make.  Your letters will be published, if you so wish, and will form our correspondence column.

I would not wish to end this presentation without paying a tribute to the outgoing Committee members all of whom have devotely accomplished a considerable work.  I should like to pay a very special tribute to Jean Gervaise who has presided over this Association for the five years since he founded it.  Thanks to his steadfast work he has known how to bring the GAC to life and to give it the institutional form which has made it an instrument which is both listened to and consulted.  Our ideas have sometimes diverged on certain points but not our common desire to bring together all the pensioners and other beneficiaries, to cultivate our feelings of solidarity and the solicitude to preserve our acquired rights.

I am sure that the new Committee will know how to carry the torch and show itself. worthy of the confidence you have shown it. Thank you for having had the patience to hear me.

R. Lévy-Mandel
Committee Spokesman

ELECTION RESULTS

COMMITTEE

The candidates Luigi Mazzone (235 votes) and Josette Verny (243 votes) have resigned for private reasons.  Ernst Hugi and Bruno Nicolai have taken their places.

AUDITORS

As Josette Verny (199 votes) has resigned and Raymond Grégoire(161 votes) has been elected to the Committee, the four remaining candidates have been elected as Auditors.

THE NEW COMMITTEE,

ECHOES FROM THE COMMITTEE

Committee meetings at 10:00 have apparently given satisfaction to all participants.  A piece of information for the new Committee which will soon take over.

We met seven times between October 1991 and April 1992 with an average attendance of 78%.

Discussions have often been very lively, each member liking to defend his point of view, but in a spirit of perfect courtesy.

In November a call was made to our members for candidates for the renewal of the Committee and for new Auditors.  We received 24 positive replies for the former and six for the latter.  In the light of past experience we propose to retain for the Committee the 15 candidates who received the highest number of votes.  This choice must, of course, be approved by the Annual General Meeting (AGM).  The lists of members proposed for the new Committee and to be Auditors are given below.  L.Resegotti and J.Trembley, observers to the Council of the Staff Association, remain ex officio members of our Committee, which will thus total 17 members.

In accordance with the latest change in the Statutes of GAC the President and Vice-Presidents are elected by the new Committee at its first meeting, which cannot be held before the approval of the elections by this AGM.

The outgoing members not standing for reelection are :  M.T.Amato, R.Cartier, J.Dozio, J.Gervaise, M.Georgejevic, M.Mary, and J.Roesslinger.

On 6 November, after an absence of several months following his accident, our President J.Gervaise was again able to take his place amongst us.

As from 1 January 1992 L.Resegotti was unanimously elected as substitute to the Observer representing the beneficiaries on the Management Board of the Pension Fund.

At the end of November our computer was installed but there was some delay in its use.

Finally I should like to add my thanks to those addressed by the outgoing Committee to our former colleagues, still on the active list, for the help they have given us, on top of their normal work load.

M. Mary
Secretary

NEWS OF THE ‘PERMANENCES’

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us , answers to problems that you may meet - or at least the beginning of answers to these problems - so encouraging you to come and see us the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the “Permanences” are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.  We give here three of the questions which are of general interest.

MEMBERSHIP OF SAFI

Several people have raised the question as to whether CERN pensioners can become members of SAFI (Service d’ Achats. et de Commandes des Fonctionnaires Internationaux).

The reply obtained from SAFI’s Administrator is, unfortunately, negative.  The Administrator regrets this, but he is bound by the statutes of SAFI, ratified by the UN headquarters in New York.  These statutes admit pensioners who are members of a Pension Fund affiliated to the UN.

As for CERN active staff members, it appears that their membership of SAFI has been accepted since they are treated by the Swiss Confederation in the same way as UN personnel (e.g.  Carte de légitimation).

REDUCED INHERITANCE TAXES

On many occasions the question of the 50% reduction in inheritance tax has been raised;  certain widows of our colleagues benefited from this in the past.

Thanks to help from a member of GAC it is possible to give a definite answer to this question.In the past it was necessary for the deceased to have fulfilled the following conditions to benefit from this measure:

• not to have Swiss nationality, to be born outside Switzerland, to have been domiciled in the canton before July 1, 1979 and not to have been gainfully occupied.
• to have been employed by an international organization which has a headquarters agreement with the Confederation.
• to benefit from a taxation ‘a forfait’.

But, since 1985, international civil servants retiring in Switzerland can no longer be taxed ‘a forfait’, following a Federal decision.  Furthermore all outstanding ‘forfaits’ were cancelled in 1988/1989.  A reduction in inheritance tax is therefore no longer possible.

PAYMENT OF HOSPITAL EXPENSES

Following a question asked by a member on this subject, we have inquired from ‘Austria’;  their reply is, in essence, as follows.  The insured person has two possibilities:

1. The patient himself pays the guarantee (if one is required) before the start of the treatment.  She also pays the bill at the end of the treatment and then makes a claim for reimbursement to ‘Austria’.
2. The patient asks the hospital to send a “Demande de prise en charge” to ‘Austria’.

After this document, duly registered and signed by ‘Austria’, has been returned to the hospital the patient need pay neither the guarantee nor the treatment costs, the hospital sending the bill straight to ‘Austria’.

It goes without saying that the second method is only possible when hospitalisation can be programmed sufficiently far ahead.  As ‘Austria’ does not necessarily reimburse the total cost, the above mentioned document States what ‘Austria’ is ready to cover, the difference with the hospital charges being borne by the patient.

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information wich would be useful to other pensioners. Courtesy visits are appreciated, they make for general discussions, which often open new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences", please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying:  “GAC-Permanences”

Milan Georgijevic

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

In these morose times, caused by the unfavourable economic situation, the financial resources of GAC are happily sufficient to cover our running expenses.

Without doubt the greater the number of pensioners and other beneficiaries, the greater the health problems due to increasing age, the more the GAC should be there to help those who need moral, or perhaps material, support.

This means that the GAC should have sufficient reserves to avoid having to give up unforeseen interventions, for the organisation of social events, for more widespread information and perhaps for specific actions in collaboration with existing social services.

The Committee acts above all with a spirit of fellowship and its voluntary actions are as diverse as the needs, What is it that pushes people to freely give a few hours a week, sometimes more, to the service of others ?  The reply is quasi unanimous:  “We need to feel useful”.

In a world where everything can be bought and everything is for sale, fellowship is an opportunity to seize.  Voluntary service is part of CERN’s social background and the GAC is an example.  It is also a form of participation in the life of the actual staff members who thus know that when their professional career comes to an end a strong and lasting tie will unite them to the great family of those who have contributed to the evolution of CERN.

Five years have passed since the establishment of GAC.  Many questions have been raised, many problems remain, others will arise and the newly elected Committee will have the heavy task of examining them and of providing the solutions.

Today, by their increasing numbers, the paying members of GAC ensure to the Committee the financial means to develop our social activities.  This is difficult but exciting work which allows one to create new manners of living together by showing that voluntary work is entering a period of great esteem.

J. Dozio
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

NEWS ABOUT PENSIONS

Contribution by L.Resegotti to the Annual General Meeting on 29 April 1992

During the year 1991 news of the Pension Fund has been regularly published in the CERN Weekly Bulletin and in numbers 3 and 4 of the GAC Bulletin.

This presentation covers the most important of recent events.

The Annual General Meeting of members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund

As usual the AGM, held in the CERN auditorium on 24 September 1991, was a privileged occasion of communication between the Management Board of the Pension Fund and the members and beneficiaries of the Fund.  The 1990 annual report was presented by the Fund’s administrator, Christian Cuénoud.  In its introduction, the report recalls the decisions taken by the CERN Council in December 1990 concerning the use of more realistic parameters to establish the technical balance of the Fund and the increase in contributions made necessary to maintain this equilibrium (decision already published in the Weekly Bulletins and the GAC Bulletin and commented by Guy Maurin at last year’s GAC AGM).  Statistical information is given concerning the members, the beneficiaries and the evolution of the benefits.  The report then presents the financial situation, the distribution of assets and investments.  In 1990 the gross performance was 0.12%, a result whose modesty is essentially due to the economic troubles caused by the Gulf crisis ; this result compares favourably with those of the Swiss reference funds, which had negative performances (ranging from -1.7% to -5.78%).  The report is available from the Management of the Fund;  large extracts have been published in the Weekly Bulletins of 9 and 16 September 1991.  (It is heartening to be able to add here that, according to the statement by the Management Board in the Weekly Bulletin of 23 March 1992, the performance of the Fund in 1991 rose to 9.04%.)

In the following talk Guy Maurin, Vice-President of the Management Board first reviewed the present trends in social security systems in Europe and then presented some findings from the report by the firm Towers Perrin, who have made an in depth study of the CERN Pension Fund.  Concerning the global performance of the Fund Towers Perrin found that it has been satisfactory over the last eight years, The firm is in favour of keeping the Fund capitalized but recommends a more precise definition of the obligations of the Organization and of the Member States in the event of the dissolution of CERN.  It also formulates several detail recommendations concerning particularly data processing means, portfolio management and the optimization of investment yield and risk.

The minutes of the AGM of the members and beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund is available from the Management of the Fund.

Indexation of Pensions,

At its meeting of 16 October 1991 the Management Board of the Pension Fund had agreed to request the CERN Council to approve an indexation of pensions, fixed sums and allowances of 5.4% as from 1 January 1992, corresponding to the movement of the price index for consumer goods at Geneva for the period August 1990 to August 1991.  On 20 December the CERN Council approved this increase on the recommendation of the Finance Committee.

CERN’s debt.

On December 20, 1991 the CERN

Council also approved, on the the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the proposals put forward by CERN Management in agreement with the Management Board of the Pension Fund concerning the Organization’s debt to the Fund :

• Repayment of the debt over a period of 31 years, from 1992 to 2022
• Real interest rate to be maintained at 3.5% and to be reexamined after five years
• Amortisation to be indexed each year according to the accumulated Geneva cost of living index
  • for the years 1992 to 1995 according to the plan approved by the CERN Council in 1988
  • from 1996 on, constant amortisation of some 19.6MCHF at 1991 prices
• Starting from 1 January 1992 the Pension Fund to take over all its administrative working expenses (personnel and material), which until 1991 were charged to the CERN budget.

(At its meeting on 13 November the Management Board of the Pension Fund had approved a budget of 1.75MCHF to cover its working expenses for the financial year 1992.)

Pension Guarantees.

The “Special group on reintegration”, whose mandate had been enlarged by the CERN Council in June 1991 to cover the whole field of pension guarantees, met three times under the chairmanship of M.O.Ottosson, Swedish delegate

In order to prepare policy suggestions for the Staff Association representative on the the “Ottosson Group”, Michael Doran, the executive committee of the Staff Association has set up a small internal working party on pension guarantees under the chairmanship of Henri Piney, the other members being Mrs.  I. Seis and Messrs.  Atherton, Doran and Resegotti.

This group has first looked into the question of the ‘fondation de droit suisse’ which, according to Article I 3.03 of the Rules of the Fund (reproducing the CERN Council resolution of June 1986), should succeed the Pension Fund in the case of the dissolution of CERN “in order to guarantee acquired rights at the day of the dissolution”.

It is convinced that, in order to fulfil its purposes, the “Foundation of the CERN Pension Fund” should be created directly the Council decides on the dissolution, so that it can start to function well before the Organization ceases to exist and must be able to request from the Organization the payments necessary to balance the Fund (which would include the repayment of any outstanding debt to the Fund at the moment of dissolution). In this spirit the group has examined in detail the model Statutes of the Foundation annexed to the CERN Council resolution of June 1986 and has formulated comments and suggestions.

L. Resegotti
(April 1992)

HEALTH INSURANCE

Contribution by J.Trembley to the Annual General Meeting held on 29 April 1992

Since 1971, CERN is bound by contract with “Austria” on the basis of an absolute mutuality, independent of the family situation, the premiums being proportional to the basic salary.  In 1991 an active member contributed 35% of 8,48% (= 2,97%) of his basic salary, the Organization paying the 65% remaining.

The pensioners pay the same premium as active members, 2.97% of the maximum theoretical pension to which they could have had the right.  The Organization pays nothing, and the missing part is covered by the active members and the Organization.

The Health Insurance Convention has recently been revised and extended for a period of five years starting on 1 January 1992.

With respect to the preceding convention the changes are as follows, taken from the Weekly Bulletin 50/91 of 9 December 1991:

The Head of Administration has set up in spring 1990 a sub-group (Working Group on Health Insurance at CERN) composed of representatives from Management and, at the suggestion of the Staff association, of one of representatives elected by the pensioners to the Council of the Staff Association (L. Resegotti and J.Trembley).  This sub-group was chaired by Hans Hoffmann, Director for Administrative and Technical Tasks, and was asked to give its advice as to the expediency of bringing into force measures to stabilize and reduce costs.  This sub-group has met four times during the last quarter of 1991 to prepare a supplementary document to the preliminary report of November 1990.  The final report was sent to the Director-General in January 1992.  You will be kept informed of developments in this field.

J. Trembley

MEETINGS - TRAVEL

Contribution by R.  Cartier at the Annual General Meeting held on 29 April 1992

During the period from May 1991 to April 1992 a significant number of events have taken place, have been started or are in preparation.

Although very different from each other, as to their ends, their means or their various “tempo” they all have as a common point the dynamic and enterprising spirit of our Association and the wish to preserve the ties which unite the Pensioners and the Active Staff of CERN.

The kick-off was given by the trip to Florence and Pisa from 3 to 7 June with a coach-full of 48, Ladies and Gentlemen, which was according to all an enchantment, as much for the excellence of the service as for the spirit of togetherness, the good humour and harmony of the Participants.

For the first long group tour organized by the pensioners, this was a good cultural success, which augers [bodes] well for our future plans.

After the summer dispersion, the great autumn rendezvous was the cruise on the Lake on a magnificent autumn day in September, thanks to the combined initiatives of the Director General and of our President.

An account in our last Bulletin No. 4 recalled this delicious occasion on which were officially gathered together for the first time Pensioners and Active Staff of CERN.  The speeches made on the deck of the Helvétie both by Carlo RUBBIA and by Jean GERVAISE put in evidence the continuity of all those, who throughout the generations have worked for the good name of CERN and the place that it has acquired in the world.

Furthermore, thanks to the photographic service of CERN many of us were able to keep a tangible souvenir of these good hours.

Finally, on 6 December the traditional meeting over a glass at the end of the afternoon was illustrated by a film made by our friend Horst WACHSMUTH during a cruise on the frontiers of the Algerian South. We could admire the magnificent rock paintings and engravings, the extraordinary light of the sun setting on the infinite dunes and the joyful hospitality of the Touaregs, lords of the desert!

Meanwhile and before the year came to its end, we had already built the programme for 1992, thus assuring the continuity with the new Committee which will have the destinies of the Association in its care from next April.

We can here and now announce the outing on 20 May to Les Salines d’Arc et Senans, a remarkable monument and witness to the time of Louis XIV.  For the autumn the five day tour to Alsace is being finalized - from 7 to 12 September with a high class touristic and cultural programme.  Finally there will be an outing at the end of October with a mediaeval theme, rich in colour and very spirited, in the Maconnais.

Into this programme will be introduced, of course, at a date yet to be fixed the meeting between Pensioners and Actives on the initiative of the Director General so as to anchor, as was foreseen during the cruise on the Lake, a tradition of annual meetings for our community.

Thus the ties formed at work will be maintained, solidly tightened, for the greatest joy of all.

R. Cartier
(April 1992)

Editorial

The new Committee has met regularly and has started its work with courage and determination.  You can see, by reading all the contributions to this Bulletin, that all the activities of the previous Committee have been taken in hand without interruption, despite the renewal of half the membership of the Committee.  “Permanences” have been held, our representatives have assiduously followed the work on pensions and health insurance, the treasurers have banked the subscriptions, numerous outings have been organized, Bulletin No. 6 is out on time etc.

Your Committee has actively undertaken new activities.  Firstly, with the help of its little computer, the informatization of our documentation has been started.  In particular, and it was not a small matter, an index has been created of all the members of GAC;  previously this index had been kept by hand.  Thanks to this computerization our administration will be simplified and more efficient.

At the end of September our membership totalled 690, which is 60 more than last April.  This is a very good result.  It is noteworthy that 60% of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund have joined GAC, for a certainly modest subscription.  In this way they show the importance they attach to the representivity of GAC and to its aims. Nevertheless in face of our thousand actual beneficiaries, this result is not sufficient.  We must pursue our efforts to convince those who stay at the door to come in and join us, and that it is in their interest to come and strengthen our ranks.

Another point of importance has been the renewal of contacts with other international organizations in order to know of the situation of their pensioners as to pensions and health insurance.  This is a long-term work which is essential to bring us out of a certain isolation.  There are no absolute criteria to determine the situation of pensioners.  They can only be determined relative to the situation of others.

In all our Bulletins we emphasize the importance of your participation in our activities, either in coming to the “permanences” or in writing to us.  It seems that the level of participation has grown, which is pleasing.  However, if you wish the Committee to represent you even more efficiently the Committee must have a closer contact with the members of GAC, expressing their views on the general problems of the pensioners.  COME TO THE PERMANENCES, WRITE TO US, Say what you think of the general trends in the situation of the pensioners, tell us what has become of you, what are your preoccupations.  We shall try to make the best use of this information for the benefit of us all.

The Director-General has repeated his gesture of last year in inviting all the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund to meet him and his staff for a drink.  We greatly appreciate his initiative for at least two reasons.  Firstly, to be invited by the Director- General demonstrates the interest which the Organization has for us, for, despite the the formal side of our leaving, we continue to feel part of CERN.  This is a point to which we will come back later.  Secondly, to be able to be back among Cernois is a joy for those whom age has withdrawn from their professional activities.  Rare are those who have not kept a deep attachment to CERN.

As usual the Editors continue to give you their point of view on the two questions which are on the minds of all beneficiaries - actual or potential - of the Pension Fund.

Let us say a word on the Pension Fund.  The year 1991 was a good one, with a gross return of 9.04%.  This very good result should not, however, hide the less good long term result (for example the Time Weighted Return of 5.04% over 20 years).  One must hope that the economic crisis through which the world is at present passing will not continue for ever and that those responsible for our Fund, of whom everyone is pleased to recognize the competence, will find a more favourable climate in which to exercise their management.

For the rest of the questions concerning our Fund, in particular the matter of the Foundation which should take over this Fund in the event of the dissolution of the Organization, they follow a long and tortuous road which requires the efforts of many people, already heavily laden with other tasks.

Let us say a very brief word on Health Insurance.  Here, as well, work continues in various committees in view of being able to put forward proposals to the different CERN authorities.  Important questions, to which we shall have the occasion to return, have been tackled and some interesting proposals have been formulated.  To be continued !

In June 1991 we welcomed the recognition of GAC by the Administration with the acceptance of our representation in one of its working groups and we are pleased with this emergence of the CERN Pensioners from the shadows.  We are sure that the competence and judgment of our two representatives cannot but be appreciated by the other participants in the discussions by their positive contributions to the solutions put forward.

The finances of the Member States suffer along with the bad health of the world economy.  This has led the Council to defer for a year, to our great regret, approval of the

LHC, recognized to be the next step in the development necessary for the Organization. We are confident that at the end of next year this project, important both for CERN and for European physics, will be given the green light by the Member States.

Once again Christmas and the New Year will soon be with us.  This is a good moment to make wishes.  We send you you our warmest wishes for good health and prosperity in a very happy 1993.  We wish CERN a year full of success in all its activities with, at the end of December, the authority for the LHC to be started.

The Editors

THE PRESIDENT’S GREETINGS.

This message is adressed to all pensioners and their families.

First I should like to thank all of you who voted in the last CERN Pensioners’ Association for selecting a Committee very nicely balanced both in terms of experienced and new members nd its nationality distribution.  As your President with the help of the Committee I hope to be able to make your Association stronger and more effective.

At the “drink” given by the CERN management on the 5th of October in familiar surroundings and a relaxed atmosphere we heard the Director General speak with enthusiasm about CERN’s latest accomplishments and his clear vision of the future of the Organization.  This should be very encouraging when we see about us a Europe in recession and not too certain about its ultimate aims.  In replying to the Director

General and in no way wanting to strike a discordant note at a gathering in festive mood, I nevertheless felt obliged to recall the pensioner’s dependence on CERN in matters connected with pensions and health insurance:

I wish you all in my own name and on behalf of your Committee a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 1993.

Gordon Munday

THE DIRECTOR GENERAL’S INVITATION

At the end of the afternoon on Monday 5 October some two hundred CERN pensioners could be found with the leaders of the Organization at restaurant No. 2 (or Tortella’s as it was known to many of us) for a drink given by the Director-General Carlo Rubbia.

This annual occasion, highly appreciated by the pensioners, demonstrates the mutual affection which unites those who have in the past contributed to the building of CERN with those now carry the torch.  With a glass in the hand and nibbling excellent canapes, everyone showed their customary pleasure to meet again and to recalll the past, to have news of absent colleagues and to hear from the “actives” of the state of “their” Organization.

In his address the Director-General was pleased to point out the part played by the “ancients” in their time.  He underlined the very satisfactory progress that CERN continues to makein all its activities but did not conceal the difficulties which the staff experience due to the reduction in financial

resources.  Nevertheless he affirmed his confidence in the future of CERN and and of its great project, the LHC.  In conclusion Carlo Rubbia made a rendezvous with us for another meeting next year.

In his turn our President, Gordon. Munday, said that, if the “ancients” have played a determinant role in CERN’s successes, the relief has shown that it has nothing to envy the “ancients” in order to ensure an excellent development of the Organization.  But if CERN can today do without its pensioners, the latter cannot do without CERN on whom they depend entirely, as much for the Pension Fund as for Health Insurance.  Warmly thanking the Director-General for his invitation the President hoped that this dependence would not be forgotten.

The meeting continued long and in good spirit.  So - Here’s to next year, Mr. Director-General !

Jean Robert

GEORGES CHARPAK, NOBEL PRIZE

Rarely has news been received with such joy as that of Georges Charpak’s Nobel Prize.  First, the man.  Tall, stooping a little, friendly, smiling and very close to his contemporaries, always ready to volunteer for a good cause, very independent and attaching little importance to externals.  A true physicist impassioned by his research.

Next, his work.  The brilliant idea to develop a detector which would be the detector for particle physics, adapted to the rise in accelerator energies, this multi-wire proportional chamber giving an enormous gain in rapidity over other types of detector. An invention followed over the years by fruitful developments in the same vein leading to important applications in other disciplines such as medicine and biology.

Finally, for the Organization.  Happy to be distinguished through one of its members at a time when the sky is somewhat grey for big research.  By the side of Carlo Rubbia, Jack Steinberger and Simon Van der Meer now stands a fourth Nobel prizewinner, so marking the eminent position occupied by CERN in the field of particle physics research.

So the announcement of this distinction has been greeted with a special joy by all Cernois and, of course, by the members of GAC, proud of the honours rewarding the merits of a member of our Organization and particularly attentive to all that adds to the lustre of CERN, to which they remain very attached.

In the name of all our members we offer our heartiest greetings to Georges Charpak and wish him a long road ahead studded with success.

The Committee

ECHOS FROM THE COMMITTEE

So the new Committee has arrived. Like all good vines, its composition includes half of the preceding Committee, which is auspicious for the continuity of its work.  It met three times before the holidays and, after a gap of two months, met again on September 2.

Having found its cruising speed it is on the first or second Wednesday of each month that its members meet on the stroke of ten in the morning for a meeting whose length does not exceed two hours.  All bring their collaboration and their experience, so that all the problems which interest the “Ancients” may be discussed and resolved .....  as far as may be possible.

Attendance at these meetings has been very satisfactory, and all try to reconcile their many occupations as pensioners with a series of meetings scheduled for the year.

Our computer has been brought into service.  A large job has been undertaken - the creation of an accurate and complete index of all our members.  This was not a small matter as sometimes we had to make a veritable inquest when faced with application forms filled in hastily, wrongly or incompletely.  Efforts of memory had to be made to recall the first name of a former colleague or to reconstruct a fragmentary address.  Minor changes still remain to be done but we can say that the Committee now has a noteworthy and very flexible working tool at its disposal.

The computer is now in use for the production of invitations too, and minutes of meetings and for diverse correspondence.

S. Brèches R. Grégoire
Secretaries

NEWS OF THE ‘PERMANENCES’

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet - or at least the beginning of answers to these problems - so encouraging you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.  We attempt to clarify below two problems that have been raised in the course of our last sessions, But first some general information.

GENERAL INFORMATION

In May, June and September we have registered an average of 3.3 consultations per session, with a minimum of two and a maximum of five.  This compares favourably with the average of 1.8 consultations per session over the last four years.  We hope that this result reflects a lasting interest in this institution, the Permanence.

As you may have noticed from the announcement made in the Weekly Bulletin, the Permanences are now open to all the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund

In Bulletin No.5 the Committee invited you to make proposals for a new name for the “Permanence”.  It seems that for some of our members this name has a medical connotation, Wrongly in fact, as the Petit Larousse, for example covers under ‘permanence’ un service chargé d’assurer un fonctionnement and gives as an example “permanence électorale”.  This is by way of parenthesis.  One of our members M. Sakkas, living in Athens, has sent sent several good suggestions.  The competition is still open.

PROBLEMS CONCERNING HEALTH INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT CLAIMS

It appeared in one of our sessions that one of our members had difficulty in identifying a payment made by AUSTRIA with the corresponding claim.  We mention the case here as we think that other members may have had the same problem.

A reimbursement claim isolated in time should not cause any problem.  But things become more complicated when several claims are sent to AUSTRIA on the same on nearby dates.  The reimbursement claim forms do not have identification numbers nor is the date of the claim of any use as AUSTRIA, when making a reimbursement, refers not to this date but to a later internal registration date of which the insured person has no knowledge.

Thus the only elements by which a claim can be indentified are the amounts reimbursed.  On the bank credit advice notes, AUSTRIA registers by request and by category of expenses, the percentage reimbursement rate and the amount reimbursed.  From these two figures can be calculated the amount(s) entered on the corresponding claim form and which are the full 100 percent.  The cases for which reimbursement is subject to a ceiling can nearly always be identified by their special nature (dental expenses, glasses etc).

AUSTRIA also requests that in all correspondence referring to a particular claim, reference should be made not only to the date of the claim but also to the date of registration given on the credit advice note.

GAC sees here a clear lacuna in the AUSTRIA reimbursement procedure and will not fail, at the appropriate moment, to make proposals for an improvement.

SOME GLIMPSES ON TAXES IN THE CANTON OF VAUD

For many GAC members living in Vaud the procedures for tax declaration, calculation and billing seem to be a permanent challenge.  The complexity of these procedures is due to their biennial rhythm which is long compared with changes that can take in the situation of a taxpayer.  The tax return made to the Canton also serves as the base for Federal taxes, which follow the same rhythm.

A tax declaration was last made in February 1991.  It took into account the fortune (capital) held on 1 January 1991 and income during the years 1989 and 1990 (période de calcul).  This declaration served as the basis for the taxes to be paid in the years 1991 and 1992 (période de taxation).  During these last two years there clearly can be changes in the situation and income of the taxpayer.  Unless the taxpayer has requested an intermediate assessment (taxation intermédiaire) the tax authorities will not take account of these changes until the next tax declaration is assessed at he beginning of next year (1993) and the necessary adjustments, upward or downward, are made in the tax demands for the new taxation period (1993 and 1994).  And so on…

The intermediate assessment mentioned above is made automatically or at the request of the taxpayer if one of the following conditions is satisfied (the list is not exhaustive) :

• beginning or end of lucrative activity
• lasting separation between spouses
• changes in the basis for the international or intercantonal division of the taxable items.

Our colleagues who retire are strongly recommended to ask for an intermediate assessment immediately they stop working (the necessary form can be obtained from the”Commission d’imp6t et recette” of their district of residence).  By so doing they can profit more quickly from certain tax reductions than by waiting for the automatic reassessment which will be made when the next tax declaration is sent in.  As an example, 20% of our CERN pensions are exempted from direct Federal tax which, as this tax is highly progressive, can have an appreciable effect on the total tax to be paid.

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information which would be useful to other pensioners, Courtesy visits are appreciated - they make for general discussions which often new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying : “GAC Permanences”

Ernst Hugi

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

At the Annual General Meeting of 29 April 1992 Jean Dozio announced that he wished to resign from his post of Treasurer.  We thank him for the work he has accomplished over the last years.  We now see more clearly in what consists the treasurer’s work;  in principle an entry has to be made each day to keep the books up to date.  The payment of subscriptions proceeds very satisfactorily.  We take this opportunity to welcome our new members (we expect to reach a membership of 700 shortly).

We would wish, however, that in the future payment forms were made out legibly and with complete addresses.  We often receive returned mail marked “unknown at this address” and so discover that someone has moved without telling us.  This involves some difficult research on top of the normal work.

Also, when you fill in a postal payment order for the Association please indicate the year for which you are paying the subscription.  If you use the same order to make another payment — for an excursion for example — please indicate very clearly below the subscription the reason for your second payment, so that we may know what the total payment is covering.  And, of course, give your name,first name and full address.

We are busy at present putting the whole membership file on the computer which GAC has recently acquired.  This considerable task is occupying several members of the Committee.  We hope to be operational by the end of 1992.

[image of form omitted]

Werner Albrecht
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

THE PENSION FUND

A summary of the report on the Pension Fund at the GAC Annual General Meeting of 29 April 1992 has been published in our Bulletin No 5.  Since then we have had knowledge of the contents of an interesting study concerning the status and situation of the Pension Fund and of the conclusions of the Working Group on the operation of the Governing Board and of its instruments. Some essential points from these two documents will be mentioned in the present article, which will then give a brief account of the very recent Annual General Assembly (AGA) of the members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.

Status and situation of the Pension Fund

Following the statutory revision of 1989, the CERN Council has conferred on the Pension Fund, within the Organization, an “operational autonomy” which is expressed, amongst other things, by its taking over its running expenses as from 1992.  In reply to the request for detailed information on the status and situation of the Pension Fund within the Organization, a request made by several delegations during discussions in the Finance Committee in September 1991, the CERN Management has drafted an appropriate document which was approved by the Governing Board of the Pension Fund and revised in the light of observations made by the delegations.

This document, of which the latest version is dated June 1992, comprises a very interesting in depth study which it is not possible to summarise here.  It seems important to underline the statement that the Pension Fund has no legai existence distinct from that of CERN, which solely has a legal identity.  It is CERN which is the owner of the assets acquired for the Pension Scheme, assets which are nevertheless statutorily earmarked for pensions and benefits.  The management of the Fund functions, however, independently from that of CERN, under the supervision of the CERN Council.  This functional autonomy operates within the frame of the Statutes of the Fund, approved by the Council.

Working Group on the functioning of the Management Board of the Pension Fund and of its instruments

This Working group, created by the Governing Board of the Pension Fund in January 1992 has presented its report to the Board which approved it at its meeting on 17 June.  After a detailed analysis of the actual situation the report puts forward a certain number of proposals;  a summary has been given in the Weekly Bulletin of 13 July.  They affect essentially:

• the establishment of a Chairmanship Bureau, consisting of the Chairman and the two Vice-Chairmen, and a division of labour within this team.
• the establishment of regular relations between the Chairman or one of the Vice-Chairmen of the Governing Board and the governing bodies of CERN (Council, Finance Committee, Committee of Council)
• the guaranties granted to members of personnel in representation office to be extended to the elected members of the Governing Board
• the assistance of the services of the Organization to the Fund.
• changes, to be submitted to the Finance Committee, in the structure of the Investments Committee in which the Governing Board will be more strongly represented thus giving it a stronger voice in drawing up the investment strategy and monitoring assets management

The Annual General Assembly

The AGA of the members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund was held on 14 September 1992.  The Administrator of the Fund, Christian Cuénoud, presented and

commented on the annual report for 1991, approved by the CERN Council in June 1992. (This report can be obtained from the office of the Fund and large extracts were published in the Weekly Bulletins of 31 August and 7 September, 1992).  After giving statistical information on the members and beneficiaries and on the benefits paid out by the Fund, the report shows the overall evolution of the financial situation of the Fund in 1991, an evolution characterised by a strong improvement in the net profit, and the distribution of the Fund’s assets at the end of 1990 and 1991.

In 1991 the gross performance of the Fund was 9.04% (a figure already given in the Weekly Bulletin in March 1992).  Several comparisons have been made with this result, in particular with respect to mixed shares managed by the large Swiss banks on behalf of Swiss investment foundations for pension funds.  The performance obtained was found to be satisfactory, taking also into account that the Fund did not depart from its policy of prudence which had allowed the effects of the Gulf crisis to be attenuated.  However the stock exchange crashes in 1987 and 1989 and the high inflation in Switzerland since 1989 have meant that, over the long term,the Fund has not yet reached the objective of an average return of 3% above the inflation rate in Geneva.

The annual report also includes two tables showing respectively the evolution of CERN’s debt to the Fund and the redemption plan for this debt until 2022, at 1992 prices. Christian Cuénoud accompanied his presentation of the annual report with some general considerations on investment policy.

Guy Maurin, Vice-President of the Governing Board then presented and explained the results of the actuarial appraisement carried out at the end of 1991.  In his conclusions the actuary notes the existence of a technical deficit with all the models considered, but affirms that “the existence of this deficit is certainly not disturbing for the moment, having regard to the considerable financial effort which has been accepted by the different parties to assure the long term financial equilibrium of the Fund”.  Finally Charles Forman gave an account on real estate and its position in the portfolio of the Pension Fund.  Summaries of these interesting presentations will be published in the minutes of the AGA

L. Resegotti
(October 1992)

HEALTH INSURANCE

Since my report to Annual General Meeting of April 29, 1992 (see Bulletin No. 5), and concerning the Hoffmann report on Health Insurance submitted to the Director- General in January 1992 there has been but litle development.

Following the discussion of the Hoffmann report by the Directorate in June a Working Group of the Administration, chaired by H.Weber the Director of Administration, was instructed to complete it by making proposals particularly for the case where one of the Member States would withdraw from CERN or the Organization would be dissolved, and also concerning the problem of geriatric treatment.  A report in the form of a memorandum from H.Weber, dated August 21, was submitted to the Director-General who put it before the Directorate meeting of 6 October.  The Directorate transmitted it, together with the Hoffmann report, to the Standing Advisory Committee of 7 October 1992.

These two reports propose that the Organization pays direct contributions of 65% to the Health Insurance Scheme for the pensioners, the Weber report adding that the Pension Fund would be asked to transmit the contributions of the Organization and of the pensioners.

It is calculated that the premium for 1993 should be increased from 8.98% to 9.58%.

The Staff Association wishes that this calculation and the Hoffmann and Weber reports should be referred to a sub-committee of the Standing Avisory Committee.

Jacques Trembley.

MEETINGS AND TRAVEL.

Several excursions were organized during the course of the year.

First, on 20 May, 49 people participated in an excursion to the borders of the Jura and the Doubs.  At Salins-les-Bains we were able to visit, accompanied by a very competent guide, the former salt pans whose origins date back to the XIIth century.  Still in operation at the beginning of this century, their only use today is to supply salt water to the spa.

After lunching at Arbois the coach took us to Arc-et-Senans where we were greeted by a veritable deluge.  The buildings of the Royal Salt-works, built by Ledoux in the years 1775 to 1779 were in use until 1895.  Besides our visit to the buildings, whose renovation was started in 1936 the exhibition of models of buildings carried out or planned by Ledoux greatly interested us.

In September two excursions, the first from the 7th to the 11th with 36 participants and the second, with 21 people, from the 14th to the 18th, both followed the same itinerary and allowed us to discover Alsace.

The first day was the journey to Strasbourg with a visit to the city after dinner.  The second day, visit to the inclined plane of Artzwiler, traversal of this sort of lock on a lunch-cruise and then return to Strasbourg via Saverne.  On the third day excursions to Mont Sainte Odile, to the Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, lunch (variously appreciated!) at Riquewihr, demonstration of the flight of birds of prey in semi-liberty at Kintzheim, then a stop at Colmar where we could admire the celebrated Issenheim altarpiece, over the Col de la Schlucht (fogbound, alas, on 10 September) to Gérardmer (what a memorable meal!), the Ballon d’Alsace and finally to stop at Mulhouse.  The fifth day was the visit to the museum devoted to railways and firemen, and, after lunch in the revolving restaurant on the Tower of Europe, return to Geneva.  All this left us with wonderful memories and especially the wish to return to this beautiful country in less of a rush.

Finally, on 20 October, a trip in the Maconnais.  After leaving CERN under a cheerless sky coffee and croissants were served in the coach.

On arrival at Macon, we were greetd by Nathalie, our charming guide.  She was dressed as Alix de Châlon and introduced us to the Maconnais, while telling us of the old customs and legends of the region.

Our destination was the mediaeval city of Brancion whose citadel dates from the Xth century.  On our way we could admire the ancient market and the romesque church of St Pierre.

Before returning to Macon we stopped in a wine-cellar at Brissé.  We tasted St Véran, Pouilly-Fuissé and Macon rouge for the greatest pleasure of certain thirsty throats. Meanwhile the sky had lightened and Macon greeted us for lunch under a beautiful autumn sky.

A memorable lunch, where our stomachs were severely tested by the Larmes du Druide, the Andouilloux and the Tripailloux, without forgetting the Bralot Purificateur de I’Exorciste to cite only a few of the specialities;  the whole animated dy phantoms of monks and the ghost of the Seigneur de Brancion.  The ambiance was excellent throughout the meal and to end a troubadour persuaded the bravest amongst us to dance to the sound of an accordéon.

Every thing having an end, we returned to CERN where we arrived at eight o’clock.

It is a pleasure to mention the excellent spirit and good humour that has reigned throughout our excursions.  This can but encourage us to continue our work:  we shall in due course present you the programme for 1993.

Jean Robert Théo Kréwerath

(For Nelly Dinkel's poem on the outings, see the French version)

Rédaction :  Alfred Gunther, Robert Lévy-Mandel, Peter Standley.

GAC DIRECTORY

For a long time the question of a Directory of GAC members has been under discussion in the Committee.  Such a document would contribute in strengthening the ties between us, would enable meetings to be held on subjects of common interest and would facilitate the renewal of lost contacts which many of you wish.

This subject has recently come to the fore as we have received requests from certain of our members wishing to have the adressses of colleagues in various countries.  We have had to reply negatively and must continue to do so as long as we do not have the agreement of our members to have their names and addresses listed in a document to be widely distributed and regurlarly updated.  The computorization of GAC now makes this operation possible.

So this is why we now ask whether you agree to this information being put in a directory of members.  Using the form below, we ask those of you who have no objections to their names, forenames, addresses and telephone numbers being inscribed in the GAC Directory to tell us so.  In the absence of a positive reply, we shall take it that you do not wish an entry to be made for you.

We should be very grateful to have your reply before the end of January 1993, for which we thank you in advance.

[form omitted]

The Committee

Editorial

The year has started well for the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund that we are:  our pensions received full compensation for the cost of living index in Geneva.  We salute this action which demonstrates the care of the CERN Council not to burden the pensioners with sacrifices.  We address our thanks to the Staff Association Council for the solidarity it has shown in clearly taking position in our favour, These thanks are the more heart-felt in that the salaries of the staff have not been treated in the same way.

Your Committee has now been in existence for a little over a year and it is already time to think of the next elections.  Requests for candidates will be made towards the end of the year for an election which will be held in the first quarter of 1994.  We hope that many of you will offer a little of your time to animate this Association which is yours.

Among many matters treated by the Committee in the last six months mention should be made of the enquiry that was made concerning the project for a Directory of members.  We have only received about 200 replies from more than 700 members.  This Directory, wanted by some of you to form a link between distant pensioners, will only make sense if a strong majority replies affirmatively.  So think of the convivial aspect of an instrument with which you can find someone of whom you have lost trace - and make the effort to reply, using the form inserted in this Bulletin.  In advance, we thank you.

The other work carried on by your Committee is set down in the different contributions in this Bulletin.  Accordingly we restrict ourselves to a few remarks concerning the two key subjects.

The Pension Fund is still waiting for the outline of a solution which would set up the Foundation to be created in the event of the disappearance of CERN.  There is, happily, no danger in delay, but one does not take out an insurance policy the day after an accident.  We know that active work is in progress.  We should be very satisfied the day when it is completed so that, should the need arise, the CERN Council could immediately carry out its resolution of June 1986 to create this Foundation and to restore the technical balance of the Pension Fund in the event of the dissolution of the Organization.

Another worry that one can have arises from the present CERN Convention which, in principle, permits any Member State to leave the Organization at short notice.  The Fund is in technical equilibrium with the hypotheses of a 30 year life of the Fund and of the amortization of the Organization’s debt during the same period.  This implies a long term engagement of the Member States who should therefore pay into the Fund, should they withdraw from the Organization, the contributions, calculated on an actuarial basis, required to cover their quotas of the debt and of the sum necessary to restore the equilibrium of the Fund.

The Health Insurance Scheme presents further problems in the event of the dissolution of the Organization.  The present system, which gives us entire satisfaction, is linked to a management contract renewable every five years.  These problems are being studied by a subgroup of the Standing Concertation Committee.  We are happy that our representative for these matters, Jacques Trembley, has been nominated permanent observer, just as Lorenzo Resegotti is observer on the Management Board of the Pension Fund.

So we have now reached the very satisfactory situation in which elected members of the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund are admitted to the advisory bodies where they can advance their points of view and be kept informed on those matters which affect us.  Here again we are grateful to CERN Management and to the Council of the Staff Association who have allowed us to make this important step.

The economic outlook for 1993 is not the most brilliant.  The Member States find themselves in serious social and economic difficulties.  These difficulties are inevitably reflected inside CERN, which has had to accept budget cuts in the years to come.  The unavoidable result of this situation is, so it seems, to delay decisions on the LHC project.  Clearly we regret this.  But it will doubtless result in some benefits:  there will be further studies, which will lead to higher performances and perhaps to reductions in costs.  And during this time LEP will have reached its maximum energy and will open up a new field of fruitful research for physics.  It is in any case a reasonable path that has been taken, at the end of which one can hope to see the European economic landscape in bloom again and CERN able to pursue its successes with the return on stage of the LHC project.  This is GAC’s midyear wish,

The number of GAC members has fluctuated during the last months for the following reason:  computerization has enabled us to bring to light who are, and who are not (or have ceased to be), members.  The situation is now practically in order.  We have, at the end of May, about 740 members, a figure that is in constant progression, but with which we are still not satisfied.  In face of the problems which beset our way we need to be strong - that is to say to be as many as possible.  So we address all those who have not yet joined us and say:  you appreciate the importance of the solidarity from which you benefit and which upholds your pensions and your health insurance.  Well, we ask you to show the same solidarity by coming to swell our ranks, You will help us, by the strength of our numbers, to acquire an ever increasing weight enabling us to make the voice of the pensioners heard in the places where our lot is decided.

We have just held our Annual General Meeting, which went perfectly, We were happy to note that more people were present than in previous years.  But we would have liked a greater participation by those present, by questions, by the raising of problems which may be daily for some of you.  If meetings frighten you, come to the ‘Permanences’.  If you cannot get there, write to us.  We will not cease to repeat: show yourselves.  One day, perhaps, our prayer will be answered !

The Editors

PROGRESS REPORT 1992-1993

Report by the President of GAC to the Annual General Meeting of 28 April 1993.

Evolution of the strength of the beneficiairies of the Pension Fund and of GAC

The following table, originating from the Management Board of the CERN Pension Fund, shows the evolution of the Fund’s membership.

The categories of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund comprise :  pensioners, the handicapped, surviving spouses and orphans, ex gratia pensions and deferred pensions.  They are distributed as follows:

The CERN Pensioners’ Association had 740 members in March 1993.  The ratio GAC Members/Beneficiaries of the Fund (excepting orphans, ex gratia and deferred pensions) is as follows :

The present GAC figures result from a revision of the list of GAC members which had included people who had not paid their subscriptions for several years.  A cleaning up operation only made possible with the introduction of data processing;  the treasurer will speak more about this later.  One sees that the representativeness of GAC increases from year to year.

The distribution of the beneficiaries by country of residence is :

Our relations with CERN remain excellent

Two points merit comment.

CERN Direction-General.

Professor Carlo Rubbia, Director-General of CERN, invited the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund to a “verrée d’amitié” last October.

In his address Professor Rubbia said that CERN was becoming more and more European, with a total of 18 member states.  At the same time CERN became more and more international with around 20% of the six thousand users coming from the United States, from Russia, Japan, Canada, Latin America, China, Australia and elsewhere.  He also spoke of CERN’s future which seemed as promising as in the past, despite the inevitable worries associated with the generally difficult economic situation. (Today the situation looks even gloomier and more worrying.)

In reply to the Director-General I noted the progress made by CERN in different fields since I retired:

• increase of 50% in the number of member states
• the completion of LEP, which works very well
• the LHC has ceased to be a vague idea.

For this I congratulated the Director-General and the CERN staff.  Although not wishing to strike a discordant note at a festive gathering, I felt obliged, however, to recall how much the pensioners depended on CERN for all that touches both pensions and health insurance.

There were about 200 pensioners and forty-odd CERN staff members at this reunion, which was a real success.

The Joint Training Committee

… has asked our advice as to the need of a programme on preparation for retirement.  According to information gathered at the ‘Permanences’ there exists a need for information bearing principally, but not solely, on the different fiscal regimes in Geneva, Vaud and nearby France.

Following a recommendation of the Standing Committee to make a pilot scheme, which has been accepted by the Director-General, three meetings have taken place between CERN staff and the GAC president.  Other meetings will follow with the aim of having a first series of lectures in the coming months.  The headings for the lectures are:

• medical aspects of retirement
• formalities for residence, including taxation, in Switzerland
• formalities for residence, including taxation, in France
• the Pension Fund
• health insurance
• GAC etc.

Our relations with the Staff Association

De jure recognition and support of GAC by the SA.

Our good relations with the Staff Association have been reinforced by the de jure recognition of GAC, following from the modification of the statutes of the Staff Association.  We are very pleased by the support given by the Staff Association in defence of our purchasing power in the meetings which led up to the CERN Council meeting in December last.

I quote an extract from a letter which I wrote a month ago to the President of the Staff Association:

“You have demonstrated on several occasions your solicitude for the wellbeing of the pensioners and have made their defence one of the priority aims of your Association.  You have energetically defended the purchasing power of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund, their social security and, in particular, the full mutuality of the health insurance scheme as well as a guarantee for benefits in the event of the dissolution of the Organization.  The Committee of GAC can but approve with enthusiasm these actions and charge me with expressing to you its gratitude and its support.

It is, lastly, the occasion for us to thank the Staff Council for the stand it took in the month of last December in favour of the full indexation of pensions for the year 1993.  This action is even more praiseworthy in that the corresponding indexation of salaries could not be obtained.

In the name of the GAC Committee I express the wish that the action of the Staff Association should find amongst all the pensioners and the active staff the appreciation that it merits.”

News of the Staff Association.

In a recent referendum the Staff Association obtained the massive support of the staff (94.3% for, and a voting participation of 74.3%) for a new strategy, outlined in the ‘Proton’ of March this year.

The proposal is to constitute the Staff Association as an independent professional body:  a matter to be followed.

Relations with Pensioners’ Associations of other Organizations

Informal discussions have taken place with the President of the Association of former international civil servants at UNO.  We have noted a common interest concerning our relations with the local authorities and have been able to profit from their experience ranging over some fifty years.  Elsewhere, attempts have been made to contact the pensioners of the EC,

We are also making, with our friends of the UNO, a study of retirement homes in the canton of Geneva and in neighbouring France.

GAC Internal Activities

Data processing.

After long and sustained efforts a data base of our members has been established, which enables correspondence and accounting to be done more efficiently.  It is now possible to establish and publish a membership list (of those who agree) with their addresses and telephone numbers.  We have received many replies, but not enough to envisage at present the publication of this directory.  The enquiry continues.

Pension Fund and Health Insurance.

As [ have already remarked the GAC Committee is preoccupied by these two questions, which will be treated later this afternoon by our specialists Renzo Resegotti and Jacques Trembley, particularly on the points which remain to be settled, for example the guarantees for pensions (and for a health insurance scheme) in the event of the dissolution of the Organization.

Permanences

The ‘Permanences’ have continued to be of use to our members.

Acknowledgements

Our Vice-president Mrs Théa Vermeulen indicated at the beginning of this period that she did not wish to remain in office for more than one year.  Consequently we have to accept her resignation, though with sadness.  Happily, Théa Vermeulen has agreed to continue her work with the widows this year and to remain a part time member of the Committee.

I wish to thank Théa Vermeulen (unfortunately she is not with us today) for the excellent work she has done, especially with the widows of our Association.

Election.

Mrs Ingrid Plass has been elected Vice-president, replacing our retiring Vice-president.

Gordon Munday
President

PROGRAMME 1993-1994

Report by the President of GAC to the Annual General Meeting of 28 April 1993.

1. After a year of running in the new members of the Committee are now informed as to the various problems of GAC and all are ready to face another year’s work.
2. The two subjects which you have most on your mind, Pensions and Health Insurance, remain always of first importance for the Committee.  L.Resegotti is permanent observer at the Management Board of the Pension Fund and J.Trembley permanent observer at the Health Insurance Supervisory Board.
3. The membership of GAC now totals 62% of the CERN pensioners.  This is a good result, but to increase our numbers is a constant concern for us.  We appeal to all our members to be our propagandists and to convince those still outside GAC that only with a strong Association can we defend our rights and, in particular, those we have acquired.
4. In view of the interest shown in the ‘Permanences’, this programme will continue as in the past.  The concerns of our members are of great use to us.
5. We shall continue our collaboration on the pilot programme for retirement preparation.
6. We shall continue to strive to find useful contacts with different Pensioners’ Associations in European or international organizations.  Should it be necessary to make a visit to the European Community in Brussels or to other organizations outside Geneva greater expenditure will be incurred than in the past.
7. We hope to publish and distribute the directory of members during the year and ask you to complete and return the questionnaire contained in Bulletin No 6, but if insufficient interest is shown we shall not distribute it.
8. Two tours, one of six days to Brittany, the other of four days to Bavaria, will take place in the spring and autumn;  44 people will go on the first and 20 on the other.  A one day excursion is being planned.
9. The editors of our Bulletin invite you, once again, to let us have your thoughts and ideas.

Gordon Munday
President

ECHOES OF THE COMMITTEE

The Secretary of the Committee has, for each Bulletin, the arduous task of writing an article about the echoes of the said Committee.  He must find from its meetings sufficiently outstanding facts which can each merit a few lines.  Now, as you know, happy people have no history.  The stories which the Committee could put forward in these echoes are not numerous.

Since our last Bulletin the Committee has met five times.  Discussions have indeed been numerous and sometimes animated.  Points of view do not always concord but common ground is always found in the end.

It must be said that , among the echoes, certainly the most important concerns our Vice-President Mrs Théa Vermeulen.  When the various tasks were being distributed to the new Committee she made it quite clear that she could only stay in her post for a limited time.  So she has tendered her resignation which the Committee has accepted.  The President spoke for the Committee when thanking her very warmly for her work with the ladies and, in particular, the widows during the past year.  A task that Mrs Vermeulen has undertaken for many years and which she has fulfilled in a very personal and human way.  She will, however, remain a full Committee member and will continue to take an interest in those for whom the loss of a husband has left alone in life.

As was announced at the Annual General Meeting the Committee has elected Mrs Ingrid Plass as Vice-President to succeed Mrs Vermeulen.  Mrs Plass is entrusted, together with the President, with relations and enquiries with our opposite numbers in other international organizations.

Our information system continues to be become better matched to our needs.  The address and accounts files are now completed, with the inclusion of new arrivals and the deletion of those who have left.  The whole is now completely operational.  Thanks to the excellent collaboration of the Mail Service a very great simplification has been made in the work of addressing all our documents, letters, minutes and bulletins;  a simple transfer between our respective address files suffices.

Finally a last word to record the very satisfactory attendance of our members at committee meetings.  Although pensioners are, as you know, very busy people the absentees rarely exceed 15%, that is to say that in the worst case three members are missing.  Out of a total 17 that is not a bad result.

Raymond Grégoire
Secretary

NEWS OF THE ‘PERMANENCES’

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet — or at least the beginning of answers to these problems — so encouraging you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.  We attempt to clarify below two problems that have been raised in the course of our last sessions.  But first some general information.

General information

Visitors

During the period October 1992 to April 1993 (six sessions) the pensioners have continued to show an encouraging interest in our ‘Permanences’.  We have registered an average of 6.5 consultations per session, which compares favourably with the average of 3.5 during the preceding period.  The greatest gathering yet seen was on 3 February when twelve people came to see us and a thirteenth consulted us by telephone.

Seeing the size of the room at our disposal and the time available we were that day stretched to the limit.  This affluence was also somewhat troublesome for our hosts, the Staff Association, demanding a lot of patience on their part.

Name

In Bulletin No 6 we repeated our invitation to have suggestions for a new name for our enterprise.  We have had no replies since M Sakkas raised this question.  We have gone a little further with our own research as to the exact meaning of the word ‘permanence’.  It appears that the word is used as a technical term in fields as disparate as political science, theology and gambling.  So the sense that a person gives to this word depends largely on his particular background and, sometimes, just on chance.  For someone who has had the bad luck to have an accident the word ‘permanence’ will always have an odour of chloroform.  A frequenter of casinos, on the other hand, will tell you that ‘la permanence’ is nothing but the list of the numbers and colours thrown during a session of roulette.  And for us?  Well, for us, the ‘permanence’ is ...’THE ‘PERMANENCE”’.  We have, furthermore, found that not one of the numerous dictionaries we have consulted relate the word ‘permanence’ with any medical service.  We attribute this to the fact that it is only fairly recently that medical establishments have taken over this term for their own needs, with a certain success, it must be admitted.  In the last Bulletin we have already quoted the ‘Petit Larousse” referring very closely to our activity.  Let us see how the ‘Grand Larousse’ defines the word ‘permanence’ in the same context: “Service de garde, de renseignement, etc., assuré de fagon continue par une ou plusieurs personnes pendant une durée déterminée” Is not that a perfect description of the service provided for you each month ? *Permanence’ seems to us to be truly the good name for this service and people have got used to it.  We have decided to keep it for the future.

To convince those who still find it hard to accept this decision, suppose that we had taken as the new name “GAC écoute”, which seems to us to be the best of the alternatives put forward.  One day some one would ask:  “What is this ‘GAC écoute’, is it a newspaper - or a telephone number ?” You could only reply;  “Neither one nor the other, its our ‘Permanence””.

Administrative Circular No 22.

We have had the visit, at each of the last six sessions, of a colleague who carries well his 82 years.  He joined CERN in 1956 and retired in 1976 at the age of 65.  He was on shift work throughout his 20 years at CERN.

At his first visit he gave us a copy of Administrative Circular No 22 which determines the terms of application of Article R III 1.25 of the Staff Regulations, which came into force on April 1 1980.  This article stipulates that:

Shift work confers a right, under conditions specified by the Director- general, to additional periods of membership in the Pension Fund.

Our friend feels wronged because, he says, he has worked alongside colleagues who now profit from the provisions of this circular.

After reading the circular several times (the text seems somewhat difficult) and having made enquiries at the Personnel Division, it seems clear that not only Article R III 1.25, but also - and more especially - the terms of application reflect a definite personnel policy:  the Organization sees its interest in the suppression, as far as is possible, of shift work, or in having such work performed by outside firms.  To reach this objective the Organization offers to the staff affected, according to the situation,paid leave and/or early retirement.

It is important to note, and our colleague would do well to retain this point, that the annuities paid by CERN are entirely for allowing an early retirement and are not used to increase a pension above the value it would have attained if the person concerned had finished his career normally.  It should also not be forgotten that pensions are subject to taxation and, in Switzerland, the AVS premiums paid by Swiss up to the age of 65 are to be deducted.

From a purely pecuniary point of view the beneficiaries of an early retirement pension under the terms of Circular No 22 are not better treated than their colleagues who finish their career normally.  We admit, however, that they enjoy sooner, and hopefully longer, the fruits of retirement.  But that is another story.

Ernst Hugi

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

A year ago you have entrusted us with the responsibility of managing the assets of the Association.  A year of apprenticeship in which to master the membership file and to transfer it to our computer.  Checking subscriptions is full of traps:  double payments, for example, or payments which arrive with neither name nor address.  These inadvertencies on the part of some of you give us considerable extra work as, each time, searches have to be made to find out to what correspond these abnormal payments, or to identify the sender by enquiries from the Pension Fund, the bank or the Post Office.  You will well understand that this does not simplify our work, so we ask you to make an effort on your side to fill up the forms correctly and clearly:  we thank you in advance for so doing.  One solution to these problems could be to pay a single contribution - of, say, ten annual subscriptions - for life-membership as an alternative to the present system.  But the Committee has not yet taken up this matter which, should it take form, would require a change in the Statutes and thus a vote of the GAC members for it to be adopted.

The budgets, as they were presented to the Annual General Meeting (AGM), are given above [below, and in French only].  They show how prudent has been the Committee’s management so that visits can be made to establish contacts with our colleagues of other international organizations away from Geneva.  Meanwhile the AGM has maintained the subscription at SFR 20, unchanged over the last seven years.

EXERCICE 1992

Compte des pertes et profits

Bilan au 31 décembre 1992

BUDGET 1993

Werner Albrecht
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

THE PENSION FUND

Report by Lorenzo Resegotti at the Annual General Meeting of 28 April 1993.

News of the Pension Fund covering the Annual General Meeting of members and beneficiaries of the Fund, held in September 1992, and the conclusions of the studies on the status of the Fund and on the operation of its Management Board and the latter’s organs have been published in GAC Bulletin No 6 in December 1992.  Some of these subjects will be recalled in my presentation, but this account will principally cover those topics for which there have been recent developments.

1.  Actuarial appraisal.

The actuarial appraisal based on the state of the Fund’s assets at the end of 1991 was put before the Finance Committee of March 1993 by the Management Board of the Pension Fund.  A covering document expressed the Board’s agreement with the entirety of the points made by the Fund’s consultant actuary and supported the recommendations made in the appraisal.

In comparison with the previous appraisal, made at the end of 1988, a new mortality table, giving a longer expectation of life, has been used, the rate of departures before age 65 has been revised upwards, the taking over by the Fund of its administrative expenses and the graduated increase in the overall contribution rate have been taken into consideration.

These elements, added to the influence of the economic disturbances of 1990, have resulted in a technical deficit.  The size of this deficit depends upon which hypotheses, among the very numerous possibilities, are taken - particularly those concerning the ceiling of the membership of the Fund (CERN and ESO), the biometric tables used, the method of taking into account the acquired rights of members leaving CERN or ESO and the rate of early retirement.  The actuary has made full calculations of seven possible models, obtained by combining different variables.  The calculated deficits lie between 26 MSF and 204 MSF, i.e.  between 0.7% and 5% of the assets in the technical balance sheet, the largest deficits resulting naturally from the accumulation of actuarially unfavourable hypotheses.

The consultant actuary notes in conclusion “The presence of this deficit is certainly not preoccupying for the moment in view of the considerable financial effort which has been accepted by the parties to assure long term stability.” Having also evaluated the specific influence of the most important parameters the actuary recommends, among other points, an in depth study of the choice of biometric tables and for a close watch to be kept on early retirement.  To this last point he underlines that any new programme encouraging early retirement should be accompanied by the appropriate financial compensation.

In its presentation to the Finance Committee the Pension Fund Management Board recalled that CERN Council had forecast, in June 1988, that a ceiling of 2950 person-years would be reached at end 1996 but that in June 1991 a reduction in the established strength of CERN to 2705 person-years by 1995 had been envisaged.  The actuarial hypotheses of the new appraisal take account of this possibility.  The Management Board maintains that the CERN Council decision of October 1985 (CERN/1587/Add.) “whenever the Organization wants to apply a measure of staff policy that might influence the Fund’s balance, the consequences to the Fund be made clear in the proposal to the Council and the actuarially determined cost be paid by the Organization into the Fund” should be fully implemented on this occasion.  If this is not done a deficit will appear, a deficit which will, sooner or later, have to be corrected.

The management Board of the Fund and its organization

• Elections were held in autumn 1992 for the reelection or replacement of two titular members of the Management Board and of two substitutes whose mandates would expire at the end of 1992.  Only M.Doran, sitting titular member, did not stand for reelection.  L.Henny, sitting titular member, and C.Bovet, sitting substitute, were reelected to the Board as full members, while E.Chiaveri and R.Pittin were respectively reelected and elected as substitute members.  They remain in office for three years.
• Following the approval by the Finance Committee in December 1992 of the Regulations of the Investment Committee (explained in GAC Bulletin No 6) the Management Board has nominated two additional members to the Committee and the President of the Committee has been elected.  The composition of the Investment Committee is now as follows :

  President:  G.Maurin

  Secretary:  C.Cuénoud

  Members: J.Bezemer, C.Bovet, W.C.Middelkoop, AJ.Naudi
  They will be advised by experts whose mandate has been prolonged for a year.

• Mr F.Armuzzi has been engaged by the Management Board from 1 July 1993 to be responsible for the management of securities .
• The Management Board has chosen six new external portfolio managers - specialized European firms - to whom a part of the Fund’s assets will be confided for discretionary management.  The new managers, who join two already in place, will all receive similar investment guidelines so as to be in competition with each other.  The Board has designated the State Street Bank of Munich as depository bank for the eight external managers.  In a second phase another bank will take over the centralized administration of movable assets for the internal investment section.
• The 1993 budget for the administration of the Fund, approved by the Management, is 2'130'000CHF.

Pension Indexation

At its meeting on 20 October 1992 the Pension Fund Management Board decided to request CERN Council to approve the indexation of pensions, fixed sums and allocations by 3.6% as from 1 January 1993, corresponding to the movement of the Geneva retail price index over the period August 1991 to August 1992.  During the discussions, arising from the suggestion of certain member states at the beginning of December not to grant fully the salary indexation proposed by CERN Management, the Staff Council strongly took position in favour of the full indexation of pensions, independently of all other circumstances.  This position was commu- nicated by the President of the Staff Association, M.Borghini, in a letter to Mr P.Levaux, President of the Management Board of the Pension Fund, who defended the proposal of the Management Board before the Finance Committee.

Despite the reserves expressed by certain members of the Finance Committee, disturbed by the effect that the full indexation of pensions and not that of salaries could have on the financial equilibrium of the Pension Fund, the proposal of the Management Board was accepted by the majority of CERN Council.

It is agreeable to note that the ESO Staff Association, who received a copy of M.Borghini’s letter to P.Levaux, replied the beginning of January in full agreement and affirming that the active members of CERN and ESO should show their solidarity with the pensioners.

Pension Guarantees

The work of the special group on reintegration, chaired by Mr M.O.Ottosson, continued throughout 1992 and resulted in two draft documents :  firstly, a draft of the “Acte constitutif de la Fondation de droit suisse’ which should take over the Pension Fund in the event of the dissolution of the Organization and, secondly, a draft Resolution of the CERN Council completing the Council Resolution relative to the guarantees to continue the payment of pension rights of CERN staff in the event of the dissolution of the Organization, adopted in June 1986.

It is now foreseen to obtain the opinion of the outside authorities concerned, and in particular the Swiss authorities, so that the Group can take account of their observations in the final drafting of the documents.

Lorenzo Resegotti

HEALTH INSURANCE

Report by Jacques Trembley at the Annual General Meeting of 28 April 1993.

INTRODUCTION

To begin, I should like to recall some of the basic principles of our health insurance scheme.

CERN has, since 1971, a contract with AUSTRIA on the basis of a fully mutual scheme, independent of the family situation.

Premiums are proportional to the basic salary.  In 1991 an active member contributed 35% of the total premium, which was then 8.48%, and thus 2.97% of the basic salary, the organization paying the remaining 65% of the 8.48%.

As for the pensioners, they paid the same premium as the active members, 2.97% of the theoretical maximum pension to which they could be entitled, the missing part being covered conjointly by the active staff and the Organization.

The contract with AUSTRIA has been revised recently and extended for five years from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1996.

In spring 1990, in view of the increase in costs, the then Director of Administration created a group under the chairmanship of H.Hoffmann;  this group was charged with giving its advice as to the possibility and opportunity of bringing into force measures to stabilize and, if possible, diminish costs.  A report was submitted to the Director of Administration in January 1992.

Recommendations of the Hoffmann report:

The recommendations in the Hoffmann report touching the pensioners were:

1. to maintain the present budgetized scheme rather than changing to a capitalized scheme.
2. to analyse and use all possible rights of pensioners to be integrated into national schemes.
3. to act so that the Organization contributes directly to the health insurance costs of pensioners;  the appropriate level of the Organization’s contributions being 35% of the premium, calculated as now on the theoretical maximum pension for a 40 hour working week,

This report was discussed in June by the Directorate which set up a CERN Management working group, chaired by H.Weber the Director of Administration.  This group had the task of completing the report and making recommen-dations, particularly for the case of a member state withdrawing from CERN or for the dissolution of the Organization as well as for the problem of geriatric care.

The report-memorandum of H.Weber, dated 21 August, has been submitted to the Director-general who put it before the Directorate of 6 October.  The latter sent it, with the Hoffmann report, to the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC) of 7 October.

These two reports propose, as far as concerns the pensioners, that the Organization continues to pay the direct contributions of 65% to the insurance scheme, the Weber report adding that the Pension Fund would be asked to transmit both the contributions that it receives from the Organization and the premiums of the pensioners to the health insurance scheme.  The problem of geriatric care was postponed until a later date.

The SCC on 4 November unanimously approved the Weber report of21 August and the increase in premiums for 1993 from 8.98% to 9.58% of basic salaries (the premiums paid by members of the staff are thus increased from 2.97% to 3.22% of their basic salary while the Organization’s contribution goes from 6.01% to 6.5%).

Creation of the Health Insurance Supervisory Board (HISB)

On 24 November the SCC, after accepting the Weber report and returning it to CERN management to be put before the Finance Committee, approved the proposal of the Hoffmann working group to create a new instrument: the ‘Health Insurance Supervisory Board’ (HISB), which replaces all the other working groups and ad hoc committees charged with this question in the past.

It consists of two members from CERN management and two from the Staff Association.

This committee met for the first time on 17 December 1992 to discuss, as the SCC had requested, its terms of reference and Amendment 14 to the Convention between CERN and AUSTRIA.  In the course of the next two meetings held on 13 January and 3 February Amendment 14 was accepted, terms of reference were proposed and the list of subjects to be treated was drawn up.

Mandate of the HISB

The following mandate for the Board was approved by the SCC on 27 January 1993:

1. To discuss changes to the health insurance scheme that are proposed by Management, the Staff Association, or other interested parties and to propose amendments to the Health Insurance Agreement between CERN and Austria.
2. To consider
   • the renewal of the contract with Austria.
   • the advisability of changing the insurer or the system of insurance.
   • to make recommendations in due time,
3. To monitor the operation of the scheme and discuss, comment and make proposals on:
   • the annual report by Austria,
   • the annual statistics submitted by Austria,
   • ad hoc reports by Austria requested by the Board,
   • increases of premiums,
4. To monitor developments in health insurance in other international organizations and in Member States, particularly Switzerland.
5. To make proposals on topics referred to it by the SCC or by the parties in the Board, and to follow up the i mplementation of measures approved by the SCC.
6. To study measures aimed at improving the financial balance of the health insurance scheme and to make proposals in this respect.
7. To submit an annual report on the work of the Board.

The board is not mandated to discuss individual cases or appeals by insured persons;  such cases will follow the procedures laid down in the contract ADM/605.

The Board will decide on its working procedures, It may, at its discretion, invite other persons to attend its meetings, as observers or experts, on a regular or ad hoc basis.

As GAC was not represented on the HISB but wished to have at least a permanent observer, a request was made in March via the Staff Association.  This request was accepted at the meeting of 23 March of this year.

Activities of the HISB

Till now the HISB has already held six meetings;  since the seventh a permanent observer of the pensioners takes part in the work of this committee and will thus be able to defend their interests and to keep them informed of matters concerning them in this field.

At its latest meeting, held last week, and at which I was present for the first time, the HISB started the preparation of the 1992 report based on statistical data provided by AUSTRIA.

To end I should like to make a few personal remarks:

The contract with AUSTRIA has been revised 14 times since 1971, mainly to prolong it but also to modify the premium rates and to adapt them to rising costs.

The number of members of the Scheme is at present about 13'000 including both pensioners and dependents.

Health expenses in 1992 were above 33 million Swiss francs.

In general, health costs increase throughout Europe but the totality of health expenditure for the whole of CERN increases faster than salaries.

Among the reasons for this increase, there are three principal factors:

1. The increase in treatment costs, especially in hospitals.  The cost of the Geneva Cantonal Hospital, for example, from 1979 to 1989 was multiplied by 2.9, whereas the cost of living index only increased by a factor of 1.39,
2. The aging of the CERN Population:  between 1979 and 1989 the average age has gone up from 42.7 to 47.5 and the number of pensioners from 93 to 590.
3. The increase of costs with age:
   • if from 25 to 45 years of age the cost isl
   • from 45 to 65 it is 1.72 times as much
   • and above 65 it is 3.36 times as much.

The premiums have risen, between 1971 and 1993, from 5.6% to 9.58% of basic salaries - they have nearly doubled.

Since we are in a mutual scheme, each partner can make an effort better to master the rising cost of medical treatment, and so to avoid the galloping increase in premiums we have seen these last years.  To gain a few per cent is to economize nearly a million a year and avoid the explosion of our premiums.  (See the tables above).

Jacques Trembley

MEETINGS AND TRAVEL

Two tours have already been organized for 1993:

1. from 15 to 20 June , 44 people will leave for South Brittany for six days and will visit Saumur, Angers, Vannes, Carnac and the Gulf of Morbihan, on which have a meal during a cruise.  They will then continue to Nantes, Cholet - where they will see a performance of the ‘Puy du Fou’, and the Poitou, with a visit to Jaunay Clan’s Futuroscope, before returning to Geneva via Limoges and Vichy.
2. a four day tour, from September 13 to 16, with 20 participants will have the following itinerary:  Zurich, Fussen, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein and their castles, Oberammergau, Linderhof, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, returning via the Arlberg, Vaduz, the lake of the four Cantons and Lucerne.
3. a one day excursion is under study, the date and destination are not yet fixed,

We have received only 30 replies to the questionnaire about our tours;  not a large response, but there was quasi-unanimity in approving the present organization.  Without going into too much detail the desired destinations, by country and by number of requests, are as follows:

1.  SWITZERLAND, 18.

General five day tour, Tessin, Grisons, Zermatt.

2.  FRANCE, 9.

Provence, Corsica, the Loire, Languedoc, Auvergne, the South-West,Dordogne, the Vanoise.

3.  ITALY, 8.

General visit in 5-6 days, Tuscany, Venice, Sicily, Lombardy, the North and its lakes,Portofino.

4.  BENELUX, 6.

General visit of the three countries.

5.  AUSTRIA, 3.

Vienna, general visit.

6.  OTHER, each 1.

Greece, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, cruise on the Rhine, European cities of art, the CERN Member States.

Fifteen people would like a walking tour in a small group, 13 would take part in an excursion to Carinthia.

Despite the diversity of the proposals we shall try to satisfy in the future the greatest number of people by taking account of the replies we have received.

Independently of the tours and excursions we would like to organize other meetings from time to time - conferences, for example, film or slide shows of an exceptional tour you have made, visits to exhibitions or any other event.  We would be grateful to have your ideas and suggestions.  Don’t hesitate to contact us so that together we can organize a meeting for the pleasure of our colleagues.

Thanks in advance.

Jean Robert

(For ”Un Fantôme Parle“ by Nelly Dinkel, see the version in French)

GAC DIRECTORY

Following our enquiry about a Directory of GAC members made in Bulletin No 6 we have received a little over 200 positive replies.  This is less than 30% of GAC’s strength.  You will easily understand that this is a clearly insufficient number for a directory to have any real significance and to justify the effort required to produce it.

For this reason we make another and final call to see if a minimum of 50% of the members can be reached.

We remind you that some of our colleagues have wanted to have such a source of information so as to facilitate making contact with pensioners in their vicinity or to regain contact with those who are distant.  It is clear that we would include only the names and addresses of those who have authorised us to do so.

So if you think that the publication of a Directory of our members, in which your names.  and addresses would appear, would be useful we ask you to fill in the form below and send it to us.  In advance, we thank you.

The Committee

Editorial

So what has happened since our last Bulletin came out in June ?  One could be tempted to reply - “Nothing much”.  But this would be to make a big mistake.  It is true that the CERN Council of June produced no great surprises but the atmosphere was, it seems, good which is already not so bad these days.  A series of appointments, which will take effect next year, was announced:  the future Director for accelerators will be Kurt Hubner;  the Director responsible for the LHC project, Lyn Evans;  the Director for technical support, Horst Wenniger;  and the Director for physics, Lorenzo Foa.  Helmuth Weber, the present Director of administration is reappointed for one year.  The name of the new Director-general, Chris Llewellyn-Smith, was already announced a few months ago.

The present Management is actively preparing a presentation of the LHC project at the request of the Council for its December meeting.  This detailed presentation will be examined by the governments of the Member States which wish to have a better view of the project so as to have a solid basis on which to express their positions.

This demonstrates the interest shown by the Member States in the activities of the Organization, and so we may hope for a favourable decision to be taken in due course on a project much desired by the European physics community.

Feelings change with time, what was considered to be selfevident thirty years ago is now thought to be contrary to personal liberty:  the Staff Association (SA), of which all active members of CERN are ex officio members, is modifying its statutes on this point:  that membership should become an individual choice.  This changes strictly nothing in the situation of members of GAC who, for their part, have voluntarily joined our Association.  The place of GAC in the framework of the SA has always been defined in the GAC statutes.  In the new statutes of the SA its place is explicitly recognized as the representation of the pensioners and other beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.  Its representation on the SA Council is increased from two to four delegates (one per tranche of 200 members).  From the recognition of the freedom of the individual necessarily follows the election of these observers by the members of GAC only, and no longer by the entirety of the pensioners as has been the case until now.  It will be necessary to modify our statutes to take account of these changes, an amendment will be put to the vote of our members at the beginning of next year.

We shall have to renew the membership of your Committee as their two year mandate expires at the date of the Annual General Meeting in April 1994.  As was announced in Bulletin No 7 the call for candidates will be sent out before the end of the year.  It is important that many of you come forward if you want your Association to continue to act efficiently in the defence of your interests and to be the gathering point of the Pensioners.  With the passage of time we acquire the knowledge as to

This what the Committee should be in order to carry out its duties.  And we must point out that election solely by vote does not always permit us to have around the table people with the necessary abilities for some of the tasks which face us.  One could therefore think of limiting the number of those elected in accordance with the present statutes and then to coopt as needed persons with the appropriate skills.  Those coopted should be full members of the Committee.  Another change to be made to the statutes.

Let us now pass to administrative matters.

There were, in September 1993, about 800 members of GAC out of a total of more than 1300 beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.  Facing the problems which beset our way we must be as representative as possible to continue to defend efficiently our rights (which are also those of the present active staff, themselves future pensioners).  So we shall continue to repeat unflaggingly, to those of you who have not yet joined us to do so.  Until now, in this spirit, we have distributed the Bulletin to all beneficiaries of the Pension Fund, as we have thought that this was the best publicity for GAC in showing what are our activities and so encouraging those who have not yet done so to come and join us.  This distribution was made with the friendly help of the Pension Fund Service which provided us with address labels.  At a recent meeting of the Management Board it was ruled that its duty of confidentiality obliged it to stop giving us this service—which is strictly within its rights.  There is no appeal from this judgment.  We must, therefore, find other channels to reach the beneficiaries of the Fund who are not members of GAC.  Any canvassing you can make of those holding back is now, therefore, of great importance.

We have counted the replies to the questionnaire on the Directory of members which we had proposed to publish.  We have received about 320 positive replies from a total of 800 members.  This result is much too low to justify the publication of a yearbook.  We regret this, for, despite the extra work its publication and updating would have entailed we had the impression that such a Directory would have been of use in bringing our members together.

The work of our treasurers continues to be considerably complicated by the number of returned letters due to incorrect addresses.  One reason is certainly imperfections in our data base, which is being slowly cleared of errors.  But another, and the major, source of error is the carelessness of some of our members in filling out incorrectly their applications or payment bulletins or in failing to inform us of their change of address.  So we renew our appeal for more care to be taken so as to avoid the irksome work of searching for correct addresses - and to lift from the shoulders of those who look after our files the impression that they are labouring with the rock of Sisyphus.

We have made an effort to improve our communications with you.  Our regular rendezvous are the ‘permances’ on the first Tuesday of the month.  But they have the disadvantages of taking place only once a month and entail coming to CERN which may not be convenient.  We have an office but it is normally unoccupied.  So we have installed an answering machine.  You can call the office ( +(022)767.57.59), your message will be recorded and you will be called back later.  For computer freaks, know that we are now connected to Electronic Mail (Quick Mail) via which we can receive your messages and reply to you (address: GAC@MACMAIL.CERN.CH)>

Once again the end of the year draws nigh.  It is time to make one’s wishes.  We hope that you will come in number to our meetings, to our “permanences’, that you will write to us - in brief - that you will take part in GAC’s activities, so recognizing that the goodwill which makes it work has need of your encouragement.  The Editors of this Bulletin send you their sincere greetings and wish you all health and happiness for the year to come.

The Editors

THE PRESIDENT’S GREETINGS

This message is addressed to all members of the CERN PENSIONER’S ASSOCIATION (GAC) and their families wherever they may be.

I should like to say a little about our relations with the Staff Association to which we have been formally attached since 1991.  During the last few months the Staff Association has been occupied with transforming and modernizing itself into a more professional body while recently the new Statutes of the Staff Association has been approved at an Extraordinary General Assembly.  (There remains, at the time of writing, the question that “the Statutes must be compatible with the aims and activities of the Organization.....etc";  according to the Staff Rules and Regulations “ the Director General shall be the judge of this compatibility"; legal opinion is being sought).  The new Statutes spell out clearly that a paid up member of our Association (GAC) is a member of the Staff Association, which includes among its aims “To safeguard the rights and defend the interests sess Of the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund".  I am sure you will appreciate this is an important step forward, which at the same time has little effect on the autonomy of our Association.  The committee is considering the few modifications to our own Statutes in order to make them compatible with those of the Staff Association.  The modified statutes will be tabled and discussed at the next General Assembly, this will be followed by a postal vote involving the whole Association.  The CERN Pensioner’s Association (GAC) is growing in numbers yet we would all benefit from a stronger body, I therefore appeal to everybody to help in recruiting eligible friends and ex colleagues who are not yet members.  Do not forget that our aims are to:

• defend the rights and interests of the pensioners
• form a forum for the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund;
• provide, according to our means, help to pensioners;
• promote social and cultural activities.

To succeed the committee needs your help! With the approach of the end of the year discussions on LHC (Large Hadron Collider) are on the Agenda;  we all hope for a positive outcome thus extending CERN’s activity into the next century.  I wish you all in my own name and on behalf of your committee a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.

Gordon Munday
President

ECHOES OF THE COMMITTEE

After the holiday break the work of the Committee has resumed its normal rhythm.  The President has, with benevolent authority, succeeded in limiting the length of our meetings to two hours.  This is not always easy as, under the heading ‘Any other business’ which is to be found at the end of all good agenda, highly important questions are sometimes hidden away.  A skillful use of interventions from the chair has kept the meetings within their allotted time.

The secretariat has acquired a new card which will help members of GAC to resolve their problems more quickly.  It is a telephone answering machine.  On calling 767.57.59 you will now hear a recorded message asking you to put your questions.  An important remark:  after the beep, start by giving your name and telephone number so that we can call you back.It is possible that there will not be an immediate reply as the messages are only heard when the secretary passes by.  Though the system may not be perfect we think that it will improve contacts between members and their Committee.  We can also receive and send messages by electronic mail.

Numerous tasks await the Committee in the year to come.  In particular the preparations for the election of a new Committee, a subject which is treated in another section of this Bulletin.  Many points concerning communications using our membership data base need to be improved.  A certain number of addresses are still incomplete, which results in returned letters to the detriment of the members concerned.  We hope that these problems will soon be resolved—that, at least, is our goal.

Raymond Grégoire

NEWS OF THE ‘PERMANENCES’

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet - or at least the beginning of answers to these problems - so encouraging you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.

WHY DO OUR COLLEAGUES COME TO SEE US ?

In our previous communications we have limited ourselves to giving some information as to the numbers of those coming to our sessions and to treating in more detail one or two of the questions brought up at these sessions.  It was therefore not possible to give a real picture of what happens at our ‘permanences’ or to know in detail why our colleagues come and see us.  To fill this gap we continued - and temporarily completed - an analysis which Milan Georgejevic started during his term of office.  We have gone through all the notes taken in practically all the sessions and have noted the frequency with which different topics have been raised.  The analysis covers the whole life of our ‘permanences’, from 1 June 1988 to 7 September 1993.  It takes account of discussions with 113 people during 45 sessions.  The results are given in the table below:

In the rare cases where a person has brought up several problems we have only taken into account the question which seemed the most important.  When a person has come to discuss the same problem on several occasions we have treated it as a single case.  Under the heading ‘courtesy visits’ are hidden away numerous cases where people have come to see us either to hand in their application forms, or to inform themselves about GAC, or even to pay their subscriptions, Finally the heading ‘Other’ covers a large number of miscellaneous cases of minor importance.

The table shows that, apart from the gratifying number of courtesy visits, people are preoccupied with tax problems.  Of less, but not negligible importance are problems related to the French social security system.

QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE FRENCH SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM

As we have seen above we are frequently presented with problems concerning the French Sécu.  We had the last case at our session on 7 September and we think that we were able to resolve it But, to speak frankly,these questions on the Sécu (and also those concerning the AVS) inconvenience us somewhat.  Each case is unique and cannot normally be resolved without the collaboration of the competent authorities.

Itis for this reason that we draw the attention of our readers to the ‘permanences’ that CERN organizes and whose subject is precisely that of questions concerning the French social security system.  These ‘permanences’ are held on the first Thursday of each month.  They are advertised in the CERN weekly bulletin.

ACCESS CARDS FOR THE CERN SITE

The new magnetic multipurpose access cards for pensioners are now available.  They can be obtained from Mrs Yolande A gnosini, Building 55, Room 1-002.  As the issue of the cards involves the taking of a photograph you are advised to make a rendezvous with Mrs Agnosini (Internal telephone 6611 or 6622).

* * *

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information which would be useful to other pensioners.  Courtesy visits are appreciated - they make for general discussions which often new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying: “GAC Permanences”.

Ernst Hugi

WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS

Dear member, keep yourself up-to-date, keep us up-to-date.

You could have read in Bulletin No 2 of December 1990 an article entitled “Widows and their problems”.

At that time, after an enquiry amongst those concerned, it seemed to us that the problems encountered by widows were of a practical nature, such as buying or repairing a car, maintenance of a house, for example the heating system, the plumbing and so forth.

Now, after some years of experience, we, the GAC,note that there is also a demand for information on administrative regulations and the necessary steps to be taken.  This type of request arises especially at the beginning of widowhood.  Once informed and helped these ladies can manage very well.

As the saying goes:  “Prevention is better than cure”.  Unfortunately prevention is not among the missions of our Association.

And the widowers?  It is true they are less numerous but what are their worries as widowers?

If I insist on making this distinction it is that we have a pretty clear view of the troubles met by the widows, but not of those met by the widowers.  Are they better organized?  Do they have specific problems?  Why do they not show up at the ‘Permanences’?  Why do they not come on the various excursions?  Perhaps the strong sex, as widower, has no need ...  of the GAC!  Let us know what you think.

On the death of a member of GAC the spouse remains a member of our Association with the right to vote, but must pay the subscription.  And this widow or widower can have our help in the form of information and advice from our specialists.

To carry out this mission it is important to have an administration in good order and complete and up to date records.  So please note our Association in your address book and keep us informed of changes in your situation.

As the end of the year approaches I wish you a joyful Christmas and New Year - and that all may enjoy an agreeable and well merited retirement, growing older in good health.

Théa Vermeulen

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

We have had recently to send out about 150 reminder letters for payment of subscriptions for 1993.  This was done at the same time as our accounts were being put on to our computer, which was a difficult period.  For this reason there have been some errors and some members will have received unjustified reminders We ask their indulgence.  We also offer our excuses to those who have made out permanent bank orders as, unfortunately, we have no means of checking this mode of payment.

We must also mention among the consequences of the changes in the statutes of the Staff Association, the requirement for our members to pay their subscriptions before 31 January of the current year.  This is the reason for the letter we have sent you at the end of October.

This being said, we have the pleasure to note that subscriptions are coming in very satisfactorily, the amount received corresponding to the increase in the number of members in the Association.  A sign of your attachment to GAC, for which we sincerely thank you.

Werner Albrecht
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

THE PENSION FUND

In the field of pensions the most important events in the period under review have been the publication at the end of June of the 1992 annual report of the Pension Fund and the Annual General Meeting of members and beneficiaries of the Fund ‘on September 13:  these are the principal subjects of this note.  Some decisions of the Governing Board of the Fund and progress in the work of the Ottosson group will also be mentioned.

ANNUAL REPORT

The 1992 report of the Pension Fund was presented to the CERN Council at its meeting of 25 June 1993.  It is now available for beneficiaries at the office of the Pension Fund.  It gives detailed information on the organization of the Fund, the numbers of members and beneficiaries, contributions and disbursements, the management of the investment portfolio and presents the accounts with appropriate comments.  The text is illustrated with numerous tables and diagrams.

Only some data and the most important conclusions can be quoted here.  On 31 December 1992 there were 3461 members, 43 less than at the end of the preceding year.  The number of beneficiaries increased, during the same period, by 141 to reach 1203 beneficiaries at the end of 1992.  Benefits paid in 1992 amounted to 63 million CHF, about 15% more than in 1991.  On 31 December 1992 the assets of the Fund were 2280 million CHF, an increase of about 212 million CHF with respect to end 1991.  CERN’s debt to the Fund amounted to only 16.2% of the assets.

In 1992 the gross yield of the Fund was 8.1%.  The report states that this result is entirely satisfactory, especially taking into account that it was obtained without departing from the criteria of prudence and diversification of assets which are at the base of the investment strategy of the Fund.  Taking into account 3.6% inflation the yield in real terms exceeded 4.3% in 1992.  A calculation for the last ten years shows that the Fund has obtained a global net yield of 2.7%, which is less than the objective of 3%, but is not too far from it.  In fact during these last ten years the Fund has exceeded the average annual gross yield of 6% assumed in the actuarial hypotheses, but inflation has been higher than the 3% taken in these hypotheses.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of the members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund was held at CERN on 13 September 1993.  The Administrator of the Fund first presented the 1992 annual report outlined above.  Mr Cuénoud added some general considerations on investment policy repeating and justifying, in particular, his opinion expressed already last year that investment in shares leads in the long run to a higher net yield than does investment in bonds.  He mentioned nevertheless that the purchase of bonds in Swiss Francs, at a moment when yields were particularly high, was ‘one of the causes of the good performance of the Fund in 1992.  The calculated value of this yield would have been even higher if the value of the bonds in the portfolio had not been entered at their nominal value in conformity with the accounting practice of the Fund.  As for investment in real estate, the year 1992 saw the resumption of selective acquisitions by the Fund.  Mr Cuénoud ended by recalling the decision of the Governing Board to mandate six new external portfolio managers, each entrusted with the management of 50 million CHF as from the beginning of 1993.

Guy Maurin, Vice-president of the Governing Board, then gave a resumé of the conclusions of the Board’s two working groups on the operation of the Governing Board and and its various organs and on the administrative structure of the Fund, He also gave a status report on a third working group dealing with actuarial matters.  The recommendations made by the first working group and their implementation have already been explained in our Bulletins Nos 6 and 7:  we shall not repeat them here.

Mr Maurin illustrated his exposé on the working group on the administrative structure of the Fund by showing an organigram of the Pension Fund which he explained in detail.  After recalling the tasks of the Investment Committee, of which the composition, the function and the links with the Governing Board have been reinforced, and of the two Commissions, for real estate and for securities. the speaker explained the functions of the Administrator and of the four internal units which are under him:  Administration, Financial Services, Internal management of real estate and Internal management of securities.  He then showed, on the organigram, the links with the four external services intended to support the administrative management of the Fund:  the Global Custodian (central depository for stock and share certificates), the G.I.E.  (Group providing external support the the management of real estate), External Management for part of the Fund’s securities, and a Support service for the internal management of securities.  Mr Maurin also mentioned the conclusions of the group on a few other points, such as signature rules, the consultant actuary and auditors.

As for the working group on actuarial matters Mr Maurin said that this group has the task of continuing the examination of the questions raised by the consultant actuary in his appraisal presented to the Finance Committee in March 1993.  The Group is concentrating especially on the choice of mortality tables to be used in the actuarial calculations made for the Fund, and on the problem of defining transfer values which respect the symmetry between transfer value and deferred pension.

DECISIONS OF THE GOVERNING BOARD

As the mandate of the Administrator of the Pension Fund expires at the end of 1993 the Governing Board has decided to propose-to the CERN Council that this mandate should be extended for a period of three years.  This proposal should be made, according to the statutes of the Fund, with the agreement of the Director-general.  The Governing Board has also proposed that the CERN Council should renew the mandates of Paul Levaux, as chairman, and of Guy Maurin, as vice-chairman of the Governing Board for a period of three years from 1 January 1994.

PENSION GUARANTEES

The special group on reintegration, chaired by Mr M.O.Ottosson,met at CERN:  on 2 June a delegation of civil servants of the Swiss federal administration for a discussion concerning the creation of a Foundation destined to take over the CERN Pension Fund in the case of the dissolution of the Organization.  Following this discussion several meetings have been held between federal civil servants, on the one hand, and CERN’s legal advisor and the administrator of the Fund, on the other,to prepare a version Of the draft Constituant Act of the Foundation which conforms to Swiss legislation concerning Foundations for Pension Funds.

Lorenzo Resegotti

HEALTH INSURANCE

We consider it worthwhile to reproduce in our Bulletin the Annual Report for 1992 established by the Health Insurance Supervisory Board and published in the Weekly Bulletin No 31/93 - 2nd august.  You will find thereafter a report on the Mini-Assises organized by the Staff Association related to Health Insurance, report established by Gordon Munday.  Finally we reproduce here the document about “the termination of Health Insurance contract with INTRAS” published in the Weekly Bulletin No 45/93 - 8 november.

Jacques Trembley

Health Insurance at CERN in 1992

The financial results of the operations of the health insurance scheme with AUSTRIA for 1992 have been analysed by the Health Insurance Supervisory Board.  The following tables and graphs show how the scheme is evolving.

Number of members of the scheme:

The number of staff members and their dependants is gradually declining, while the number of pensioners and their dependants is increasing.

The latter are a higher-cost population, and this is one of the factors leading to the continuing increase in total costs and hence premiums.

Premiums increase with time

The premium increases are caused by the ageing of the population (see above table) and the increasing sophistication and cost of the latest health care techniques.

Cost-control measures that have been introduced compensate only partially for these factors.

Total reimbursements per year:

This table shows the steep increase in health care costs for the insured population, whose numbers have varied only by about 1%.

Costs have risen at an average yearly rate of 9.7%, compared to the movement of the Geneva Consumer Price Index of 3.9% per year over the same period.

This rate of increase mirrors experience in Switzerland and indeed in the Western world;  it explains why the Swiss Federal government and others have taken urgent measures during the last few years.

Distribution of costs by type in 1992:

The major share of costs is for hospital care and doctors’ fees.  In the hospital costs are included all doctors’ fees for treatment in hospitals as well as costs of rooms and operating theatres, etc.  Total reimbursements for 1992 were 32.36 million Swiss francs.

Increase in costs over the last 2 years compared to 1988:

For the five major cost areas shown, the increases are considerably above inflation since 1988, which is taken as reference year.  Between 1990 and 1991, AUSTRIA. changed its accounting procedures so that doctors’ fees for treatment in hospitals are included in ‘hospitalization costs’ whereas before there were accounted separately in the ‘doctors’ fees’ category.

This makes direct comparisons more complicated;  it is nevertheless clear that hospitalization costs have risen faster than the other categories, due to the increasing charges in the hospitals and the increasing number and duration of hospitalizations attributable to the ageing of the insured population.

Between 1991 and 1992:

• hospitalisation costs rose by 23%;
• doctor's fees by 13%; dental care by 14%;
• analyses, X-rays by 7%;
• medicaments by 10%.

These numbers show again that hospitalization costs are a rapidly escalating item and will probably continue to rise due to the spiralling costs of operations, etc., combined with our increasing average age meaning more hospitalizations.

Conclusions

1. Health care costs are rising dramatically everywhere in Europe, and CERN is no exception,
2. CERN health insurance scheme is a mutuality.  It is important that all insured members take care to minimise costs so that they do not ( become too heavy a burden to the community, te.  the insured population and the Organization.
3. Costs at the moment are relatively low as we are still a comparatively young insured population.  However this is changing rapidly as larger numbers of active staff retire and the Organization reduces the number of active staff.  This change in the ratio of ‘young’ staff to retired members causes rising total costs as elderly people are more expensive than young ones.  It will also result in a strong increase in future premium rates, because CERN does not contribute directly to pensioners’ premiums in the same way as it does for active staff.  A working group chaired by H Hoffman, Director for Technical Services, recommended that the Organization pays directly for pensioners’ premiums as it does for active staff, in order to reduce the burden on future young staff.  A further working group chaired by H Weber, Director of Administration, reaffirmed this proposal and the Standing Concertation Committee recommended the Director General to implement it.  The Health Insurance Supervisory Board continues to support this measure as a means of slowing the increase in premiums and reducing the burden on future staff and retirees.
4. The Organization, together with AUSTRIA, is collaborating with other international organizations in Geneva in negotiating with health care providers for more favourable tariffs .  Agreements have been made already with several hospitals, (including notably “La Tour”), with an organization providing out-of-hospital care (often cheaper than hospitalization) and with a medical laboratory, and negotiations are under way with other providers.  Staff and pensioners will be kept informed of the agreements so that they can preferentially use these health care providers.  The collaboration also aims at pooling information on medical claims (in an anonymous fashion) so as to pinpoint anomalies in charging by particular hospitals or medical practitioners or in treatments given by doctors, and to identify the most-used doctors.
5. Staff and pensioners can also contribute by ~questioning the necessity of treatments given, e.g.  needless X-rays or over-medication, -using the preferential providers and -seeking treatment and medicaments as far as. possible in France, where charges are generally less expensive.
6. Finally, as the scheme is a mutuality, it is only reasonable that all insured persons contribute their fair share to the costs.  The Board will be studying how to apply this, for example in the case of spouses with independent income who do not contribute to the CERN scheme but benefit from it.

Health Insurance Supervisory Board

THE MINI-ASSIZES OF THE STAFF ASSOCIATION

A one day session of the Staff Council took place on the 22 October during which various facets of the CERN Health Insurance were explained and discussed.  The main speakers were from the Health Insurance Supervisory Board and Austria’s Swiss manager.

After a general introduction the following topics were presented:

1. that our insurance is not a classical insurance but rather a mutual scheme - a service contract - in which Austria acts as an expert administrator;
2. a comparison of health insurance schemes in the International Organizations and that of CERN was made;
3. the difficulty of extracting useful statistical information from Austria’s records because of software limitations, (Austria has now started a serious update);
4. an historical rewiew of the development of the services offered and the evolution of the premium with time (see above for more details - Austria Annual Report);
5. the premium for 1994 will again increase (for reasons see the Annual Report) - its exact value depends on whether full indexation is granted by the CERN Council at its December meeting;
6. the growing number of pensioners and the increasing cost expected with rising average age;
7. geriatric problems - particularly high costs and the absence of insurance provision outside
8. State hospitals (there is however a grant made for disabilities limiting performance of “activities of daily living”);
9. the mandate and activities of the Health Supervisory Board set up at the end of 1992;
10. the Hoffmann and Weber reports were commented upon;
11. the termination of the agreement with INTRAS at end 1993 with its financial and other consequences (details are given in the next article).

This was followed by general discussion and clarification of a number of points.

Finally it was decided to set up a working Group of the Staff Council (on which GAC will be represented by Jacques Trembley) to consider and make recommendations on various outstanding problems.  The Group will write a report on this meeting.

Gordon Munday

TERMINATION OF HEALTH INSURANCE CONTRACT WITH INTRAS.

1. The health insurance contract with AUSTRIA continues until 31 December 1996, unless renewed or extended in the meantime.  Members are reminded that this is not an insurance in the normal sense of the word, but rather a mutual scheme for which AUSTRIA acts as an expert administrator.
2. In agreement with CERN, AUSTRIA engaged the Swiss health insurance fund INTRAS in 1976 as a co-insurer, covering all members of the personnel and pensioners, as well as those family members who were domiciled in Switzerland.
3. One advantage of the INTRAS connection was that these people, when admitted to the common ward in State hospitals in Switzerland (such as the Geneva Cantonal hospital), were charged at the rate applicable to the Geneva Federation of Health Funds (i.e.  currently 277 CHF per day) rather than the “normal” rate of 685 CHF per day.  The cost- saving arising from these favourable charges is estimated to be about 1 MCHF per year.
4. Moreover, in the event of divorces, or children losing the status of “dependent child", INTRAS accepted the persons concerned as free transferees, if they still lived in Switzerland, with benefits resembling those of the AUSTRIA scheme.  If they moved to other countries, INTRAS helped them to transfer to the appropriate national schemes through bilateral agreements.
5. This was a cost-free scheme as far as CERN is concerned, as the premiums paid to INTRAS by AUSTRIA were balanced by the benefits paid to AUSTRIA.
6. New legislation in Switzerland requires INTRAS to contribute almost 2 MCHF per year to a compensation fund in respect of the contract with CERN, which INTRAS would have to pass on to CERN/AUSTRIA in the form of premium increases.  Since this is not acceptable, INTRAS has given CERN formal notice of its decision to terminate the health insurance contract with effect from 31 December 1993.
7. The consequence of the above is that the medical costs will increase by about 1 MCHF per year, (see para, 3), and the possibility of free transfer to INTRAS will no longer exist after 31 December 1993.
8. Under new legislation in Geneva and Vaud, however, every person domiciled in these Cantons must have health insurance, and Swiss health insurance funds are obliged to accept applications from persons who are no longer covered by the CERN/AUSTRIA scheme for basic coverage at a standard premium rate which is about 220 CHF per month in Geneva.
9. (N.B.  Basic coverage includes treatment in the common ward only in State hospitals;  it excludes many benefits under the CERN/AUSTRIA scheme such as optical and dental expenses.  Complementary insurance to qualify for more generous coverage, which may be subject to an entrance examination, is charged according to age, etc.)
10. AUSTRIA has notified CERN that it can no longer guarantee free transfer to another insurance, as foreseen in their contract.  Discussions will take place shortly with AUSTRIA to examine possible solutions to this problem.
11. The cancellation of the contract with INTRAS will inevitably increase the overall cost of medicdl care to the CERN community, and therefore we again emphasise the need to keep expenses under control, e.g.  by having treatment and buying medecines in France, whenever possible, using the services of the medical providers with whom tariff agreements have been made, etc.  As one way of increasing the income to the scheme, the Board is currently examining the position of spouses of staff members who have their own income and who benefit from the AUSTRIA insurance coverage whilst making no contributions to it.

Health Insurance Supervisory Board

MEETINGS AND TRAVEL.

Since our last Bulletin came out we have organized two tours.  One of six days in Brittany from 15 June to 20 and the other of four days in Bavaria from 13 September to 16.  Both excursions were a success as you will see below.

Tour in Brittany.

Of the 44 people registered, 42 left at crack ‘of dawn on 15 June (hard, hard to get up so early!) for a long journey.  Unfortunately two amongst them had to repatriated urgently for medical reasons.  The tour kept to its programme except that the visit to Chenenceaux had to be cancelled as the chateau had been ravaged by fire shortly beforehand.  I leave it to Nelly Dinkel [see version in French] to comment on this tour with her accustomed talent.  You will find her poem a little further on in this Bulletin.

Tour in Bavaria.

On 13 September again at an early hour, 19 participants left the rain swept shores of Lake Léman to find more and more sun as they approached their destination.  First stage: Hohenschwangau with an evening concert in the chateau.  The next day, visit to the chateaux of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein and then continuation to Oberammergau.  The third day allowed them to see Lihderhof, Garmisch- Patenkirchen, St Anton, the Arlberg pass to arrive at Vaduz in Liechtenstein.  The return was by way of the Wallensee, Einsiedeln, the Lake of the Four Cantons and Lucerne, before reaching Geneva in the early evening.

A more detailed account of this tour, penned with the journalistic of Roger Anthoine, will appear in our next Bulletin.

Mrs H.  Koerner had full responsibility for this tour;  she was in charge of the organization and spared no effort throughout the tour.  May she be warmly thanked for all she has done.

These two tours took place to the satisfaction of the participants.  Many, however, regretted that it was sometimes a bit of a marathon; they would have liked to have one or two more days to visit the same places.  The best compromise must be found between itinerary, duration and cost, which last criterion cannot, alas, be ignored.

We shall try to reconcile all these arguments when we organize our next escapades.

Let us also mention that we shall be meeting again twice before the end of the year.  On 28 October we shall hear our friend Robert Razurel talk about Cabrera, one of the Balearic Islands, and on 8 December we have arranged a visit to ‘Microcosm’ which will be followed by our traditional “Pot de Noé!”.

Jean Robert

Editorial

We have today no trouble in writing the editorial :  there is no lack of subject matter.

Let us begin with the organization of the election of the new Committee which we do every two years.  Five of the 15 members of the Committee did not wish to stand for reelection.  Appeals for new candidates produced only four, and ten outgoing members stood again (besides the

two observers to the Staff Association who are ex officio members).  The Committee proposed that twelve people should be elˆected for the period 1994 - 1996.  This was confirmed at the Annual General Meeting (see results on p.16 & 17).  All is therefore well, on the surface at least.  For it must be noted that only the devotion of a few, already in office for six years, has enabled the work to continue.  One can deplore that, out of the 840

members of GAC, only four new candidates have come forward.  It is, alas, the fate of all associations depending on voluntary effort. The new Committee will consist of the 12 elected members and the four ex officio members, delegates to the Staff Council.

The year 1994 will be a year of appeals for candidates and of postal votes.  After the renewal of the Committee you have been asked to elect our three representatives on the Council of the Staff Association.  Three (and not four as the mandate of Jacques Trembley runs until the end of next year, contrary to that of Lorenzo Resegotti).  Five candidates have presented themselves but the result of the vote is not yet known at the date of going to press.

You will then be called to vote on the modifications to the GAC statutes consequent to the changes made at the end of last year to the statutes of the Staff Association.  It is fitting to note among the changes in the statutes of the Staff Association that the GAC is recognized by the Staff Association as being the sole representative of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund, membership of GAC implying membership of the Staff Association.

The tasks devolving on the Committee have increased sharply these last years with the more pressing need to make heard the voice of the pensioners in the different fora where their fate is decided. Furthermore, to allow its several members to be less constrained by a rigid timetable and to find the necessary expertise which cannot necessarily be found inside the Committee, the latter will, in accordance with the GAC statutes, endeavour to recruit coopted members.

Our pensions narrowly missed, in December 1993, receiving an annual increase of 1.6%, although an increase of 4.6% had been acceptable to the consultant actuary and proposed by the Governing Board of the Pension Fund.  At the end of a seemingly confused debate in the Finance Committee Mr Paul Levaux, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund, intervening in extremis, succeeded in obtaining an increase of 3.0%, as you certainly know.  Our active colleagues saw their salaries indexed by only 1.2%, which we strongly deplore.

At the end of February 1994 there were 847 members of GAC.  When we sought candidates for election to the Committee only four people presented themselves.  For the election for the Staff Council we have five candidates.  About a hundred people were present at the Annual General Meeting on April 26.  Allow us to emphasise again the meagre participation of our members in the life of the Association, which we strongly deplore.  It is good to be a member, but still better to give us a little of your time.  It would in any case encourage those who work to further the position of the pensioners.

The most important outstanding point in this report is today the fate of the LHC project which governs the future of the Organization.  The Director General Christopher Llewellyn Smith is devoting all his efforts to have this project accepted in the coming months.  It is clear that the CERN pensioners, very attached to the destiny of their Organization of which they are justly

proud, wish for the success of this project which will assure the continuation of the career of a leading European institution.

Let us now descend to more mundane matters.  We are not immune from the law by which an information system, even one as simple as ours, suffers from lengthy teething troubles.  A series of incidents have caused us an appreciable loss of time but happily competent friends at CERN have helped us out of difficulties on many occasions.

We have the greatest of difficulties in stabilizing our address file because some of our members fail to inform us of their change of address.  This results in returned mail and in long and tedious searches.  Also we are unable to inform these members of our activities in which they cannot take part.  We sincerely hope that an effort can be made to keep us informed of your changes of address - for which we thank you in advance.

We have produced a summary note for those who wish to compare the relative fiscal advantages (based on the tax regulations in force in 1993) of residence in France or in the Cantons of Geneva or Vaud.  This note can be consulted at the Permanences.

We shall never tire of reminding you that we wish to have a dialogue with you on the subjects with which you are preoccupied.  The attendance at the Permanences which we have each month is very satisfactory, but we should like the contact which the Committee can have with its members to be further improved and that you should not hesitate in telephoning or in writing to us.  This Bulletin, which is yours, should be a tribune open to all its readers to put forward their problems.  We await your letters.

We wish you all a pleasant summer.

The Editors

PROGRESS REPORT 1993-1994

Report by the President of GAC to the Annual General Meeting of 26 April 1994.

Evolution of the strength of the of GAC,

The following table, originating from the Management Board of the Pension Fund, shows the evolution of the Fund’s membership.

The categories of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund comprise:  the pensioners, the handicapped, surviving spouses, and orphans and deferred pensioners.  They are distributed as follows:

The CERN Pensioners’ Association had 847 members at the end of March 1994.  The ratio GAC members/Beneficiaries of the Fund* is as follows:

*(excepting orphans, ex gratia payments and deferred pensions)

We see that the ratio of GAC members to the total number of beneficiaries of the Fund is increasing slowly from year to year. The distribution of beneficiaries by country of residence is:

Some remarks about CERN

The fortieth anniversary of the founding of CERN

The anniversary will be celebrated on Saturday 17 September (1994) and pensioners and their companions are invited to spend the day in the same way as the active staff (see Bulletins 15/94, 11.4.94 and page 6 “General Information” of 16/94, 16.4.94). The programme organizer has asked us if we are interested to man a stand GAC on this occasion.  We discussed the matter in our last committee meeting and the reaction was positive.

Latest news from CERN

As you all know CERN has proposed a new project, LHC (Large Hadron Collider), a relatively cheap machine because it uses the existing LEP tunnel and existing accelerators used as injectors.  After the abandonment of the SCC by the United States, the LHC would be a unique instrument for the world, vital for particle physics and for the future of

CERN.  However the budget estimation shows that there is a deficit of CHF 500 million and despite the efforts made so far by the Director General in the United States, Japan, Canada, China ..., the gap remains for the moment.I n spite of these difficulties, the Council of CERN has voted with a very large majority at its last session on the 15 April a resolution, quoted below, in favour of the LHC.  The delegates voted 18 in favor and one abstention to the following resolution relating to the LHC and CERN’s long term scientific programme.

It appears to me that following a period of great uncertainty, the outcome of this Council can be taken as positive.

The Staff Association The new Statutes of the Staff Association

The new Statutes proposed by the Council of the Staff Association have been approved.  The main points that concern us are:

1. Members of GAC are now members of the Staff Association, whereas before they were extraordinary members.
2. We have the right to vote in a General Assembly but only in matters that concern pensioners.
3. We have the right to one Delegate per 200 GAC members.  With 847 members we can now have four delegates instead of only two observers.

It should be recalled that affiliation with the Staff Association is our only official link with CERN:  a matter of particular importance given the subjects of our major preoccupation — pensions and health insurance.

Internal GAC Activities

Those responsible for some important GAC activities will be speaking later this afternoon.

I should like to thank the retiring members of our Committee for their help during the last two years:

Alfred Giinther, Theo Kréwerath, Bruno Nicolai, Marcelle Rouiller, Thea Vermeulen. with whom it has been a pleasure to work.

The Adjustment of Pensions (Cost of Living, etc.)

The Finance Committee at its December meeting began by considering the salary index for the active staff.  The calculated value for this index was 4.53%, but the Committee rapidly moved away from this figure and finally voted for a personnel budget index of 1.6% which leads to a salary index of only 1.2%.

Concerning the pension index, the Chairman of the Governing Board proposed the calculated value of 4.6% then some delegates proposed a figure of 1.6%.  In the

course of a difficult debate, it appeared that certain delegates had forgotten that the CERN pension system was capitalized and not a budgetised system.  The Chairman of the Governing Board then clarified the situation and proposed a figure of 3%, which was finally accepted.  In spite of the fact that we are all disappointed not to receive the calculated figure of 4.6%, we are nevertheless all grateful to Mr. Paul Levaux for his efforts, whilst deeply regretting that the active staff were granted only 1.2%.

Lorenzo Resegotti will shortly fill more detail and at the same time state the position of the Committee of GAC on this point.

Gordon Munday

PROGRAMME 1994-1995

Report by the President of GAC to the Annual General Meeting of 26 April 1994.

You have been good enough to approve the new Committee.  As you see there are two new faces and new blood - Pierre Foglie and Jacques Leroux.  The Committee has again elected me as President — I thank them for their confidence in me, I will try to live up to their expectations.  We have still to find volunteers for the election of our delegates to the Staff Council. What are we going to do in the future?

We are going to try to increase our efficiency as an Association in two ways:

1. first, we will try to get more help in the Committee by coopting one or two people that are sufficiently qualified for a specialized task and have some time available.

   Our present Statutes allow us to coopt for specific tasks but does not permit the status of Committee member.

   We propose to modify our Statutes to bring them in line with the new Statutes of the Staff Association and also allowing the cooption of people with full Committee membership status.  (This point will be treated by Lorenzo Resegotti a little later.)

   Another means of acquiring help is via the delegates elected by to the Staff Council. The elected delegate is ex officio a member of the GAC Committee.

   second, in order to better defend our interests we must increase our numbers now 64% of the beneficiaries.  The more members. the greater credibility and weight we will have.

   There are two approaches possible:

   I call upon all GAC members to persuade their non-member friends that GAC is there to defend the rights and interests of all pensioners and that it is in their own interest to join the Association.  To succed in this we have need for your help and support.

   The second approach is on the business of the Committee.  We will draft a letter, whenever possible personalized in the language of the addressee, where we will draw attention to the fact that GAC is not just a club that organizes a few trips and meetings and thus is only interesting to those who live in the Geneva region.  In truth GAC does much more, particularly it attempts to defend the rights and interests of the pensioners in a world which is becoming more and more difficult to live in.  Here we may need your help to find the addresses of non-members.

2. It is clear that our major worries are connected with the Pensions and Health Insurance.  On the last point we hope to find a measure of help in our collaboration with our friends from the United Nations - AFICS (Association of Former International Civil Servants).
3. Two of our activities, of a different nature, that have been successful will continue as in the past:
   • Firstly, the “permanence” in general well attended and which gives us the occasion to better understand the worries and problems of our members.
   • Secondly, the social and cultural activities have been a success and are well organized.
4. The GAC Committee and the editors of the Bulletin are always interested in receiving your reactions.  We remain open to new ideas and possible criticism.

Gordon Munday

ELECTION RESULTS

COMMITTEE

We are very pleased to record 526 votes, 64.3% of our membership.  It is the first time we have such a participation.

AUDITORS

Mrs Vermeulen, MMrs Diss and Georgijevic are elected.  Mrs Guichard will act as alternate.

THE NEW COMMITTEE

* Delegate to the Staff Council

ECHOES OF THE COMMITTEE.

Since the appearance of the last bulletin the work of the Committee has continued with the same steady rhythm.  Our

delegates to the Council of the Staff Association have faithfully reported to us the purport of the various meetings.  They have

noted the reactions of their fellow committee members so as to be authoritative representatives.

Elections for the renewal of the GAC Committee have taken up a good part of the time.  Some members of the existing Committee have expressed their wish to withdraw, considering that goodwill should not be lacking among the newly retired. Others, with very specific responsibilities, have been asked not to resign until it is seen whether they can be replaced efficiently.  We hope that a happy harmony between the old and the new members will be established.

It would be good, on this occasion, to bring forward the work done by members of the Committee who devote a good part of their time in carrying out tasks whose size is not always apparent at first sight.  Without quoting

names, I think of the bookkeeping and in particular that for the subscriptions.  This obscure work is often complicated by a lack of care in the way in which subscriptions are paid, which sometimes leads to complicated searches.

Another considerable work is that of the editing of the present bulletin which, although being a collective work, entails a lengthy process of translation, proof reading as well as its layout.

Let us not forget the organization of the tours and excursions, where considerable efforts are sometimes meagerly rewarded by the small number of participants.

Raymond Grégoire

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

Relation with the International Organizations

As in the past we continue our meetings with our colleagues of the AAFI-AFICS (Association of Former International Civil Servants, grouping all organizations associated with UNO).  Mr G.L.Munday and myself have been invited in october last year by their new President Mr A.Ali, to a meeting of AAFI-AFICS at the UN.  We invited their President, Mr Ali and Mr Vissereau, who deals with questions of health insurance, to our February Committee meeting.  These two gentlemen spoke to us of their association and of the questions and problems which confront them.

On this occasion G.L.Munday and J.Trembley were invited to attend a meeting at the UN dealing with problems concerning health insurance.

Since all these organizations are in Geneva we have noted that we have many problems in common and that we can mutually profit from each other.

Qld people’s homes

We are in the process of establishing a catalogue of addresses of old people’s homes in the Geneva area.  It will be available for you to consult at the monthly Permanences.

It has, unfortunately, not been possible to establish a list of the tariffs of these establishments.  They differ too much from each other (cantonal, federal, private etc) and do not offer the same services.

The catalogue will nevertheless give you a rough idea of the various possibilities.

Ingrid Plass

NEWS OF THE ‘PERMANENCES’

Report by Ernst Hugi to the Annual General Meeting of 26 April 1994.

This chapter should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet - or at least the beginning of answers to these problems - so encouraging you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month (except during the summer months).  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.

General Information

During the six sessions which took place in the period from 5 October 1993 to 5 April 1994 we received the visits of 23 people.  The number of consultations varied between one and seven, with an average of 3.8 visitors per session.

Among the subjects covered, tax questions become more and more numerous.  During the last six sessions a good third of the interviews were devoted to this subject.

Lastly, it is interesting to note that from June 1988, when the Permanences were inaugurated, to 5 April 1994 we have received a total of 136 visitors.  A few people certainly have come to see us several times but nevertheless more than 10% of our members have already profited from the service put at their disposition.

Taxes:  Deductions of medical expenses not reimbursed by the health insurance scheme.

We hope that our colleagues resident in the Canton of Geneva have not forgotten in their last tax declaration to deduct medical expenses not reimbursed by the health insurance scheme.  These expenses are in fact tax deductible up to the following limits:

• CHF 3’000.- for a single person under 65 years of age
• CHF 4’500.- for a single person over 65 years of age
• CHF 4’500.- for a couple both of whom are under 65 years of age
• CHF 6’750.- for a couple one of whom is over 65 years of age.

The fiscal authorities do not require you to send supporting evidence for these deductions with your tax declaration.  It goes without saying that you must keep this evidence in case the fiscal authorities require them for verification (see Section 3 below).

For information we should like to describe briefly how these expenses are treated in the Canton of Vaud, although this point has not yet been raised at a Permanence.  The fiscal law in Vaud provides for a reduction in taxable income only when medical expenses by the health insurance scheme are too heavy a burden on the taxpayer’s income and capital.  The reduction is granted by a procedure distinct from the tax assessment.  The request is made on Form 22025, which is obtainable from the Commission d’impét of the district in which the taxpayer is domiciled, and to whom it should be retuned.

As a general rule, the deduction for medical expenses is only granted if the total of these expenses exceeds certain limits determined by the Taxpayer’s income and capital.  So that our colleagues do not launch themselves unnecessarily into this procedure we give below the limits for a few somewhat arbitrarily chosen family situations.  If the medical expenses not reimbursed by the health insurance scheme are less than or equal to the sums indicated there will be no tax reduction.  A reduction is granted and increases with the excess above the limiting values.  One can see that one must either be rather poor or very ill, or both at once to be able to profit from this tax reduction.

Documents provided by AUSTRIA

During the session of 5 April 1994 a colleague living in Geneva came to complain again about documents provided by our health insurance scheme.  This time it was about a list of reimbursements which AUSTRIA had sent at her request in order to have a justification for the deductions claimed in her tax declaration for medical expenses not reimbursed by AUSTRIA.  Her complaint was that this list (Schadensblatt = damages list) is entirely in German and that the final totals in the last two columns are incorrect.

It would be, without doubt, desirable that all the documents sent to us by AUSTRIA should be in French.  We think however that in this particular case the language should not be an obstacle. The list has little text but many dates and numbers whose significance should be evident even for someone with no knowledge of German.  As to the final totals it seems to us that these include a

carry over from a previous period (a question of programming).  This is, however, of lite importance.  What counts is that the list gives for each treatment the duration, the date on which the reimbursement claim was registered, the amount of the bill and the amount reimbursed by AUSTRIA.

This list seems to us to be a completely valid voucher for the fiscal authorities

Education grants

It seems useful to be precise on the question of the education grants for children:  the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund not being CERN staff members, the Organization does not pay them any grant of this category.

* * *

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us

information which would be useful to other pensioners.  Courtesy visits are appreciated - they make for general discus- sions which open new horizons for us. For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying: “GAC Permanences” .

Ernst Hugi

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

We give above a table [shown below!] showing the profit and loss account drawn up at the end of 1993.  At this date there were 818 members of GAC, but only CHF 15,630 had been paid

in, showing that about 40 members had not paid their subscriptions until the beginning of 1994.

Furthermore, due to the changes in the statutes of the Staff Association, which entail modifying our own statutes, we are now held to receive subscriptions before 31 January of the current year (payment can be made from October of the preceding year up to January 31).  For this reason we had already received CHF 9,914 at the end of 1993 and a further CHF 2,695 in January 1994, totalling CHF 12,609, from 630 very faithful members.

There are at present about 50 people who have not yet paid their subscriptions for 1994.  We ask, once again, those who have not yet modified their payment orders to take into account the limit date of 31 January the last day for subscriptions for 1994, kindly to do so without delay.  This concerns about 30 people.

Thankyou for your understanding.

FINANCIAL YEAR 1993 PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT

BALANCE SHEET 31 DECEMBER 1993

Budget 1994

Werner Albrecht
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

THE PENSION FUND

Report by Lorenzo Resegotti at the Annual General Meeting of 26 April 1994.

The main events concerning the Pension Fund in 1993, and in particular the publication of the annual report for 1992 in the month of June and the Annual General Meeting of members and beneficiaries of the Fund on 13 September 1993, were the subject of an article in our Bulletin No 8 published in December 1993.  Certain items will be recalled

in my exposé, but it will deal mainly with recent events.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE FUND

CERN Council has renewed the mandate of Mr Paul Levaux as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Fund for a period of three years and those of Mr G.Maurin and

Mr W.C.Middelkoop as Vice-chairmen for three years and one year respectively as from 1 January 1994.  It has also reappointed Mr C.Cuénoud as Administrator of the Fund for a period of three years from the same date. Following the ballot at the end of 1993 Mrs E.Deluermoz was elected titular member of the Governing Board as from January 1 1994 for a period of three years;  Mr G Castelli was elected for the same period as alternate member to Mrs Deluermoz. The other members of the Governing Board in 1994 are as follows:

The observers for the pensioners are C J.Zilverschoon (titular) and L.Resegotti (alternate). The provisional budget of the Fund for 1994 is, in 1993 prices, 2.5 mio CHF, of which 1.75 mio is for personnel expenses (11 posts).  It is about 0.5 mio more than the 1993 budget due to the creation of the internal investment unit.  This reorganization has enabled a saving to be made of 0.65 mio in expenses billed by the bank which formerly employed the investor.

MANAGEMENT OF SECURITIES

Since August 1993 the six new external managers have each been responsible for a portfolio of 50 mio CHF.  Since the portfolios of the two external managers already in office have been increased to 100 mio CHF each, the part of the securities portfolio under external management amounts to some 500 mio CHF, a sum which is slightly less than 25% of the Fund’s assets excluding CERN’s debt to the Fund.  To take into account the flexibility given to the managers, the Governing Board has reviewed its investments directives by raising the upper limit for shares to 30% of the Fund’s total assets, excluding the above mentioned debt. At the same time the upper limit for assets in real estate has been reduced to 25% on the same basis.

The global custodian for the eight external portfolio managers, the State Street Bank, has been provisionally appointed depositor for securities managed internally. The appointment of a separate custodian for the latter securities is, however, still considered to be the final solution.

REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO

A detailed analysis of the income derived from the real estate investments of the Fund at end 1992 has been made by Guy Maurin, based on data provided by the Fund’s administration.  In order to be able to assess the long term performance of real estate

The Fund’s investments in Great Britain have suffered from the deterioration in the exchange rate between the pound and the Swiss franc.  Concerning the type of investment, it is to be noted that forests have penalised the overall return.  On these facts the Governing Board has mandated the Real Estate Management Commission and the Investment Committee to examine real estate investment policy and to assure that all the various real estate assets of the Fund have their place in the portfolio of a pension fund.

PENSION INDEXATION

On 19 October 1993 the Governing Board of the Pension Fund, in the light of the favourable results of a study made by the Working Group on actuarial questions, decided to recommend to the CERN Council an adjustment of pensions, fixed sums and allowances of 4.6% as from 1 January 1994, corresponding to the change in the Geneva retail price index over the period August 1992 to August 1993.  Since this adjustment exceeded the assumed actuarial hypothesis of 3% the opinion of the consulting actuary was sought.  This opinion, substantially positive though nuancé, was annexed to the document sent to the Finance Committee.

At the meeting of the Governing Board of 8 February 1994 the Chairman reported on his participation at the meetings of the Finance Committee and of the CERN Council in December 1993.  The Chairman explained that he had to avoid that, after the very restrictive decisions made by the Finance Committee on the indexation of the CERN personnel budget,

the Finance Committee would follow several delegations who insisted on proposing the same index for pensions as for salaries.  The Governing Board thanked its Chairman for having succeeded in convincing the Finance Committee and Council to approve a pension indexation of 3%, which was, in the opinion of the Governing Board, a remarkable compromise.

According to information published by the Staff Association, whose delegates were present at the Finance Committee meeting of 14 December 1993, the vote on the budget indices was hotly debated and confused and finally resulted in an increase of 1.6% in the personnel budget.  In accordance with this and the calculations of CERN administration the salaries of the active staff have been increased by 1.2%.  The GAC Committee, informed of these events, has shared the deception and discontent of the CERN staff at the negative attitude of the Finance Committee (and of the CERN Council which accepted the recommendation without discussion) towards the proposals of CERN Management concerning the indexation of salaries in conformity with the index of 4,53% calculated according to the current formula.  It deplored the final decision to increase basic salaries by only 1.2%, more especially as the reduction of the salary increases of the active staff as compared with the calculated index, as has been carried out on this occasion, will have repercussions on the pensions which will be received by our colleagues when they retire.

The Committee is also disquieted by the information, received via the Staff Association, concerning the statements made by certain Finance Committee delegates on the subject of pensions served to the beneficiaries of the Fund;  it is grateful to the Chairman of the Governing Board for his efforts to enlighten the Finance Committee and to lead several delegations to reconsider their voting intention.

It should be noted that the 3% indexation finally adopted for the pensions of the beneficiaries corresponds to the adjustment rate assumed in the present actuarial hypotheses.  Furthermore the Fund’s consultant actuary, in his opinion on the effects of pension indexation, drawn up in October 1993 at the request of the Governing Board only took into account the difference of 1.6% between an indexation equal to the Geneva rate of inflation of 4.6% and the indexation of 3% retained in the actuarial hypotheses.  The GAC Committee considers it to be of importance that such a criterion should also be retained in the future, within the possibility of maintaining the Fund in equilibrium, together with the criteria retained for the indexation of salaries, so that the purchasing power of the pensioners, surviving spouses and orphans should not depend entirely on the hazards of the salary policy of the Finance Committee and CERN Council.  For, in contrast with the active staff, the beneficiaries have no direct syndical means of defending themselves nor any means of making good past losses.  To give up all protection in this matter would in the end be prejudicial to the interests of future beneficiaries even more than to present ones.

Lorenzo Resegotti

HEALTH INSURANCE

Report by Jacques Trembley at the Annual General Meeting of 26 April 1994.

(Published in CERN Bulletin No 22/94)

Introduction.

Since 1971 CERN has a contract with AUSTRIA which is based on complete mutuality, independent of family situation.

Premiums are proportional to basic salaries.

The pensioners themselves pay 35% of the total premium which, in 1994 is 9.69%, i.e.  a contribution of 3.39% of their maximum theoretical pension.

The agreement with AUSTRIA has been revised and prolonged for a period of five years from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1996.

* * *

—— The CERN Health Insurance Supervisory Board (CHISB) created by the CCP of 24 November 1992 consists of two members of CERN Management (H. Atherton and M.  Baboulaz replacing R. Milligan who retired at the end of 1993), two members of the Staff Association (M. Aymon and D.Ball) as well as a permanent observer from GAC (J.Trembley).  This

Committee met 17 times in 1993 [for its mandate see GAC Bulletin No. 7].

Its work has resulted in five publications in the Weekly Bulletin.

The Committee met Mr U.Von Arx, Director of INTRAS, at two meetings last spring.  It has, furthermore, invited Mr F. Semmler, Director of AUSTRIA, to take part in their work on eight occasions.

The Committee has discussed numerous topics of which the principal have been:

1. The renewal of the Convention with AUSTRIA.
2. Preparation of the Annual Report for 1992.
3. The recommendations of the Hoffmann and Weber reports.
4. Obtaining better information concerning reimbursements.
5. Collaboration with the other international organizations.
6. Premiums of spouses having their own incomes.
7. The problem of CERN’s contribution to the pensioners’ premiums, not paid directly by the Organization.
8. The formulation of a clear and fair policy concerning ‘geriatrics’ (the problem of care of highly dependent cases).

—— The Mini-congress of the Staff Association held on October 22 1993 was devoted to the problems of the Health Insurance Scheme [GAC Bulletin No.  8 of December last).

—— Concerning the cancellation of the contract between AUSTRIA and INTRAS [GAC Bulletin No.  8 and Weekly Bulletins 45/93 (8.11.93), 47/93 (22.11.93) and 50/93 (13.12.93)].

The termination of the contract with INTRAS will inevitability result in an increase in the total cost of medical care for the CERN community.  We therefore emphasize once again the necessity of limiting expenses, as far as is possible, by taking treatment and buying medicaments with deliberation and also by dealing with suppliers with whom price agreements have been made (see list in Annex I below).

—— The Health Insurance Supervisory Board has also examined the situation of spouses of staff members who have their own income and who benefit from the insurance cover provided by AUSTRIA without contributing to it.

—— The Staff Association and GAC have had numerous contacts with our colleagues in the other international organizations.  We have recently taken part in the first meeting of the ‘Health’ Group which the Association of Former International Civil Servants has decided to reactivate.

—— Concerning cover for the long term care for chronic ailments - although this is a complex problem it is essential that solutions are found.  Though medical and paramedical expenses are generally accepted by the health insurance scheme this is not the case for expenses resulting from calls on the social services or for non-medical care.  These cases are more and more numerous and will certainly become more and more frequent and more and more costly.

Finally, in Annex II below, the text of the annual report for 1993 of the Health Insurance Supervisory Board.

Jacques Trembley

ANNEX I

Agreements between the four international health schemes and health services providers

Laboratoire Monnier et Spoerri, S.A.
Laboratory for medical and biochemical analysis .

Hôpital de la Tour.

Clinique la Ligniére.
The conditions after 01.04.94 have to be fixed.

SITEX.
Home care in place of hospitalisation.

ANNEX II

Health Insurance at CERN in 1993

(Published in CERN Bulletin No 22/94)

The results of the operation of the health insurance scheme with AUSTRIA for 1993 have been reviewed by the CERN Health Insurance Supervisory Board (CHISB) and the following tables and graphs show how the scheme is evolving.

Number of members of the scheme

The number of staff members and their dependants is gradually declining, while the number of pensioners and their dependants is increasing.

The declining staff number is a direct result of the policy of the Organization to reduce staff and the ratio of active to retired persons is a cause of the natural ageing of staff and retirement at 65, accentuated however by the early retirement programmes.

The active Staff Members are also becoming older on average, 51 % being above 50 years of age at the end of 1993 compared to only 37 % at the end of 1988.

As older persons are generally more frequently ill than younger ones, this general ageing of the insured population leads to increasing costs and an increasing pressure on premiums.

The premiums have had to be increased to take account of the ageing effects in the population (see above) and the increasing sophistication and cost of the latest health care techniques.

Cost-conirol measures that have been introduced can only partially compensate for these factors.

Total reimbursements per year The opposite table shows the increase in health care costs for the insured population whose numbers have decreased by a little more than 1 %.

Costs have risen by 55 % compared to the movement of the Geneva Consumer Price Index of 24 % over the same period.

However, this rate of increase resembles the experience in Switzerland and is the reason for the urgent measures undertaken by the Swiss Federal government over the last few years and its proposals for the reform of the health insurance now before the Swiss parliament.

For CERN, it is a combination of health treatment costs, especially for hospitalisation, increasing far more rapidly than inflation and the ageing of our insured population leading to more frequent illnesses (claims per premium payer up 5.4 % over the period) and more serious ones.

For 1992, the larger than normal surge may have been partially due to the doctors and hospitals delivering their bills more quickly. This is suggested by the lower than normal fraction of bills for treatment given in 1992 which were only claimed for in 1993.

Distribution of costs by type in 1993

The major share of the costs is for hospital care and doctors’ fees.  In the hospital costs are included all treatment including doctors’ fees for those interventions in hospitals as well as costs of rooms and operating theatres, etc.

The hospitalisation now represents 34 % of the total compared to only 20 % in 1988 and demonstrates the literal explosion of costs in this area compared to the others.

Increase in costs over the last 2 years referred also to 1988

Between 1990 and 1991, AUSTRIA changed its accounting procedures so that doctors’ fees for interventions in hospitals are included in hospitalisation costs whereas before they were accounted separately into ‘doctors’ fees’ class.

This makes the direct comparison more complicated, however, it is clear that hospitalisation costs have outstripped the other areas of increase and this is due not only to the increasing charges in the hospitals but also to an increasing number of visits attributable, no doubt, to the increasing age of the insured population.  This is the reason for negotiating with hospitals to influence the tariffs.  The agreement with the La Tour hospital is particularly important as it has the lion’s share of CERN’s cases (of the order of 50 % of all hospitalisations).

Between 1992 and 1993:

• hospitalisation costs increased by 2%;

AND

• analyses, X-rays increased by 5%;
• medicament costs increased by 6%;

BUT

• doctors’ fees decreased by 3 %;
• dental care also decreased by 3 %.

As hospital costs are the major fraction of the total, the increase in this area, although small, added to the increases in doctors’ fees and dental treatment, outweighed the decreases in other areas, to produce the small increase of 0.8 % in the total costs of 1993 versus 1992.

Conclusions

1. The CERN health insurance scheme is a mutuality and it is important that all insured members take care to minimise costs so that they do not become too heavy a burden to the community, especially the Organization which may be tempted to take drastic action to cut its own load.
   At the December 1993 Finance Committee meeting, views were expressed by Member States that the staff should pay the extra cost of the health insurance scheme or that the benefits be reduced correspondingly to maintain constant contributions.
2. Costs at the moment are relatively light as we are still a comparatively young insured population.  This will continue to change as larger numbers of present active staff take retirement and the Organization reduces the number of active staff in the future.
   This change in the ratio of ‘young’ staff to retired members would mean moderately increased costs as elderly people are somewhat more expensive than young ones.
   However the effect will be more dramatic as CERN does not contribute directly for pensioners as it does for staff.  These ’missing contributions’ must be paid by the insured population and will lead to strong increases in the future premiums.  This was recently once more underlined in a report by the CHISB to the Standing Concertation Committee, and the Director of Administration stated that this question should again be submitted to the Director General and the Directorate during 1994.
3. The result of only 0.8 % increase in 1993 over 1992 was gratifying and one hopes this slow down will be maintained in the future.  It was however necessary to increase premiums for 1994 to take into account the probable increase in hospital costs due to the cancellation of the contract arrangement between CERN and INTRAS (see article in the Weekly Bulletin 45/93 or GAC Bulletin No 8).
   Further, as basic salaries were adjusted by only 1.2 % at the beginning of 1994 instead of the calculated value of 4.55 %, this meant that the increase was commensurably greater than expected and the premium rate had to be increased by 5.1 % from 9.22 % of basic salaries in 1993 to 9.69 % in 1994 (excluding the 0.5 % of basic salaries paid entirely by the Organization for coverage of costs of professional illnesses and accidents).
4. The Organization, in co-operation with AUSTRIA, is continuing collaboration with other international Organizations in Geneva.  This will give a larger number of insured persons with which to bargain for more favourable tariffs with health care providers.
   The collaboration also aims at pooling information on medical claims (in an anonymous fashion) so as to pinpoint anomalies in charging by particular hospitals or medical practitioners or unnecessary treatments given by doctors, or even to identify the most-used doctors to target them for tariff negotiations.
   Insured persons can also contribute by questioning the necessity of treatments given, for example needless X-rays or over medication, by using the preferential providers and by seeking treatment and medicaments in France where possible.
5. In February 1994, the Standing Concertation Committee agreed in principle that spouses who have independent income and who are not insured elsewhere should pay an extra premium if they wished to remain insured with AUSTRIA.  The implementation of this scheme will be worked out during 1994.  It is based on the fact that the scheme is a mutuality and it is only reasonable that all insured persons contribute a fair share to the costs.

CERN Health Insurance Supervisory Board

MEETINGS AND TRAVEL May 1993 to April 1994

Two excursions were organized in 1993;  the first to Britanny from 15 June to 20 and the second from 13 September to 16 in Bavaria. [report by Roger Anthoine in French only]

The six day excursion to Britanny, proposed by Touriscar of Geneva, took the 40 participants led by Felix Hoffmann to Vannes, prefecture of Morbihan, stopping at Saumur, Rochefort-en-Terre and Angers.

Then followed the discovery of Locqmariaquer, the menhirs of Carnac, Quiberon and, in the evening, a dinner-cruise in the Gulf of Morbihan where some found that dancing a frenzied rock was a very pleasurable way of spending one’s retirement.

After turning back it was a great moment to be present at the evening show at the Puy du Fou, recounting the uprising of the Vendéens.  The day was long and the night short but this marvel will doubtless remain alive in their memories.  There followed a visit to the Futuroscope, a stop at Limoges and the return to Geneva via Vichy where our pensioners demonstrated once again at lunch their excellent appetites.

Though somewhat tired the participants were delighted with this excursion, and that all went so well was due to the excellence of the driver Jacky and his daughter Carole who spared no effort as guide.

In 19 September travellers under the expert guidance of Hella Koerner set out for four days to discover Bavaria and the characteristic chateaux of Ludwig II: Neuschwanstein (982 steps to be climbed to appreciate the evening concert given in the Hall of the Singers), Hohenschwangau and Linderhof.

Then the discovery of the church at Wies, the monastery at Ettel and the typical bourgades of Oberammergau and Garmisch- Partenkirchen.  After St Anton and the Arlberg

Pass our pensioners made a halt at Vaduz. Finally the point of departure was regained via Sargans, Einsiedeln, Lucerne, the Entlebuch and Berne.

The participants were unanimous in praising the first-rate organization of this excursion and I should like to thank Hella Koerner for her excellent work.

Robert Razurel has also made the effort to propose a talk.  On 28 October he spoke of Cabrera, one of the islands in the Balearic archipelago, now designated as nature reserve by the Spanish government. After telling us of the cruise which took him and three other ex-Cernois to Palma di Majorca one of his friends, Antonio Garcia Socias, spoke of the flora and fauna of Cabrera.

Robert then recounted the historic past of this island which served as the place of exile for several thousand prisoners.  This presentation, given to the some 100 people who had accepted our invitation, involved him in considerable research which was well worth the effort.  as his audience was very interested.  Once again, thankyou Robert !

Finally our Christmas gathering was held on 8 December starting with a visit by some 40 people to the “Microcosm”, followed by the traditional “pot”, the occasion to find once again friends and old acquaintances amongst the some 120 people present.

This year we have on the programme: a one day trip on 18 May to the Saut du Doubs, for which around 50 people have inscribed, a seven day tour in Switzerland at the end of June with 23 participants and an expedition to Carinthia and southern Austria at the end of July with 17 people.  We are somewhat disappointed to have received so few inscriptions for these two excursions.  We wonder why there is so little interest and if it is worthwhile to continue organizing such outings in the future.  We should be happy to have your comments on this matter.

To end, allow me make a wish.  I should like that, among the some 800 members of GAC, some would emerge from the crowd and propose an outing, a film or a slide show or any other activity.  We are open to all propositions - and do not tell me that you do not know how to do it or have not got the time - we are there to help you.  I strongly hope that my appeal will be heard and that the example set by Robert Razurel and Hella Koemer will be followed.  In advance, I thank you.

Jean Robert

Rédaction :  Robert Lévy-Mandel, Peter Standley.

Editorial

Translation

A year, rich in diverse events, is drawing to its end.

In the last Bulletin we gave you the composition of the new Committee.  This has been strengthened by the election of three delegates to the Council of the Staff Association (SA) :  three only as the mandate of Jacques Trembley continues until the end of 1995.  Lorenzo Resegotti has been reelected and we have the pleasure of welcoming Jean- Francois Barthélémy and Reinhard Budde.  Despite the very appreciable support given by the alternates to the delegates for questions of pensions and health insurance the Committee is still looking for volunteers to be coopted to fill the posts of secretary, of editor to the GAC Bulletin and to take care of Women’s concerns.  Pierre Fogli will have to give up his duties as secretary at the end of the year so as to be able to devote himself to his journalistic work.  Raymond Grégoire has resigned from the Committee.  It is the moment to make an urgent new appeal for a bit of self sacrifice to appear amongst our numerous members - duty calls!  As time goes by, the importance of defending our interests becomes more and more apparent.  The problems which face us (but not only us) are set in perspectives which become less and less easy.These problems must be clearly identified so that we are able to fight to defend our positions.  These tasks require a certain effort which we share our among ourselves so as not to bear too heavily on any one person.  We are trying to double up the most exacting posts in order to lighten individual burdens.  This is why we make this appeal to show your spirit of solidarity by coming to join us.

You have voted on the changes to the GAC Statutes consequent to the changes made at the end of last year to those of the Staff Association.  These changes have been accepted, which is a positive result, though the turnout was not massive.  We do not doubt that after the preceding votes you were somewhat out of breath.  Be reassured : you will not be troubled again until the middle of next year.  You will find an up to date copy of our statutes in this mailing.

Do not seek to find, this time, the usual report on Health Insurance.  This absence is explained, according to Jacques Trembley and Reinhard Budde, by the fact that no conclusions have yet emerged on any subject in this field.

We have not escaped the law by which any information retrieval system suffers lengthy teething roubles, even such a simple system as ours.  A series of accidents has again lost us an appreciable amount of time, but happily competent friends in CERN have each time rescued us from our difficulties,

After the incidents, which have somewhat worn the nerves of our treasurers (solid though they are), the system has undergone a final transformation and is now considerably simplified.  This change - the last, we hope - has been successfully carried out thanks to the great competence and helpfulness of the Mail Service, to whom we offer our heartfelt thanks.

Despite some improvement we continue to have difficulty in stabilizing our address file because some of our members do not tell us when they change address.  The result is returned mail and for us lengthy and tiresome research often fruitless.  Clearly those members whose address we do not know cannot receive our news and so cannot take part in our activities.  We are very sorry about this and hope that those of you who do not receive our bulletins will take the initiative to send us their correct addresses - for which we thank them in advance.

On 17 September CERN celebrated its 40th anniversary with an extremely successful family gathering.  Our association had a stall which was visited by many people members or not of GAC.  It was an occasion for the happy renewal of old contacts.  There was a multitude of people, with many coming from afar for this occasion, showing once again the attachment of the CERN pensioners.

We shall never tire of reminding you that we wish to have a dialogue with you on the subjects with which you are preoccupied.  The attendance at the Permanences which we. have each month is very satisfactory, but we should like the contact which the Committee can have with its members to be further improved and that you should not hesitate in telephoning or in writing to us.  This Bulletin, which is yours, should be a tribune open to all its readers to put forward their problems.  We would be happy to receive your reflections on your surroundings, memories of your travels, remarks on our running of GAC etc.  Don’t hesitate - write to us!  Comments were made at the time of the vote on the statutes.  We thank you for them.  A reply to the more important points is given below in the article ‘on the vote.

The most important question remaining in this chronicle is the destiny of the LHC project, on which hangs the future of the Organization.  CERN, as the European laboratory for particle physics, must be a centre of excellence in its field.  This implies, among other things, that it has, firstly, competitive equipment and, secondly, that it produces high quality physics.  On the first point CERN has shown throughout the 40 years of its existence that all that it has made has been of very high quality.  The PS, ISR, the SPS in its two forms and LEP have been brilliant successes.  The performance specifi- cations of all these machines have been amply exceeded.  Since 1973 the position of the CERN physicists with respect to that of their American colleagues, overwhelming after the war, has been completely rectified.  Three Nobel prizes have crowned CERN’s ascension.  Our Organization is now the world pole of attraction in this discipline.  CERN is, moreover, to a non-negligible degree, the European melting pot in which people from widely differing backgrounds have learnt to know one another, to value each other and to work together.  This is a very appreciable, and appreciated, aspect of our Organization.

The new management, with Chris Llewellyn Smith at its head as Director- General, is making great efforts for the LHC project to be accepted.  Despite the courageous attitude adopted by CERN towards the tealization of this project, two dates, June and September, have passed without obtaining authorization.  We are confident that this project, considered by all to be the right successor to LEP, will finally be approved after a period of hard negotiations.  But the pensioners all know that no new project has been accepted as a letter is put in the mailbox.  It is clear that the pensioners, so attached to the destiny of their Organization, of which they are rightfully proud, also see in the continuation of its mission a guarantee for their own social security.

The end of the year is the time to make wishes.  Ours go out to all of you and yours for a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

The Editors

THE PRESIDENT’S GREETINGS

Original

My warmest greetings to all members of the CERN Pensioners’ Association (GAC) and their families wherever they may be living.

The celebration of the 40th anniversary of CERN was obviously a happy event for retired staff and their families, some hundred and thirty GAC members signed a rapidly improvised visitors’ book at the Association’s stand, strategically placed near the entrance to the Coop restaurant.  It was a great pleasure to meet retired former colleagues as well as active staff members and exchange, however briefly, the latest news.  It was encouraging to see that some had come a considerable distance for the occasion, I recall in particular among others Paris, United Kingdom, Norway and the United States.  To be brief it was a good day.

At the last General Assembly in April of this year the few necessary modifications to our Statutes bringing them into line with the new Staff Association Statutes were outlined and discussed;  at the postal vote which followed, the changes were approved by a very large majority of voters.  You will recall that while these changes have little effect on the autonomy of our Association, we can be pleased that the Staff Association gives us support as it, includes among it aims “To safeguard the rights and defend the interests ...  of the beneficiaries of the CERN Pension Fund".  These changes mean that we now have four delegates, elected by you to the Staff Council, instead of just two observers as was previously the case.  We are now represented on the Governing Board of the Pension fund by two observers, Lorenzo Resegotti and Jean-Francois Barthélemy (alternate), similarly we have Jacques Trembley and Reinhard Budde on the CERN Health Supervisory Board.  You will recall that these four delegates are ex officio GAC committee members.

At the General Assembly last April I was able to give an optimistic report on progress towards the approval of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), unfortunately the matter is still not settled as two of the large members states have since introduced a new financial constraint;  the delay is unhelpful in CERN’s need to negotiate with potential non- member state contributors.  We all sincerely hope for a positive outcome for the LHC thus extending CERN’ activity into next century.

I wish you all in my own name and on behalf of your committee a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.

Gordon Munday

P.S.  Raymond Grégoire who has looked after the Committee meeting’s minutes with much care and attention, has indicated that he now intends to spend a lot of time away from Geneva.  We are sorry to see him go but wish him well in warmer climes.

Mario Ceseli (the next down the list on the election results) has been invited to join the Committee;  I am pleased to say that he agreed to this.

THE NEW COMMITTEE

* Delegate to the Staff Council

CHANGES TO THE STATUTES

Original

A vote took place on the revised GAC Statutes this summer.  The votes were counted on the 9th of september.  The following results were obtained:

Votes cast:  346 Valid papers:  338 Spoilt papers 8

At this vote a few voters raised questions or made remarks on specific articles;  the following are our comments.

Article 5

“Membership of the Association (GAC) implies:  acceptance of the Statutes of the CERN Staff Association and.....” Question::  What is the content ?

COMMENTS

The CERN Staff Assoociation propo-sed a new set of Statutes (dated July 1993) which have been accepted by the Staff although there remains a number of points to be clarified before the Director General will consider giving his agreement;  such points are unlikely to be of concer to pensioners.  Articles of the Statutes of the Staff Association 2 (b), 3 (h), S (a) (iii), 12 (c), 18 (g) and 19 (a) refer specifically to GAC but as these are to be understood within the overall framework the reader is referred to the Statutes as a whole. 

Remark the payment of dues has given rise to some confusion. 

COMMENTS

Only GAC dues are to be paid.

Article 8

“\seThe number of delegates and the mode of their election are defined by the Statutes of the Staff Association.”

Question:  What are the criteria and the modes?

COMMENTS

Staff Association Statutes 18 (g) states “.,.,one delegate per 200 GAC members” and Article 21".....delegates normally hold office for two years.  They shall be eligible for re- election".  With our present number of members GAC can have four delegates.  The election of three delegates earlier this year calls for no special comment;  one delegate, formerly an observer, still holds office.

Article 9

““\...Electoral lists for the year are established on the basis of due received by the 31St January”. 

Question:  what year is referred to?  and a remark about the problem of payments and their subsequent registration by the treasurer at the end of one year and the beginning of the next, with bank and Post Office closures etc.

COMMENTS

The year referred to is the current one.  This means that as is usual in many societies members are expected to pay their dues by the beginning of the current year but there is a little leeway for a small number of late payers.  Only after the date of 31 January can the treasurer undertake the important task of assessing the financial sate of the Association and checking membership numbers and so determining those eligible to vote. 

Article 12

“… The Ordinary General Assembly is called by the Committee and meets, if possible before the month of May.”

Remark:  despite the difficulties encountered around the end of the year the General Assembly must take place before the month of May.

COMMENTS

The formula “if possible” was introduced for accomodating to the circumstances in which GAC Committee members found they had to work.  The following points have to be taken into account:

All work is carried out by volunteers with no professional help, except ocasionally for some routine typing.

Documents must be prepared for the General Assembly, their quantity and volume is inevitably variable;  once prepared they must be printed and posted.

Election results (concerning a new Committee) must be available for anouncement at the General Assembly and taking into account the constraints of article 9 (see comments above).  It can be seen that the time table is tight.

GAC Statutes require that members (now about 900) be invited to the General Assembly, with an indication of the Agenda three weeks before the meeting.

GAC recognizes the competence and diligence of the CERN Print Shop and Mail Office and is enormously grateful for the wholhearted and enthusiastic collaboration often under difficult conditions.  However is must be admitted that in terms of CERN priorities it can only come last.  Delays do not always occur but they are not infrequent and somtimes lengthy, therefore our timetable must take these into account.

Article 16

“… Members coopted by the Committee for their special qualifications are full members of it.  (see article 19)” and

Article 19

“… The Committee may be assisted.....by cooption, for its term of office, of certain persons particularly able in a certain field required for the Committee.” Remark:  the number of those coopted should be restricted, their function well defined and their duties confined to the specific tasks assigned to them.

COMMENTS

The reason for this article arose from a practical difficulty, that the elected body could not guarantee the necessary balance of skills for effective operation.  Cooption is a common. solution that other bodies have used to satisfy the need for special or missing skills.  In framing the Statute it seemed inadmissible to coopt someone for a task and then assign him/her second class status, hence the wording of the Statutes.  So far we have no working experience of the new Statutes in operation.  The question of putting an upper limit on the number of persons coopted deserves reflection when we come in the future to consider a revision of Statutes.

Gordon Munday

ECHOES OF THE COMMITTEE

Translation

The Committee lay somewhat dormant during the summer until it started work again on September 14.  It will be evident that preparations for CERN’s 40th anniversary were the main course for this meeting.  Those of you who came to these festivities were able to see for themselves that our Association was well placed.  A rota had to be organized to cope with the numerous questions that were asked.

There was in fact a huge crowd throughout CERN, and especially in the administration building.  Many future pensioners wished to know about our

Association and how to join it.  For the Committee members who were on duty there ‘was not a moment’s respite.  The unanimous opinion was that of a particularly successful day;  the attendance being confirmed by the serving of 8000 meals in the cafeterias and by the estimation made by ‘Media’ of a total of 20 to 25 000 visitors during the day.

As to the activities of the Committee itself, reports made by delegates to the Pension Fund and to the Health Insurance Scheme have brought their quota of information on the evolution of these subjects, to which the pensioners pay great attention.  It should be noted that the questions put at the “Permanences’ concern these two important topics, a third being the ‘contribution sociale généralisée’ (CSG) demanded by the French administration.

There is an acute problem concerning the authors of this article.  One of them has resigned and the other will not be able to continue with this task beyond the end of the year as he is recommencing a professional activity.  It could be that a solution will be found amongst committee candidates who were not elected.

You will see that, though of unequal size, the tasks of the committee have a certain extent and require that a certain amount of time be given to the tasks entrusted to us.

Pierre Fogli
Raymond Grégoire

NEWS OF THE ‘PERMANENCES’

Translation

This report tells you what takes place at our ‘Permanences’, the number of people who have come to see us and the subjects which have been discussed in our meetings.It should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet.  Finally we hope that this report will encourage you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month except during the summer months (July and August) and January.  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.

GENERAL INFORMATION

During the four sessions which took place in the period from 3 May to 4 October 1994 we received the visits of 16 people.  If account is taken of the results given in the preceding Bulletins one can say that the average of four visits per session has becoming our “cruising speed”.

As to the subjects treated, the 16 visits mentioned above were distributed as follows :

Courtesy visits 5
Fiscal questions 3
CSG reimbursement 2
Health Insurance 1
Miscellaneous 5

One can see that fiscal matters occupy an important place in our discussions.We shall not fail to continue our investigations in this field.  We shall also give our attention to the particular problem of the reimbursement of the CSG (Contribution sociale généralisée).

CONSEQUENCES OF A DIVORCE OR SEPARATION

A member has put to us the question as to whether, after a divorce or a legal separation, the Pension Fund continues to pay family allowances.  Well, as long as there are no dependent children the answer is :  no.  (see Articles II 7.01(a) and IT 7.03(c) of the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund, 1987 edition).

We should, however, recommend all those who are faced with a change in their civil status (marriage,divorce, separation etc.) to consult the Secretariat of the Pension Fund.  In this field each case is individual and needs to be treated as such.

Finally it is appropriate to mention an important consequence of divorce which is too often forgotten or ignored.  After the divorce of a CERN staff member or pensioner the former spouse is no longer covered by AUSTRIA.  She, or he, will be obliged to take out another health insurance policy, very probably with a high premium.

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information which would be useful to other pensioners.  Courtesy visits are appreciated - they make for general discussions which open new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the ““Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying :  “GAC—Permanences”

Ernst Hugi

THE TREASURER’S NOTE

Translation

The Treasurer has the responsibility, ‘on the one hand, of receiving subscriptions and, on the other, of seeing that expenditures are not excessive.  Furthermore the membership list must be kept up to date and addresses checked.  On this point we have quite a few difficulties, either through illegible information, or through changes of address which have not been communicated.  We need the collaboration of each member so as to reduce our research effort.  If you know of a former colleague who does not receive the bulletin or invitations to our events, please let us know, either in writing or by telephone, (022) 767 57 59 (answering machine), the name and exact address of the colleague in question.

All members are now listed in our PC’s address file and a diskette is sent regularly to the CERN mail dispatch office.  We take this occasion to thank this service for its excellent collaboration.  With this system the number of errors is kept to a minimum.

Despite these precautions errors are still possible;  but how often correspondence stays hidden amongst newspapers and junk mail! Rest assured that we do our best that the soon to be 900 members remain in contact with us and can take part in the various GAC activities.

The sale of souvenir stamps at CERN’s 40th anniversary brought in CHF 292 net.  We thank our colleague Hans-Ruedi Haeubi for his initiative in this matter.

We remind you that subscriptions for 1995 should be paid before Jan 31 1995.  We also remind the few people who have not yet changed the date of their permanent bank order payments please to do so.

We thank you for your valuable collaboration.

Werner Albrecht
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

THE PENSION FUND

Translation

In the field of pensions the most important events in the period under review have been the publication at the end of June of the 1993 annual report of the Pension Fund and the Annual General Meeting of members and beneficiaries of the Fund on 13 September:  these are the principal subjects of this report.  However one should first note the interesting discussions on the subject of the representation of the Staff on the Governing Board of the Pension Fund which took place at the ‘mini-assises’ of the Staff Association held on 22 March 1994;  we give here the resumé which was published in the Weekly Bulletin of 11 April.

(the Governing Board has ten members plus ten alternates appointed or elected in the same way as the members of which they are altemates.  Two members are appointed by the CERN Council two by the Director- General of CERN, one by the Director- General of ESO, four are elected by and from the personnel of CERN and ESO, one is appointed by the Staff Association (the Staff Council).)

ANNUAL REPORT 1993

The 1993 report of the Pension Fund was presented to the CERN Council at its meeting of 24 June 1994.  It is now available for beneficiaries at the office of the Pension Fund.  It gives detailed information on the organization of the Fund, the numbers of members and beneficiaries, contributions and disbursements, the management of the investment portfolio and presents the accounts with appropriate comments.  The text is illustrated with numerous tables and diagrams.  It makes very instructive reading for those interested in questions touching the Pension Fund.  Extracts were published in the Weekly Bulletins of 5 September and 12 September 1994, respectively in French and in English.

Only some data and the most important conclusions can be quoted here.  On 31 December 1993 there were 3389 members, 72 less than at the end of the preceding year.  The number of beneficiaries increased, during the same period, by 131 to reach 1334 beneficiaries at the end of 1993.  The graph shows the evolution of these numbers in the past and expected projections for the beneficiaries.  Benefits paid in 1993 amounted to 82 million CHF, about 20% more than in the previous year.

On 31 December 1993 the assets of the Fund were 2520 million CHF, an increase of about 240 million CHF with respect to end 1992.  CERN’s debt to the Fund amounted to only 15% of the assets.  In the distribution of the assets at end 1993 (see figure) one can note a sharp increase in the holdings of shares, which reached 21.6% of the total, about twice the proportion at the end of 1992.  This considerable change is due to the granting of mandates in the course of 1993 to six new external portfolio managers and to the increase in the amounts confided to the two managers already in function :  the majority of these managers have invested widely in stock the sums made available to them by the Pension Fund.

In 1993 the yield of the Fund was 9.0%.  The report states that this result is entirely satisfactory, especially taking into account that it was obtained without departing from the criteria of prudence and diversification of assets which are at the base of the investment strategy of the Fund.  Taking. into account 4.6% inflation (the Geneva index calculated from August 1992 to August 1993) the yield in real terms was 4.3% in 1993.  A calculation for the last ten years shows that the Fund has obtained a global net yield in rteal terms of 2.8%, which is less than the objective of 3%, but is not too far from it.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of the members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund was held at CERN on 13 September 1994,

The Administrator of the Fund, Mr Christian Cuénoud, preceded his presentation of the annual report for 1993 by some general remarks on the evolution of pension systems in numerous countries and on some specific problems of capitalized funds.He first of all illustrated by graphs the expected increase of pension costs as a percentage of the Gross Internal Product (GIP);  in the major European countries, this lies at present between 5% and 12% of the GIP, but owing to the increase in the ratio of the number of pensioners to that of the working population these figures could double in the next 50 years, thus contributing strongly to the increase in the public debts of those countries which have budgetized pension systems.

This is why several countries are now in favour of capitalized funds.  Among these, one must distinguish between systems in which benefits have primacy (as has the CERN Pension Fund) and systems in which contributions have primacy and which are finding growing support in the USA.  In the first case, those assured acquire the right toa certain level of benefits, which implies that contributions be periodically reviewed in order to maintain the fund in balance;  in the second case it is the benefits which are adjusted according to contributions made and to the performance of the fund.  In the first case it is particularly important to make periodical actuarial studies, such as that which showed the necessity of the present increase in contributions to the CERN Pension Fund.

For all capitalized funds, investment policy must take account of the degree of maturity of the fund and in particular of the progressive approach, with the increasing number of beneficiaries, of the benefits paid out to the contributions received annually.  In a fund which has reached a high degree of maturity, an investment policy which is too aggressive (for example an investment of 80% of the fund’s capital in shares, as in some English funds) can run the risk of a lack of liquidity to pay benefits if the market falls.

For the CERN Pension Fund benefits paid out in 1993 were about 70% of contributions, but these amounts will probably balance in four years time.  An actuarial study of the situation of the Fund at end 1994 will be made next year.

Mr Guy Maurin, Vice-President of the Governing Board, then spoke of the activity of the Investment Committee, of which he is Chairman.  After some remarks on its general purpose he presented two topics in greater detail:

- the results and and first experiences with the external portfolio managers of part of the Fund’s securities

- the analysis of the long term yield of the Fund’s real estate.  As this second subject has already been treated in Bulletin No 9, following Mr Maurin’s report to the Governing Board,the present brief resumé will be confined to the first subject.

Mr Maurin first recalled that the allocation of the Fund’s assets must be made within limits laid down by the Governing Board so as to ensure a good spread of investments while maintaining sufficient liquidity and a certain proportion of the assets in Swiss francs, our reference currency.  After recalling that investments in shares are likely to produce higher long term yields he emphasised that that such yields can only be realised with dynamic management and an unremitting attention to markets and currencies:  he illustrated this point by showing the evolution in time of the Dow Jones index (an index of the prices of a basket, of first class shares quoted on the New York stock exchange) in its usual expression in dollars and then expressed in Swiss francs.  He also illustrated the effect of the fluctuations of the exchange rates by means of a graph showing the evolution of the English pound with respect to the Swiss franc.  He also mentioned the need to make a compromise between the yield of an investment and of its volatility, this last being to some degree a measure of the risk involved.  These general considerations explain why only a minor part of the Fund’s assets have been confided to external managers with discretionary mandates.

For some years already the Fund has used two external portfolio managers, each being entrusted with a capital of 50 MCHF (million Swiss francs), but this practice was considerably extended last year as was explained in Bulletins Nos 8 and 9.  After a careful and detailed selection procedure, six new portfolio managers were chosen in the first half of 1993 and each received a sum of 50 MCHF to manage, in two stages starting on 1 August 1993.  At the same time the capital entrusted to the two existing managers was increased to 100 MCHF, thus bringing the total assets under external management to about 500 MCHF.  The evolution of these investments has been followed monthly with the aid of detailed reports provided by the global custodian,State Street Bank (see Bulletins Nos 8 and 9).  This regular follow up, together with an in depth examination of the situation on 1 August 1994, has enabled

Mr Maurin to present and discuss the results after one year of experience.

It is not possible to reproduce here the numerous graphs, prepared by Mr Maurin himself, showing the distribution for the different managers between shares, bonds and liquidities, also their distribution between countries and economic sectors, and the effects of these choices on the evolution of the yields of each manager over the year (some of these graphs will perhaps appear in the minutes of the AGM).  They show in any case a wide spread of investments by country and by currency and a high percentage in shares (around 55% of the totality of the externally managed portfolios, the individual managers having between 44% and 92% in shares).  A fairly strong correlation can be seen between the different managers, but with some notable sharp exceptions.

A comparison between individual performances would be premature as the results of different investment policies can only be evaluated usefully over a longer period (expert opinion is that a period of at least three years is needed).  The gross yield of the externally managed assets from August 1

1993 to 1 August 1994 was about -0.9%;  for individual managers it varied between +5.3% and -6.3%.  The spread of these results gives an idea of the influence of different investment strategies.  The overall negative gross yield is due to the very unfavourable evolution in 1994 of the market for shares and even more so for bonds.

For the first seven months of 1994 the gross yield of the external managers is -7%.  As the State Street Bank is also global custodian for an internally managed portfolio of the Fund’s securities, of about 1000 MCHF, it is tempting to compare the gross yield of this portfolio over the same seven month period :  it is -5.1%.  Although the constraints applying to this portfolio do not allow such a comparison, it is nevertheless satisfying to note that over the period in question the internal management has been able to face up to unfavourable market conditions better than the average of the external managers.

Lorenzo Resegotti

MEETINGS AND TRAVEL May 1993 to April 1994

Translation

I cannot recall who said that when angels travel the sky weeps...  In any case 18 May was blessed with a fine downpour for our excursion to the Saut du Doubs.  The heavenly dams stayed wide open throughout the day, though in no way dampening the spirits of the 48 participants.

We first visited the subterranean water mills at the Col des Roches which, from the middle of the 16th Century to the end of the 19th Century, used the waters of an underground river to drive, on several levels, an oil mill, a threshing machine, two flour mills and a saw mill.

After this visit lunch was served at Villiers-le-Lac and in the early afternoon a boat took this little world on the Lac des Brenets as far as the Saut du Doubs.  As you will notice, water was the main element of the day - save at lunchtime !

From 20 to 26 June, a party of 22 pensioners went on a voyage to discover Switzerland (the organizers ask themselves why there were so few participants).  Interlaken, Flims, St.  Moritz and Lugano were the stages of this seven day excursion which allowed us to discover the Gruyére, the Bernese Oberland and parts of the Grisons and of the Tessin before returning to Geneva via the Simplon.

For the first time we travelled in a coach provided by Frossard and, according to the echoes we have heard,the participants were in general satisfied.

Finally the season closed with an excursion in Carinthia This was entirely organized by Hella Koerner, whom I should like to thank for all the trouble she has taken.  After travelling by train to Villach, it was by coach - and in part on Shanks’ pony - that the group discovered this beautiful region of Austria,

I shall make no record of this trip, leaving that to the care of Nelly Dinkel who, following a faultless tradition, gives, for each excursion, an account full of poetry and of humour (French version only).

Jean Robert

Editorial

(Original french)

We live at a time when gifts do not drop down from the sky.  But, all the same, we pensioners should not be too sorry for ourselves.  We have, certainly, lived through a particularly favourable period since the war, a period which has lasted so long in our lifetime that we have ended up by believing that this was the normal state of affairs.Today we are beginning to understand that it is the present situation which is the norm.  Unemployment, budget deficits, bloody war at our doorstep and beyond are the ingredients with which the media feed us daily.

Against this sombre back-cloth we could legitimately have had doubts as to the fate of the projects of our Organization, constrained as it is to propose (it is not alone in this situation) undertakings which are larger and larger and so more and more expensive.  The refusal of the LHC would, without question, have affected the future of CERN and of us all.  Happily this has not happened - we should not however think of the approval extracted with so much effort by CERN Management as miraculous.  CERN is an organization which has the signal merit of having brought forth from its ashes an important branch of European research, dead during the last war, though it had been essentially European before this war.  CERN, after years of intense effort, has carried the ‘Europe of Particles’ to the first rank of this discipline in the world.  CERN was the first to show in its particular field that only the unity of Europeans, the pooling of their intellectual and material resources could enable them to recover their lost preeminence.  It is this, without any doubt, the Member States remembered when they approved the LHC project in these difficult days.

The discoveries made at CERN have been of great importance.  Some researchers have been awarded Nobel prizes.  These discoveries have been made possible thanks to the remarkable quality of the instruments the Organization has known how to make.  This quality, never denied, is due to the competence, the enthusiasm and the zeal of its staff, at all levels.  Keeping to cost estimates and to delivery dates, fulfilling and exceeding nominal performance figures are the permanent marks of its work.  Our Member States certainly do not act solely in a spirit of philanthropy.  They see the scientific importance of CERN but also the technical and technological developments resulting from work at CERN which profit industry working on these projects.  Amongst others one may mention wire chambers in the medical field, developments in superconductivity, in informatics (the recent creation of WWW), and even the idea of a safer type of nuclear reactor.

This being said, one must turn to the distinctly harsher times of today.  The conditions for the financing of the LHC are certainly the most rigorous that CERN has ever known.  Furthermore the staff of the Organization is suffering a severe reduction in numbers, which in conjunction with austere budgets presents a formidable challenge to all those responsible for the project.

And, to crown all, new regulations have been established for the letting of contracts, rules of just returns which do not evidently lead to the acceptance of only the most competent offer at the cheapest price.

In other words, for all that the merits of CERN are freely recognized, it must not be forgotten that a franc is a franc, especially when it is Swiss !

And that is why when the green light was given for the LHC last December the joy bells were not ringing at CERN.  The staff heaved a sigh of relief while at the same time being conscious of the immense effort which will be required to reach the new objectives.

We pensioners entirely share the feelings of our active colleagues.  They can also be satisfied with the new perspectives which the positive decision on the LHC has opened, and which are closely linked to the long term stability of the Pension Fund and Health Insurance.

They can also appreciate seeing that their pensions were indexed at the level of 1% in acordance with the official calculations of the cost of living index, while deploring that the active staff did not receive the same treatment.  This slight increase is at least evidence of the solicitude of the Member States not to penalize the many who have seen their incomes after tax reduced by 50% on retirement.

Let us pass to another worrying matter.  Ceaselessly we have to come back to the difficulties which the GAC Committee meets in finding the help essential to carry out all the tasks incumbent on it.  In our last Bulletin we told you that we were looking for replacements for a secretary, someone to look after women’s matters and an editor for the Bulletin.  That was six months ago - and not a single response.  With our reduced numbers work which must go on ends up on the shoulders of some volunteers in the Committee who have agreed to take on this overload.  Next year some of us will have served GAC for eight years.  It is not through weariness that they think of withdrawing, but they are getting old.  It is good that they make way for new minds bringing imagination and enthusiasm still intact.  If we do not find candidates (elected or coopted) we we shall have to cut down on certain activities, which would be highly prejudicial to all our members.  All the Pensioners have an evident interest in being able to count on an effective Committee for the defence of their acquired rights and for the furthering of the indispensable improvements capable of assuring them a decent life.  We are not a club.  GAC has now a little over 900 members and we are today waiting for three volunteers.  Admit that we are not asking for the impossible in counting on a minimum of self-sacrifice.  Is it too much to expect from some of our colleagues that they give up a few hours per month of their time to work for the good of this community of some 900 members ?

Some of our tasks are not becoming any easier.  Such is the case with the mail for which we had finally reached a satisfactory solution at the end of last year: a diskette of our address file was sent to the mail service which fed it into their system.  This service sent us, one by one, the changes which they received from the Post Office and we sent them the modifications which we obtained from new subscriptions and from payment slips.  It must be realised that contrary, to accepted ideas, pensioners are extremely mobile and the maintenance of an address list is a job unto itself.  At the beginning of this year the mail service, for budgetary reasons, had to ‘release’ the person looking after the interface.  We now receive periodic listings of the names and addresses of our 900 members from which we have to identify the changes which have been made.  A game of patience which each time mobilizes three people for several days.

There will be only one vote in 1995 - for a delegate to the Staff Council.  But towards the end of the year we shall be looking for numerous candidates for the Committee elections in 1996.  Hopefully very many of you will be on the list.

We shall never tire of reminding you that we wish to have a dialogue with you on the subjects with which you are preoccupied.  The attendance at the Permanences which we have each month is very satisfactory but these are individual contacts.  We should like this Bulletin to be the means of a dialogue, a link between all the Pensioners.  We must break the wall of silence.  Write to us.  Thankyou for making the effort.

GOOD HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL !

The Editors

You wish your pensions to be protected and that you should have proper health insurance cover.  So join us and persuade those who have not done so to join GAC, the Association which defends your interests.

President Notes

Editorial

The climax to the end of last year - the approval of the LHC project - has already been recorded and the organisational plans for its realization are now being made.  This is a complex operation as one can only count on the Organization’s internal resources, with a few contributions from non member States, and these resources will diminish in the coming years.  The exercise is accordingly particularly difficult.  We are far from the time when a new team could be formed mainly by external recruitment as was the case for the SPS.  Or even to delve into CERN’s resources by putting an end to the of the ISR.  Today the staff must be redistributed into groups - perhaps more efficient - which will depend on outside support and cuts must be made in programmes which do not appear to have priority.  One knows that this is not the simplest way to carry out a complex project.  It is already a hard task to produces satisfactory prototypes when superconductivity is omnipresent.  But this is not all for, as the old-timers well know, industrial production does not necessarily follow by merely pushing the contract button.  It is therefore an enormous task, a very serious challenge which faces our active colleagues.  If our thoughts and good wishes go to the pensioners at this year’s end they are also with the active staff whom we wish good luck in the realization of what is clearly a world project - an exciting prospect to say the least.

We the pensioners can never repeat enough how much we have been reassured by the decision to construct the LHC for it gives a new impetus to the Organization and its ancillary agencies on which we depend.  Knowing CERN and its traditions as we do we have no doubt that the enterprise will be crowned with success.  We hope, nevertheless, that studies for the future will not be dropped - for 2020 is soon here.

Meanwhile our own problems must be solved.  They always arise under the same headings: the Pension Fund and Health Insurance.

As is the case in the majority of our member states the growing number of pensioners combined with the lack of recruitment and the increase in life expectancy pose a problem to the Pension Fund and we have not yet come to the end of the story.  Things will be better after 2015, when the ratio between the number of pensioners and of the active staff will begin to fall, but we have a difficult corner to turn.  The Governing Board of the Pension Fund, on which our delegates Messrs Resegotti and Barthélémy sit as observers, is going to have a hard task to reconcile conflicting requirements.  Those of the pensioners, who count on preserving their purchasing power, and those of the managers who are passing through a lean period.

In the majority of countries health insurance suffers from financial problems.  By its very structure our scheme is always in financial equilibrium, but it becomes more and more expensive for the Organization, for the active staff and for the pensioners.  The Organization has realized the necessity of following this problem more closely.  It will institute the controls required by an activity with an annual cost of nearly 40 million Swiss Francs.  The Health Insurance Supervisory Board, on which our delegates Messrs Budde and Diss sit as observers, is looking into means of reducing costs in collaboration with the other international organizations in Geneva who face the same problem.  A remedy must also be found for the fact that CERN, by not making direct contributions, offloads onto the active staff a part of the premiums for the pensioners due from the Organization.  Finally a gap in our health scheme needs to be filled: the matter of dependents without the means to live in medically specialized institutions.  This is an important matter which will, unfortunately, interest our colleagues more and more, and for which nothing is at present foreseen.  This problem must be addressed urgently

The solution to all these problems involves the provision of additional expenditure and/or the reduction in the reimbursements paid at present.  This means that there will be hard discussions before an acceptable agreement is reached.

The rôle of GAC is more than ever to watch over the preservation - and, if possible, the improvement - of the pensioners’ situation in face of all the dangers which can threaten it.  You can see from the information we have given above that the dangers are serious.  It is therefore more than ever imperative to preserve the Association which unites you and in particular its executive organ, your Committee, which, as you know, must be renewed at the next Annual General Meeting in April or May 1996.  GAC has today 900 members.  The Committee has about 15 members to cover its various tasks.  A good number of the sitting members will stand for reelection.  But a certain number have, after six to ten years of loyal service, reached a second age limit.  They wish to withdraw, which you can well understand.  It is absolutely essential that, between now and the end of December, very many candidates come forward to assure the relief.  It would be inconceivable that the vacant posts could not be filled and that, for this reason, some of the activities of the Committee would have to be put in abeyance.  This is not a hypothetical question for here is a recent example of what can happen: last May we sought, with your participation, a replacement for Jacques Trembley as delegate to the Staff Council for matters of Health Insurance.  We had one sole candidate, living about 300 km Geneva, and so impossible to accept.  Happily a second candidate, Dr Diss, came forward in extremis.

For a time we had no replacement.  So you can see that a lack of solidarity which could exist among our members could imperil the GAC Committee, a fragile body depending on the good will of 15 people elected every two years.  Many people about to retire whom we have contacted say that they wish to travel, which is perfectly understandable.  But once this thirst has been slaked, they could devote a little of their time to the common problems of the pensioners.  Even more easily in that the tasks confided to them would leave ample time for them to continue their travels, provided that they were not absent from the Geneva area for too many months at a time.  We call on your sense of community, on your enthusiasm and on your spirit of solidarity to find many of you on the list of candidates at the end of the year.

We have often mentioned the difficulties we have with our mail distribution.  Which is why some of you do not receive our dispatches - for which we are very sorry.  Our link with the mail office still suffers from a software incompatibility between the two systems.  Checking membership and address lists remains a wearing task.  But we have been promised a solution which should make this work automatic.  Let us hope so.

You know how much we have in heart the creation through this bulletin of a living link between our members.  So we shall not stop asking you to tell us of your experiences as pensioners, of the problems you encounter, of suggestions you can make to improve our work.  So, take courage and your pen, and write to us.  We shall, with your permission, publish your letters.  We heartily thank Nelly Dinkel and Pierre Valloton for their lively accounts of the GAC excursions.  May these examples be followed to create a readers correspondence page.

Once again the end of the year approaches.  We hope that you are in good form and that you will see the New Year in with joy in the bosom of your family.  We send you our sincere greetings for the New Year, firstly for health, and for happiness and peace.  Our thoughts go out to those in ill health, to those of you who are alone, to whom we say not to hesitate to call us so that we can bring you our help.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL !

The Editors

You wish your pensions to be protected and that you should have proper health insurance cover.  So join us and persuade those who have not done so to join GAC, the Association which defends your interests.

The President Greetings

When I wrote to you this time last year we were all waiting and hoping for a positive decision on the LHC; the December Council gave its approval but accompanied it with harsh conditions.  Where are we now? In the words of the Director General when recently addressing the summer students - “CERN supports (a) growing number of users from all over the world on a constrained budget”.  This sets the context for all CERN activities.

A glance at the latest LHC News shows progress on all fronts:

• final design and engineering layout is under way with an emphasis on engineering optimization and cost reduction;
• R & D is continuing on specific aspects of detectors and two technical proposals for LHC experiments have been written up;
• an LHC Division has been created from January 1996;
• a new “Associate” status has been created for those non-member states that make substantial financial contributions, in return allowing them the possibility of intervening in Council and Committee of Council meetings.

This together with the existing physics programme makes encouraging reading and I hope that it will continue in the future - helped by a substantial number of “Associates”.

Just a word on two matters that are of concern to all of us.

The three yearly actuarial study on the state of the Fund has been concluded and the report will be presented at the December meetings: Briefly the situation with the technical deficit is less satisfactory than it was at the last review and there seems to be a proposal to link pension indexation with that of salaries.

As you all aware the pensioners’ contribution to the Health Insurance has not been completed by a direct contribution of CERN and regrettably we are partially subsidized by the active staff.  We can be grateful to the Director General for proposing to remedy this in the future and bring us into line with the other Geneva International Organizations.

We must await the outcome of the December meetings on those two points which are dealt with in greater details elsewhere in this Bulletin.

I wish you all in my name and that of your Committee a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Gordon Munday
President

Echoes from the Committee

After the summer break, our sessions have regained their cruising speed.  A slight change in the composition of the committee should however be noted.  After four years of activity on the committee as Staff Council delegate for matters of Health Insurance J.Trembley has asked to be relieved of his duties; he will however continue to represent us on the ‘Health’ subcommittee.  We address our thanks to Jacques for his past commitments and for the continuation of his work on the above-mentioned committee.  An election was organized to replace him as delegate to the Staff Council; the results were as follows:

Dr J-P.  Diss was elected with 441 votes Mr M.Jacquelin received 81 votes.

Welcome to Dr Diss who will, with R.Budde, look after the problems of health insurance.  We may recall that our four delegates to the Staff Council sit on our committee as ex officio members and are elected independently from the other members who are elected every two years; these elections will be held within the next few months..

The committee is at present;

  (*)  Delegate to the Staff Council

Jean Robert
Secretary

News of the “Permanences”

This report tells you what takes place at our ‘Permanences’, the number of people who have come to see us and the subjects which have been discussed in our meetings.  It should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet.  Finally we hope that this report will encourage you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month (except the summer months.  July and August, and the month of January’).  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.

General information

During the four sessions which took place in the period from April 2 to October 3 1995, 18 people have consulted us.  The number of visitors per session varied between three and six.

As to the subjects treated, the 18 visits mentioned above were distributed as follows :

We are happy that so many of our colleagues have come just to “see their copains” (courtesy visits), or to talk with us about their minor daily problems (miscellaneous).  This phenomenon is a sign, no doubt, of a certain popularity of our institution.

CERN Pensions and the CSG - Contribution Sociale Généralisée

The text which we published on this subject in Bulletin No 11 gave rise to a lively discussion in one of our recent sessions.  It appears that the meaning of this article was not well understood.  What seems to have worried people most was the question mark at the end of J-F Barthélémy’s text.  This question mark in no way expressed uncertainty on our part.  It was put there to provoke.  As we suggested in Bulletin No. 11 it would in fact be desirable if one, or a group, of members who are concerned should challenge the imposition of the CSG in their case.  Mr Barthélémy’s text was intended to furnish the necessary arguments.

Finally, it seems that some of our members have been led astray by the success of the frontaliers and are considering to link their case to that of the latter.  We do not think that this would be a good policy.  A CERN pensioner living in France is not a frontalier.

Delays in Austria reimbursements

On this subject one of our members has written that “One must expect a delay of 1 ^1/2 to 2 months after receipt of the notice of reimbursement before payment is made into my postal cheque account.”

At first sight this delay seemed to us to be scarcely believable.  Those who have their reimbursements paid into their SBS account have doubtless remarked that the delay between sending in their claim and the receipt of the reimbursement by the bank varies from 16 to 20 days.

According to information we have obtained from Austria, this is a technical problem of inter account transfers.  Our friend has his reimbursements paid into his postal cheque account.  The transfer has to be made by mail which involves additional delays for which Austria are not responsible.

We suggested to our colleague that he has his reimbursements made to his bank account, and we suggest to all our members who have the same problem and who do not consider the additional delays to be acceptable to act likewise.

It is worthwhile to note that in Switzerland Health Insurance Companies are legally obliged to reimburse within 30 days of a claim being made.  This period does not however include additional delays over which the insurer has no control (postal, delayed crediting by the receiving bank etc.)

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information which would be useful to other pensioners.  Courtesy visits are appreciated - they make for general discussions which open new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying :    “GAC Permanences”.  Ernst Hugi.

The Treasurer’s Note

The treasurer cannot always blame the computer for errors concerning the payment of dues.  Human errors, unhappily, sometimes manifest themselves in the course of work with our membership of over 900 people.

Recently we had a strange happening which merits a wider audience: in one of our latest checks on the payment of dues we found that a faithful member, living in another continent, had not paid.

This is where our story begins; this member had in fact paid his dues and so he returned our request with a copy of his bank debit to M.  Werner Albrecht, Groupement des Anciens du CERN, CH- 1211 GENEVE 23.  This letter was refused, stamped “Parti sans laisser d’adresse” and returned to the sender in the other continent.  However that was not the end of the joke as our colleague then sent the lot to the President of GAC .. ouf ! and at last the letter reached the treasurer.  But we have received no credit advice from our bank, and so investigations continue so that the payment can be credited to us.

In the meantime eleven weeks have gone by and the situation is still not clarified.  I hope we shall be able to tell you the end this story in the next bulletin.

W. Albrecht
Treasurer

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

On behalf of all members of GAC, the Committee sends its sincerest sympathy to the bereaved families.

The Pension Fund

Each year the work of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund culminates with the presentation of the annual report covering the previous period to the Annual General Meeting of the members and beneficiaries of the Fund.  The AGM was held this year on the afternoon of October 3 under the presidency of Mr Paul Levaux, chairman of the Governing Board.  A presentation was also made of the results of the actuarial appraisement of the situation of the Fund on January 1 1995, which results had been discussed that morning by the Governing Board.  We shall cover these topics, drawing on the presentations of Mr Christian Cuenoud, the Fund’s Administrator, for the first and of Mr Guy Maurin, Vice-Chairman of the Board for the second.

Annual Report 1994

In his presentation of the 1994 annual report Mr Cuenoud firstly recalled that this report had been presented to CERN Council at its meeting in June 1995 and that it is available at the Fund’s office for beneficiaries and at Divisional Secretariats for members.  Mr Cuenoud invited all those concerned to get a copy of this document which is an interesting source of information on the management of the Fund.

In 1994 the membership of the Fund decreased by 16, the increase of 25 in the staff of ESO only partly compensating the reduction of 41 at CERN.  The number of beneficiaries went up by 94 to reach 1 428 on December 31 1994.  According to estimative projections the number of beneficiaries could overtake the number of members of the Fund in 10 - 15 years time.  At the end of 1994 the average age of pensioners and surviving spouses was 66 due to the fact that the majority of the staff retire between the ages of 60 and 62.  The average age of CERN staff remained stable at 48.6 years.

Disbursements by the Fund in 1994 amounted to 92 MCHF (millions of Swiss Francs), an increase of 12.3% over the previous year.  The total amount of contributions paid in was about 115 MCHF, corresponding to 29.25% of reference salaries (since January 1 1995 the premium ceiling of 30%, decided by CERN Council in December 1990 has been reached).

In 1994 the assets of the Fund have only increased by about 2 MCHF to reach 2'521 MCHF, this being due to the effect which the very bad year on the stock market had on the performance of the Fund.  The world share price index, expressed in Swiss Francs, fell by 7.4% and that of international bonds by 9.8%.  The Fund could not escape from these record falls.  Nevertheless, thanks to the stabilizing elements of the portfolio - real estate (14% of the assets), the loan to CERN (15.5%) and liquidities (14%) - the drop could be considerably reduced: the overall performance of the Fund was -0.9%.  This result has already been mentioned in our bulletin No 11 of June 1995.

The average annual performance of the Fund over the last 20 years was equal to or slightly above 6%; the effect of the bad year 1994 is greater the shorter the period under consideration: 5.5% over the last 10 years.

The most important change in the distribution of the Fund’s assets in 1994 was the increase in the proportion of shares by about 4% to nearly 26% of the total assets, with a corresponding reduction in bonds.  This increase, which is well within the limits fixed by the Governing Board, is motivated by the observation that in the long term the average yield of shares has always been above that other investments.

Finally the working group on reintegration, set up by CERN Council to study the questions of pension guarantees during the active period and in the case of the Dissolution of the participating Organizations, has continued its work in 1994 and it can be hoped that it will submit its report in the near future.

The Actuarial Study

The presentation of Mr Guy Maurin, vice-chairman of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund, covered the actuarial study of the situation of the Fund on January 1 1995 and its evolution since January 1 1992, the date of the previous study.

The aim of an actuarial study is to make a dynamic appreciation of the financial equilibrium of a fund by comparing its present assets and those expected in the future (present capital, contributions and future yield) with its commitments (present pensions, transfer values and future pensions), Technically such a study uses a model for the commitments and income and simulates their expected evolution over a period of 30 years.  It makes use of a certain number of demographic and economic hypotheses.

The demographic hypotheses concern the number of staff, life-expectancy (biometric tables) and the evolution of the number of invalids.  The present study has used the same biometric tables as those adopted for the first time for the preceding study and which take into account the upward revision, made in 1990, of life-expectancy.

The evolution of staff numbers is influenced by the personnel policy of the Organizations (CERN and ESO), notably in the matter of recruitment and early retirement.  During the last three years one has noted a strong tendency at CERN for staff aged 60 or above to retire when they have contributed to the pension fund for 35 years, or even earlier.  Furthermore the planned staff reduction at CERN has only been very partially offset by the increase in ESO staff numbers.  Between January 1 1992 and January 1 1995 there were 502 new members of the Fund, but there were 596 who left, so reducing the total membership of the Fund (CERN + ESO) to 3'371 on January 1 1995.The economic influence of personnel policies requires that account should also be taken of salary and promotion policies.

The economic hypotheses take annual averages over 30 years, that CERN Council has adapted in 1990 as parameters for the actuarial model:

• gross yield on assets 6%
• pension indexation 3% (taken to be equal to Geneva inflation)
• salary index 3.5%

Variants around these figures have been examined by the actuary to widen the spectrum of the analysis.

For the preceding actuarial study, covering the period January 1 1989 to January 1 1992, the actuary retained, from different models studied, the most probable model resulting in a technical deficit of around 200 MCHF.  Using the same hypotheses as in the previous study but taking into account the intervening changes in staff numbers and the Fund’s assets the actuary has calculated that the technical deficit has increased, during the past three years to 293 MCHF.  This increase of about 100 MCHF comes essentially from, on the one hand, the bad performance of financial investments in 1994 and the self increase of the technical deficit, and, on the other hand, the elements associated with CERN’s personnel policy (decrease in staff numbers, departure policy, late promotions).

The actuary has also examined the impact of future personnel policy on the technical deficit.  He has thus calculated that if, in accordance with the most recent forecasts linked to the LHC project, the number of members of the Fund should fall to 2 550 in the year 2007 and then remain stable until 2025, that this considerable change with respect to the ceiling of 3 100 staff used in the preceding study would generate an additional deficit of about 100 MCHF.  Similarly, concerning retirement, a new hypothesis, according to which members who joined the Fund before July 1 1987 would leave CERN when they had contributed to the Fund for 35 years and were aged 60 or more, would lead to a supplementary deficit of about 50 MCHF compared with the hypotheses used until now .

Finally the actuary has studied the effect of different models for the indexation of pensions and salaries, covering the whole 30 year period.  Mr Guy Maurin showed, as an example, one of the tables compiled by the actuary showing the technical deficits calculated for different hypotheses for the indexation of pensions and salaries between 3.5% and 2%.  It shows that the equilibrium of the Fund is more sensitive to the indexation of pensions than to that of salaries: explained by the reduction in the number of the active staff and the increase in the number of pensioners.  The table also shows what reductions in the technical deficit would follow from reductions in the two indices from the values assumed by CERN Council.

In his conclusions the actuary drew particular attention to the impact of CERN’s personnel policy on the Fund’s equilibrium and above all to the effects of the decrease in staff numbers, early retirement and late promotions.

Mr Maurin informed the AGM of the decision of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund to transmit the actuarial study to the Finance Committee with an accompanying paper.  This would raise in particular the problem of the payment by the Organization to the Fund of compensation for the deficit resulting from its personnel policy, in conformity with the previous decisions of the CERN Council, as recalled by the actuary in his conclusions.

Jean-François Barthélemy, Lorenzo Resegotti

Health Insurance

Since the report by J.Trembley and R.Budde at the Annual General Meeting we can give you several useful items of interest.

The GAC delegate to the Staff Council has changed.  Jacques Trembley has left this post and we all wish to thank him very sincerely for the work he has accomplished, notably in liaison with the delegates of other international organizations dealing with health insurance problems.  At an election last spring the members of GAC designated J-P Diss as his successor; J.Trembley will however remain available to help us as an active participant on internal GAC working groups.

Several meetings of TREF (TRipartite Employment Conditions Forum) have been held and especially ihat of September 26 which had to examine the problem of the Organization’s contribution to the pensioners’ insurances premiums.  We do not yet know the outcome of these discussions.

Austria has informed us that it intends to have from now on a better check of bills; in case of disagreement the insured person should contact the Austria office.

Austria has also informed us of the appointment of a consulting pharmacist and of a third medical consultant with the aim of keeping a closer eye on health insurance expenditure.

Innovations to limit the time spent in hospital are being introduced or are under discussion.  A first result concerns births, thanks to the formula shortened stay in hospital + medical attention at home + home help.  Other possibilities are being studied.  Free choice (shortened or traditional hospitalization) is maintained; this choice should also conform to medical criteria, for which the family doctor has authority. (Cf.  Austria announcement in CERN bulletin of June 12 1995)

Mr Guy Hentsch has been appointed by CERN management to take up again contacts with the other international organizations in view of a common study to reduce health insurance costs.

Reinhard Budde, Jean-Paul Diss.

Meetings and Travel

Two excursions were organized this year: a day trip to the Dombes in two Frossard coaches and a four day excursion to Orange and its surroundings with Touriscar.  Nelly Dinkel and Pierre Valloton give you, not without humour, their impressions.

If 1955 is, for the Chinese, the year of the ‘Pig’ it will remain in the memories of our travellers as the year of the ‘Frog’ - owing to the inattention of the undersigned !

In October some 70 people (the fine weather encouraged a walk rather than staying indoors whence the sparse audience) watched the projection of a film by a Vaudois cineast, S.Monachon.  His camera led us into the Alps where we lived two hours of enchantment.

The year 1955 will end with our traditional ‘Pot de Noel’ which will take place on December 5.

J. Robert

Excursion du GAC dans les Dombes

(Original french)

Voyage du GAC en Vaucluse

(Original french)

Some CERN Services of interest to pensioners

Education Services

The Education Services (Personnel Division) organize various courses for the benefit of CERN Staff.  Pensioners could find some may be of interest.  Courses are open to pensioners, limited by availability of places, at the same cost as that charged to Divisions.  Details may be found in the CERN Weekly “Bulletin” with the person to contact and telephone number.

The Mutual Aid Fund.

This Fund is managed by an independent Board, whose Chairwoman is at present Michele Brandenburger (+41 22) 7676601, is open to CERN pensioners and dependent family members.  Application for consideration should be made through the Chairwoman or via Social affairs Secretariat (+41 22) 7674201.  All cases are, of course, treated strictly confidentially.

Social Affairs

Social Affairs - Pascale Leuzzi (+41 22) 76744791.

Although this service was set up for dealing with problems arising among active staff members, it is nevertheless open to pensioners.  All cases are, of course, treated strictly confidentially.  Two major activities of possible interest to GAC members are considered

Social work:

The aim: - to attempt, with the assistence of professionals and relevant services within or outside CERN, to resolve or alleviate personal problems.  These may be associated with:

• Accident or illness, including mental illness and those of long duration;
• Alcoholism
• Divorce and separation; etc.

Social protection

The aim: - provision of information and assistance on matters of social protection, as for example, the following:

• Information concerning formalities for living in retirement in France or Switzerland.  Information concerning entitlements of the French Social Security (*) system and likewise for the Swiss AVS;
• Death: - information on social rights; provide support for the bereaved family; Provide information and help on domiciliary health care and home help including what is or is not reimbursed by Austria;
• Help in preparing a claim for incapacity from Austria; etc.
• Information and aid in reintegration in the home country.

Please note the above lists are not exhaustive.

   (*)    See “Que Choisir” Guide No 27, La retraite (45 FF) covers ‘toutes les aides auxquelles vous avez droit’ among other points.

Benevolent & Leisure Activities

Benevolent activities

Leasure activities

Editorial

Amidst the general gloom, the end of the year 1995 was, if without glory, at least favourable on a point to which we pensioners are sensitive. As you know, our pensions have been indexed in accordance with the official CERN index - 1.74%.  An important sign that our Member States keep in mind the preservation of the purchasing ower of the pensionners.  It is important to underline that this decision confirmed the proposal of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund, which was supported by CERN Management and by the Staff Association.  This point is developed by François Barthélémy and Lorenzo Resegotti in this Bulletin.

The destiny of the Pension Fund in the case of the dissolution of the Organization, a question with which we are rightly preoccupied, seems to progress at last: a text detailing the arrangements to be made has been submitted to our directing authorities, having received the approbation of the Swiss authorities.  So, after a long period of hibernation, there is progress on this point.  Our evident wish is to see a definitive agreement, leaving no place for incertitude as to the procedure to be followed in the case of dissolution, with the hope that this event will not take place except in the very distant future.

A very important step has been taken concerning the Health Insurance Scheme: that of the direct contribution by CERN to cover 65% of the cost of the pensioners’ premiums.  CERN Management has aligned its position with that of all the other international organizations and the Council, at its December session, has confirmed that the totality of this contribution will be taken in charge by stages.  We are very relieved by this as there was here a possible source of resentment by the active staff towards the pensioners, a part of whose health costs they had to bear indirectly.

The hunt for savings in health expenditure has now been open for many a year.  GAC contributes to this campaign by exhorting its members to compare and to buy where prices are lowest.  This is an extremely difficult problem as witnesses the situation in our Host States.  CERN Management has already made efforts, in conjunction with Austria, to obtain more favourable terms for hospital and other medical treatment.  Recent studies have brought to light other areas where savings can be made.  Many people have devoted their efforts to find ways of reducing costs - and stil do so.  We hope that CERN Management will continue in this direction and will provide necessary means to obtain a fruitful result.  Details on health insurance matters will be found in the article by Reinhard Budde and Jean-Paul Diss.

As to GAC, a notable event is the renewal of its Committee, even more important this year as neither the Chairman nor the two Vice-Chairpersons are standing for reelection, no more than are the holders of certain other key posts.  We had feared that our appeal for candidates would fall on deaf ears.  Not so ! There wasn’t a deluge, but we had 14 candidates for 12 seats.  You will be, as are we, entirely reassured by the membership of the new Committee and the distribution of its tasks, given in this Bulletin.  There is as yet no one to translate the Bulletin into English, but it seems that it should not be too difficult to find a volunteer for this job.  So the working continuity of the Committee is assured after a running-in period for the newcomers.  In case of need many of the retiring members have expressed their willingness to give a helping hand.

Another election is under way to choose our delegates on the Staff Council.  Elected for two years, three of them, Jean-François Barthélémy, Reinhard Budde and Lorenzo Resegotti come to the end of their term.  We do not lack candidates as all three are standing for reelection.  You know the extremely important role played by our delegates in their direct contact with the two major problems for the pensioners: pensions and health insurance.  If we can be sure of one thing, it is that there are difficulties in store for the future in both these fields.  We have the good fortune to be represented by people of high capability to defend our interests.

In the course of the years the situation of the pensioners has slowly risen in the esteem of the Organization which had the tendency to consider them of no account.  It is desirable that this evolution should continue and eventually result in a full and complete participation of the pensioners’ representatives in the bodies which treat those questions of direct concern to them.

At the end of 1997 the LHC project should receive the final approval of Council, to which a detailed report, covering both technical and financial of the project, will be presented.  Following CERN tradition, these studies will have been made with great care, with the strictest regard for economy of cost.  A favourable decision should the more easily be acquired now that one sees large non member states such as the USA, Canada, Japan and Russia expressing their wishes to participate financially and scientifically in the project.  The interest they show is a mark of the confidence they have in the traditional quality of what is done at CERN.

The editorial team which created this Bulletin will now, after 13 numbers hand over to new enthusiasms.  We are convinced that this semestrial publication (one can scarcely produce more) forms an essential link between those pensioners who live far away but keep a deep attachment to CERN.  We think that the new editors will have the same care in mind as we have had, to encourage you to participate by writing to us so that we can share your joys and your worries.  We hope they will have more success than us on this point.

As we hand over the torch the retiring editors wish their successors good luck in making this Bulletin always more attractive and....user friendly ! (“convivial”, in the original French text, doesn’t appear in my 1981 Petit Robert, so I suppose it was invented - or resuscitated - to be more “user friendly” - sorry “convivial” ...  I’m afraid nous sommes dans a loop !)

You wish your pensions to be protected and that you should have proper health insurance cover.  So join us and persuade those who have not done so to join GAC, the Association which defends your interests.

The editors: Robert Levy-Mandel and Peter Standley.

President

(Address by the new President of GAC, Giorgio Brianti, to the Annual General Meeting of April 26 1996).

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

I have the honour of addressing you for the first time as the new President of GAC and so as the successor to Gordon Munday, to whom I should now like, before you, to render the homage which he merits, to him and to his committee.

In fact I accepted this charge in saying to myself that an Association which has had Gordon as President for many years could not but be in excellent shape, could not but be working very well, as you have just been able to confirm yet again.

Seeing that you have just listened to reports on the activities of the past year (see web chapter; Activities 1995-1996), I shall not make a long speech.

I should only like to underline some key ideas which should guide the Association as a whole.

Firstly the solidarity of all its members, whether or not they are in the Committee, in their commitment and work for GAC.  There is much to do and there will be even more in the future: we are the future of CERN, the only organization which is expanding!

We should act in such a way that, when our colleagues retire, they feel welcome at GAC and share not only our worries but also our work.  We shall certainly not, in the Committee, hesitate in calling for additional help whenever the need arises, as well to strengthen certain activities as to launch new ones.  The door is wide open for the young pensioners!

Next, I think that we should feel united not only in the defence of our legitimate interests but also in the help that we should bring to colleagues who, through illness or for other reasons, find themselves in difficulty.  Certainly we are at last free to organize our lives as we should like, we can widen our cultural and social activities, but, as members of the Association, we have a duty to help those amongst us who are in difficulty because of physical or psychological hardships.  These hardships often lead to loneliness.  We should be able to say: present!

I should now speak about the programme in a little more detail.  As the last privilege of a brand new President I shall excuse myself, seeing that we have not had time to discuss it in the new Committee.  Certainly those activities which are already traditional, and in particular the very important ones concerning the Pension Fund and Health Insurance, will continue.  On this point, additional elections must soon be held for our delegates to the Staff Association.  I am very gladdened by the fact that the sitting members, J-F.  Barthélémy, R.  Budde and L.  Resegotti are standing for reelection.  As you know Dr.  J-P.  Diss continues to be a delegate.

We also intend to develop contacts with the pensioners of other International Organizations, especially at Geneva.

To end, I should like to thank the Committee for the confidence it has shown me and for electing the two Vice-Presidents, both certainly very loyal and efficient, I speak of course of Maria Fidecaro and Jean Robert.

I am sure that all together, and with your support, our Committee will prove worthy of the tradition of good work established over the years by those who have preceded us.

Giorgio Brianti
President

Activities 1995-1996

(Report by the President of GAC to the Annual General Meeting of April 16 1996)

CERN December Council

As is usual at the end of the year a matter of importance to all pensioners has to be decided by Council - the level of pension indexation.  However, in December 1995, there was an additional point of fundamental and long-term importance to all of us; the proposal that CERN contribute to the “missing” part of the pensioners’ health insurance premiums.

Specifically the Director General proposed that this should be done progressively over the next five years until the year 2000.  This formed part of a set of proposals (including matters of importance for the active staff) that the Director General formulated following discussions in the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF), where representatives of the Member States, Management and Staff Association exchanged information and opinions.  Early in November, when it appeared that the likely outcome was less than optimistic, the Staff Association called the staff to demonstrate.  After discussion with such members of GAC Committee who could be assembled at short notice, it was agreed that GAC members be asked to demonstrate with the staff on the morning of the 9th November (the day of the Finance Committee meeting).  Given such short notice the GAC turnout at the demonstration was pretty impressive.

The Finance Committee rejected the proposals presented by the Director General; consequently the Staff Association felt that sterner measures would be necessary.  At this stage it became clear that GAC could only follow the evolution of events.

To be brief, after a period of uncertainty, the Finance Committee on the 23th November endorsed the setting up of a Restricted Tripartite Group of Management, Delegations and Staff Association to make recommendations (a “package”) to Council through the Finance Committee on the points of disagreement including pensioners’ “missing” health insurance contributions.

The restricted tripartite group reached by consensus (*) a package which it recommended that CERN Council approve.  The Staff Council while recognizing that the package was the result of compromise made by all parties concluded that it, but nothing less, was acceptable as it stood.  It proposed to ask the staff to vote on the package; this package was accepted by a large majority.

You all know the positive outcome of Council on the index and health insurance - by no means a foregone conclusion.  I assure you that GAC is grateful to the Staff Association, its President and governing bodies, the Director General, “Management” and the delegations that worked together positively on the task, and to all staff members who voted in support of the package.

GAC members appreciate their efforts.

  (*)  Without opposition, although one member appointed by CERN Council could not accept two elements.

CERN.  The LHC and the Non Member States

The last time I spoke to you about LHC, although progress was being made on a number of fronts, there remained the matter of finding sufficient money to finish the project at the “early” date.  Today, it is too soon to say that this problem has been overcome but I understand that the negotiations under way with the United States, India (already signed) and others countries may be viewed somewhat optimistically.

GAC Affairs

The work of the Committee.

Since the last General Assembly your Committee has met eleven times during which matters of interest to GAC members were discussed.  The Pension Fund, Health Insurance, “Permanences” and social and cultural affairs were regularly reviewed and today other speakers will deal with them.

The growth of GAC.

The table shows that GAC membership has grown from 1988 with 48 % of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund (as usual, excluding orphans, benevolent and differed pensions) to 65 % at the end of March 1996 - in round numbers the same figure as at the same time in 1995 - I had hoped for an increase.

The ratio of GAC members to beneficiaries of the Pension Fund - without orphans, benevolent and differed pensions - from 1989 to 1996 (March) as a percentage

  (*)   without orphans, benevolent and differed pensions

Contacts outside CERN.

Association of Former International Civil Servants: the Group “Health” has invited GAC representatives to its meetings which habe been exclusively concerned with “long term health care”; particularly with how to insure for it and at what cost.  As you can imagine this is a particularly intractable problem requiring much study and discussion.  The work continues.  However here in CERN this topic is not yet on the agenda for even a preliminary discussion !

Preparation for retirement.

GAC was asked; once again by the Head of Education Services to take pat in the preparatory dicussions and a three half-day Seminar on “Preparation for retirement” that followed in October last.

The seminar was opened by a talk on the “Psychological aspects of retirement” by an outside speaker R.  Quenon who started by saying “I am interested in the future because that is where I am going to spend the rest of my life”, (‘ Je m’intéresse à l’avenir parce que j’y passerai le reste de ma vie") - thought provoking.

Presentations were made by Jean-François Barthélémy on French and Swiss (Canton of Geneva) Taxation.  Although not a tax in the formal sense of the word, some information was given on the “Contribution Sociale Généralisée”.

The writer made a presentation on GAC - essentially showing the advantages of being a member.

Other topics covered included: Medical aspects of retirement, Health Insurance, Pension Fund and access to CERN.

Matters of interest to GAC members either mentioned at the Seminar or discovered subsequently are given as an appendix to this report (**); included are - courses arranged by the Education Services, Social Affairs Service and the Mutual Aid Fund.

A document covering the seminar has been prepared:

Préparation à la retraite - Compte rendu du séminaire des 5, 9, 12 octobre 1995 (in French only dated février 1996, from Education Services, PE Division)

Domiciliary health care and home help.

The Social Affairs section (headed by Pascale Leuzzi of Personnel Division) has made a study of the services available in the Canton of Geneva and France concerning home health care and home help.  This gives an idea of the costs including those that are reimbursed by Austria; this, of course, applies equally to active staff as to pensioners.  It is an extensive and detailed work that cannot be summarized in a few words, a brief overview is given in the appendix (**).  I would like to thank Pascale Leuzzi for this work.

A financial contribution to the Staff Association

The committee has been conscious that the Staff Association is not merely our only formal channel of communication with CERN management and the Council; such as the defense of our interests as for example, the “missing” health insurance contributions mentioned earlier.  It helps us in more mundane matters: the secretariat looks after our incoming mail, which at election time is considerable, provides us with a conference room for the “Permanence” and aids us in many small but invaluable ways.

We therefore propose to give CHF 5'000 to the Staff Association as a small token of recognition for such services.  As this is to be financed from the 1996 budget it is treated later by the Treasurer.

Acknowledgments,

During my term of office as President I have received many welcome words of encouragement and support from GAC members - verbally, by card or letter and occasionally by phone - I assure you they were much appreciated.

To CERN staff too, who at all levels, have rarely been less than most helpful when some form of service or advice has been requested - thank you.

Finally your Committee - including past members - who are warmly thanked for their readiness, good humour and collaboration in getting our work done efficiently and effectively.

  (**)  See web chapter; Some CERN Services of interest to pensioners

Gordon Munday
Retiring President

Committee News

Committee meetings continue to be held monthly.  We are preoccupied essentially by the problems associated with the Pension Fund and the Health Insurance Scheme, and our four delegates on the Staff Council, J-F.  Barthélémy and L.  Resegotti for the pensions and R.  Budde and J-P.  Diss for health insurance are fully engaged to defend our interests in the various committees where our views can be expressed

Among the problems treated concerning health insurance we may mention: costs at the Geneva Cantonal Hospital which charges the maximum rates to those insured with Austria; whereas, for pensioners who pay their taxes in Geneva, the considerably less expensive rate for the Swiss health insurance companies should be applied.  It is essential that the pensioner should make known his tax status.  The aging of GAC members and the problems associated with it, such as long term illness and placement in retirement homes have also been evoked.  Contacts have been made with the competent bodies at CERN as well as with representatives of other international organizations in view of setting up insurance to cover these risks.  But patience is needed before a result is achieved.  At the end of the year CERN Council finally accepted to take over the fraction of the employer’s part of the pensioners’ premiums, paid until now by the active staff.  Another subject for discussion with Austria has been the problem of cost reduction; various possibilities for economies are under study and, if successful, all will be to the benefit of our premiums.

Your Committee has taken note that the number of welfare problems amongst our members will increase.  Contacts have been made with the Welfare assistant at CERN and with a Genevan group in view of holding an information meeting for our members; such a meeting will be organized at the beginning of 1997.  It should be reminded that the Social Service is at the disposal of all the pensioners.

Among the activities of members of the Committee let us mention the ”Permanences” held on the first Tuesday of each month.  Open to all the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund, whose problems, whatever they may be, will be heard, and in most cases a solution found immediately.

Representatives of the Committee have also taken part in the seminar on preparation for retirement organized by CERN.  Thus we can share our experience as pensioners with our future colleagues.

Another activity which is rarely mentioned is that of the secretariat: the sorting and dispatch as well as its filing is the work of Mrs.  Brèches, who also looks after the widows of pensioners who have recently died.

For completeness we also mention or wish to strengthen contacts with our colleagues in other international organizations.  Mrs.  Plass is working on this, but her efforts have not been well rewarded.

As you can see, your Committee is active over a wide range of fields and its aim is that your interests will be defended as well as possible in the future - for that we have need of your support.

Jean Robert

Committee - Elections

Election Results

We are very pleased to record 656 votes, 66.6% of our membership.  This level of participation is slightly higher than the one two years ago.

Auditors

Mme Vermeulen, Mme guichard and M.  Georgijevic are elected.

The new committee

News of the “Permanences”

(Original french)

(Report by E.Hugi to the Annual General Meeting of April 26 1996).

This report tells you what takes place at our ‘Permanences’, the number of people who have come to see us and the subjects which have been discussed in our meetings.  It should enable you to find, through questions that have been put to us, answers to problems that you may meet.  Finally we hope that this report will encourage you to come and see us on the first Tuesday of each month (except the summer months.  July and August, and the month of January).  The times of the ‘Permanences’ are given in the CERN Weekly Bulletin.

General Information

We have been living through a very active period.  A total of 29 people have visited us during the last five sessions from November 7 1995 to April 2 1996.  The session of February 7 was particularly agitated as ten people came to see us.  There would have been even more but two or three people apparently did not have the time to wait in the queue and so left.

In the period under consideration the number of visitors per session has varied between two and ten with an average just under six.

As to the subjects treated, the 29 visits mentioned above were distributed as follows :

Under ‘Courtesy visits’ we have included the ever increasing number of active staff who are approaching retirement.  They come to discuss with us certain points concerning their retirement and to inform themselves as to the aims and working of our association.

We would like to mention that someone came to see us recently - not to ask questions but to present a problem which had been put to her and which she had been able to resolve.  This is the sort of dialogue which should, without doubt, develop so that our Permanences become an information market where people can profit from the experience of others.

An Interesting Comparison

It was interesting to establish the correlation between the number of consultations and the GAC membership.  This is done in Figure No 1.  On this graph

• curve (a) shows the number of members of GAC as a function of time
• histogramme (b) shows the number of consultations as a function of time.

The curves are normalised to the value 1 in 1989, the first full year of the ‘Permanences’.

It is to be noted that presence at the “Permanences” follows pretty well the evolution of the GAC membership, in any case from 1992 onwards, year at which the “Permanences” were open to non-members of GAC.

The normalised curve (c) shows the number of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund as a function of time.  This curve has less significance as a certain number of staff members approaching retirement have been visitors to our “Permanences”.

Pension Calculations

A colleague came all excited to the session of April 2.  He complained that his pension adjustment of January 1 had been wrongly calculated - to his disadvantage.  A quick calculation showed that there was, in fact, a difference ... of 25 centimes (!).  Despite the derisory nature of the case (the equivalent of an annual cup of coffee) we went to the source of the matter and contacted the person responsible for the program used by the Pension Fund.  In calculating the amount of the new pension the program starts, not from the previous pension, but from the data at the start of the pensioner’s retirement.  It then takes into account all adjustments in succession.  At each step in the calculation the result is rounded off to the nearest 5 centimes.  Thus a certain accumulation in the error is always possible

The difference can, clearly, go in the ‘good’ direction as well, that is in favour of the pensioner.  But no one has ever come to us with such a case.

Even if you do not have precise questions to ask us, do not hesitate to come and see us.  You can often give us information which would be useful to other pensioners.  Courtesy visits are appreciated - they make for general discussions which open new horizons for us.

For those who have difficulty in coming to the “Permanences”, please write to us at the address of our Association, specifying : “GAC - Permanences”

Ernst Hugi
GAC “Permanences”

Treasurer’s Report

(Presentation by W.  Albrecht to the Annual General Meeting of April 26 1996).

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

The profit and loss account for the year 1995 shows an excess of income of CHF 11’480.15, transferred, as last year, to the reserves.  This, with CHF 16’206.90 last year, makes a total of CHF 27’687.05 in the reserve fund for special actions.  I shall return to this point on presenting the budget for 1966.  With CHF 15’065.00 the subscriptions paid in looks low, but I must remind you that, since 1994, when our statutes were changed to be in line with those of the Staff Association, subscriptions are paid in from the end of November to the end of February.  For this reason payments received were greater in 1994, and correspondingly smaller in 1995.  From 1996 on the payment situation will stabilize, but nothing will change in the overall result.  May I allow myself to point out that the receipt of subscriptions would be more regular if the majority of members were to give a permanent order to the Bank.

The accounts for group travel are in principle balanced, thanks to the devotion of the organizers, Jean Robert, Hella Koemer and Mario Ceselli.

The other expenditure headings, (general expenses, taxes, matériels, printing and entertainments), amount to CHF 5055.45 representing 9.7% of income.  Withholding tax of CHF 783.75 was recovered in 1995, whereas CHF 913.25 of withholding tax was retained on the capital deposited in our CCP and bank accounts at 31 December 1995 This will be reimbursed in 1966 by the Federal tax authorities.

As credit balance on December 31 1995 we had, in our Postal Cheque Account, CHF 5’378.85, and with SBS, CHF 2’277.65 in our deposit account and CHF 77’029.80 in our savings account, making a total of CHF 84’686.30.

To end with I thank Suzanne Brèches and Jean-Paul Buathier for their close collaboration; without their help I should never be able to carry out the Treasurer’s task, always heavier with our 990 members.

Budget 1966

The 1966 budget which we present to you is based on a membership of 1000; as of today we have 990 members.  With a subscription of CHF 20.- this will produce an income of CHF 20’000.-, plus CCP and Bank interests, conservatively estimated at CHF 2500., and the reimbursement of withholding tax retained in 1995 of around CHF 900.-.

As for expenditure, we remain in line with the budget and expenditure of 1995; except for our contribution to the administrative expenses of the Staff Association, due to the constant increase in our numbers.  For this reason the Committee proposes to allocate the sum of CHF 5000.- to the Staff Association for 1996.

1997 Subscriptions

Since the creation of GAC in 1988 the subscription has remained at CHF 20.-.

The administrative expenses of the Staff Association increase with the increase in the number of our members (and this fact will be as true in the future as it is at present).  Accordingly the Committee proposes that the annual subscription be increased to CHF 25.-

We therefore ask you, if you accept our recommendation, to pay the sum of CHF 25.- instead of CHF 20.- from the end of November 1996.  The recommendation has been accepted unanimously by the Assembly.  The sum to be allocated to the Staff Association for 1997 has not yet been fixed.  It will appear in the 1997 budget proposal and will thus be submitted to the approval of the AGM of spring 1997.

Obituary

[Note:  in the web versions the table of this article is left out since the entire list of deceased persons can be found and searched separately]

On behalf of all members of GAC, the Committee sends its sincerest sympathy to the bereaved families.

Tribute

The Pension Fund

(Report by J.F.  Barthélémy and L Resegotti at the Annual General Meeting of April 26 1996)

As is our custom we give here the main information relating to the Pension Fund which has arisen since the last Bulletin of December 1995.  These reports concern:

1. The administration of the Fund (elections to the Governing Board - membership of the Governing Board and of the Investment Committee - budget and staff for 1996)
2. Administrative decisions (distraint on pensions for the payment of maintenance allowances owed by beneficiaries of the Fund - investment directives - criteria for the use of derived products).
3. Pension indexation (equality of treatment vis-à-vis inflation between active staff and pensioners - discussions at TREF and the Finance Committee - the special tripartite working party and the elaboration of the package - compromise accepted by CERN staff and approved by CERN Council).
4. The Ottosson Report on “guarantees for the payment of pensions of members of CERN staff in the case of the dissolution of the Organization”.
5. The performance of the Fund in 1995 (preliminary information).

The Administration of the Fund

The Governing Board

The mandates as full or alternate members of the Governing Board of Messrs.  Bovet, Chiaveri, Henny and Pittin expired at the end of 1995.  Elections were held in accordance with the Rules of the Fund.  Two of the outgoing members, Messrs.  Henny (member) and Pittin (alternate) did not stand for re-election.  Those elected were:

Mr.  G.  Bachmann, titular member nominated by the Director-General of ESO, is replaced by Mrs.  A.  Cabillic.  These are the only changes in the composition of the Governing Board as all the other mandates of titular or alternate members which expired at the end of 1995 were renewed.

As for the Bureau of the Chairman, nominated by CERN Council, the mandates of the Chairman, Mr.  P.  Levaux, and of one of the Vice-Chairmen, Mr.  W.C.  Middelkoop, run until the end of 1996, and that of the other Vice-President, Mr.  G.  Maurin, until the end of 1997.

The Investment Committee.

The members of the Investment Committee remain as in 1995, namely Mr.  G.  Maurin, Chairman, Mr.  C.  Cuenoud, Secretary and Messrs.  J.  Bezemer, C.  Bovet, W.C.  Middelkoop and A.J.  Naudi, members.  The Governing Board renewed the mandate of Mr.  J.  Martin, former Director of the Pension Fund of British Petroleum at London, as permanent expert, associated with the work of the Board.  Specialist experts in specific fields will be invited to Committee meetings on an ad hoc basis.

The Budget

The budget remains stable: 2'530 KCHF for 1996 (1'680 for personnel, 850 for materiel) as against 2'575 (1*730 + 845) in 1995.  Similarly for the Fund’s staff, totalling 12.5 posts, unchanged from 1995.

Administrative Decisions

Following the proposal of the Fund’s Governing Board, CERN Council has approved a change in the Rules of the Fund (article I 3.02).  From now on a distraint can be made on the pension of a beneficiary of the Fund in favour of the unpaid recipient of a maintenance allowance.  The mode of operation for this new measure is similar to that which already exists for the active staff: the creditors should contact directly the “Office des Poursuites” at Geneva, and the ensuing procedure will then be according to common law.

The Governing Board, at its fifty-fourth meeting on December 5 1995, determined its investment directives for 1996.  The only change with respect to 1995 consists in the increase from 45 to 50% of the minimum assets to be invested in Swiss francs, taking into account the international monetary situation.

The arrival of “derived products”, financial instruments to be handled with care, has led the Governing Board to consider how to use them.  After an audit made by Price Waterhouse at the request of the Board, the latter has started to elaborate directives on the use of these instruments.  The general line is that they should not be used as such by themselves, but only in strategies to cover risks or distribution of assets.

Pension Indexation

The calculations of the Consulting Actuary of the Pension Fund on the influence of the indexation of salaries and of pensions on the technical balance of the Fund (see the presentation of the 1995 actuarial study in GAC Bulletin 12) have led the Governing Board to formulate a recommendation aimed at ensuring an equality of treatment between pensioners and active staff in the face of inflation.

The indexation of pensions has therefore taken into consideration the decisions of CERN Council concerning salaries.

The problem of the adjustment of salaries for the year 1996 has been treated in the context of the quinquennial review of employment conditions at CERN, which was due at the end of 1995.  A tripartite group (Member States - CERN Administration - Staff Association) the TREF, set up more than a year ago already, has examined the results of the comparative study of conditions of employment in the European scientific organizations and in leading edge industries compared with those at CERN.  The TREF has also taken account of the proposed changes in the Staff Rules and Regulations as well as other important questions concerning the economic and social conditions affecting CERN staff.  The TREF is a place of reflection and discussion and is not mandated to make recommendations.  Different interpretations of the results of the enquiry, according to the different feelings of the speakers, were freely put forward and everyone was able to understand a little better the viewpoint of the others.

The difficulties which arose in November after the positions taken up by certain delegations at the Finance Committee, as well as the work of the restricted tripartite group, which resulted in a package deal, accepted by the staff and approved by CERN Council on December 15 1995, have already been covered in the exposé of the GAC President.

Here are the details of the indexation of basic salaries and of pensions.  The first have been increased by 1.31% from January 1.  However only 0.70% will be found in the pay packets, the remaining 0.61% being used for an increase in contributions of the active staff to the Pension Fund.  An additional day of paid annual leave is also granted to the staff.

Pensions were increased by 1.74% on January 1 1996, using the same criteria as for salaries, but without applying the taxation coefficient as pensions are subject to tax.

Pension guarantees

Mr.  M.O.  Ottosson, Chairman of the Special Group on Reintegration, studying the question of guarantees for the pensions of CERN staff in the case of the dissolution of he Organization, presented his report to the Committee of Council at its meeting on December 14.  This report situates the question and puts forward the legal instruments enabling an international foundation, governed by Swiss law, to be set up at the necessary time and capable of assuring the payment of pensions until the extinction of the rights of the last beneficiary of the Fund.  In annex to the explanation of the motives and means of the guarantee the report gives:

• a draft Resolution of the CERN Council, completing the one adopted in June 1986, and detailing the conditions for the creation of the Foundation, in particular the balancing of the Foundation before the transfer of its assets to the Foundation;
• a draft for the Statutes (“Acte constitutif”) of the Foundation;
• a draft exchange of letters between the Swiss federal Authorities and CERN guaranteeing that the Foundation, once set up, would benefit from the same immunities and fiscal privileges for movable assets as those now accorded to CERN.

The Committee of Council decided to take up the discussion of this report in its future meetings and to submit it, meanwhile, to the customary consultation procedure, notably with TREF.

A presentation was made on February 29 1996 to TREF which desired to have a joint meeting on April 18 with the Special Group on Reintegration, so as to be able to put questions directly to members of the group.

The Performance of the Fund in 1995

The Fund’s Governing Board were given preliminary information on this subject at its meeting on April 18.  The global performance was about 4.3% (with an inflation of 2.1% from August 1994 to August 1995).  The strength of the Swiss franc has depressed this result owing to the spread of investments over other currencies.

In contradiction to the previous year the performance of movable investments (5.8%) was distinctly better than that of real estate, which suffered, in addition to the exchange losses, the effect of the crisis affecting commercial buildings and offices.

Detailed information on the results of the Pension Fund in 1995 will be given, as usual, in the annual report, which will be presented to the CERN Council at its meeting in June 1996, and will then be available to members and beneficiaries of the Fund.

J-F.  Barthélémy and L.  Resegotti.
GAC Delegates to the Council of the Staff Ass.

Health Insurance

(Report by Reinhard Budde and Jean-Paul Diss at the Annual General Meeting of April 26 1996).

R.  Budde and J.Trembley began their presentation at the 1995 AGM by recalling that our Health Insurance Scheme is a mutual scheme and that we all have our responsibilities to it, specifically in the way in which we manage our own health expenses, should that unhappily be necessary, for the total of the insurance premiums that we pay must balance the costs.

These principles remained unchanged during the past year and we shall try to give a brief overview of the evolution of the situation and of the prospects for the future.

Income of The Health Insurance Scheme

The income of our Scheme depends on the receipt of premiums which in 1995 amounted to 3.42% of the basic salary, paid by the insured person, plus 6.35% paid by the Organization.

For pensioners, the premium continued to be calculated on the basis of 3.42% of the maximum pension.  This does not mean that the Organization has made no contribution to the pensioners’ health expenses, as a non-negligible part of the the premiums which it pays for the active staff has in fact served to cover reimbursements to pensioners (covering about 40% of the 65% not financed directly).

The total of the contributions paid by the pensioners in 1995 was about 3.6 MCHF, while their reimbursements totalled 11.5 MCHF - figures to be compared with reimbursements of 35.8 MCHF for the totality of those insured and their families and a total premium income of 38.8 MCHF.

But serious discussions have taken place during the year at the request of the Administration to arrive at the Organization making a more direct payment for the pensioners.  If there was little problem in coming to an agreement of principle, difficulties arose when means were sought to reach this goal.  It was only by means of reductions in other expenditure and/or the increase in other income that the Finance Committee finally accepted that the Organization should make a direct contribution.  In 1996 this will be 20% Of the total premium and will be increased progressively over the next five years to reach 65% at the end of this period.

Among the decisions of importance that were taken you have been informed of two by a letter from the Director General:

• increase of the franchise from 70 to 100 CHF
• reduction of the fixed reimbursement for hotel expenses during cures to 10 CHF per diem, except for those following accidents of professional illnesses.

The Situation of the Health Insurance Scheme in 1995 - A few figures

The CHISB.

Two members of GAC continue to sit on the CERN Health Insurance Supervisory Board (CHISB), created by the CCP in 1992, R.  Budde and J-P.  Diss, who replaced J.  Trembley in July 1995.  We take this occasion to thank very warmly J.  Trembley for all the work he has accomplished in this group over the past years.

The CHISB met six times in the past year and has been concerned chiefly with the questions which have been raise above.  It has heard Mr.  Page, director of Austria, on the subject of cost reduction measures, proposed and in part already applied, and also on the subject of measures taken by Austria itself to assure a better control of expenditure (third medical consultant, pharmacist consultant).

The work of the CHISB continues and is always directed towards the problem of reducing health insurance costs.  At present they are looking at the question of the health expenses of spouses who have income external to CERN and on the possibility that such persons should make first claims on the health insurance of their employer before claiming on the CERN scheme.  The problem of insurance for long term dependency has not been forgotten and will be the subject of a study in depth which we still hope to have before the end of the year.

R.  Budde, J-P.  Diss
GAC Delegates to the Council of the Staff Ass.

Meetings and Travel

Our traditional “Pot de Noël” was held on December 5 and some 150 members of the Association met together in the main auditorium.  After a short session of “Questions and Answers” we were able to fly far away from our daily routine and see S.  Monachon’s film entitled “Fantaisie romantique”.  This Vaudois cineast has already enchanted us in October with his film on the Alps and we marvelled again at his magnificent pictures leading each of us into his own dreams.

Our 1996 travel programme is under way.  First of all 26 people will take part in an eight day tour in Andalusia at the beginning of June.  After flying to Malaga the party will travel by coach, accompanied throughout by a local guide.  They will visit Ronda, Seville with the Alcazar and the Giralda, then Cordoba and its famous mosque, Ubeda and Baeza, Grenada and the Alhambra, and then Torremolinos, the last stage before returning to Geneva.  For those who prefer short outings we shall set out by coach on June 25 to discover Lyons, with a visit of the city and the “Palais de la Miniature” and, of course, to dine on the specialities of Lyons

A poll has shown an interest in the excursions planned for the autumn: a tour by coach to Venice in September and an outing to the salt mines at Bex in October.  We shall send you more detailed information at the beginning of the summer.

Finally - don’t forget that your proposals, whether they be for a tour or for entertainment, are always welcome !

J. Robert

Some CERN Services of interest to pensioners

Education Services

The Education Services (Personnel Division) organize various courses for the benefit of CERN Staff.  Pensioners could find some may be of interest.  Courses are open to pensioners, limited by availability of places, at the same cost as that charged to Divisions.  Details may be found in the CERN Weekly “Bulletin” with the person to contact and telephone number.

The Mutual Aid Fund.

This Fund is managed by an independent Board, whose Chairwoman is at present Michele Brandenburger (+41 22) 7676601, is open to CERN pensioners and dependent family members.  Application for consideration should be made through the Chairwoman or via Social affairs Secretariat (+41 22) 7674201.  All cases are, of course, treated strictly confidentially.

Social Affairs

Social Affairs - Pascale Leuzzi (+41 22) 76744791.

Although this service was set up for dealing with problems arising among active staff members, it is nevertheless open to pensioners.  All cases are, of course, treated strictly confidentially.  Two major activities of possible interest to GAC members are considered

Social work:

The aim: - to attempt, with the assistence of professionals and relevant services within or outside CERN, to resolve or alleviate personal problems.  These may be associated with:

• Accident or illness, including mental illness and those of long duration;
• Alcoholism
• Divorce and separation; etc.

Social protection

The aim: - provision of information and assistance on matters of social protection, as for example, the following:

• Information concerning formalities for living in retirement in France or Switzerland.  Information concerning entitlements of the French Social Security (*) system and likewise for the Swiss AVS;
• Death: - information on social rights; provide support for the bereaved family; Provide information and help on domiciliary health care and home help including what is or is not reimbursed by Austria;
• Help in preparing a claim for incapacity from Austria; etc.
• Information and aid in reintegration in the home country.

Please note the above lists are not exhaustive.

   (*)    See “Que Choisir” Guide No 27, La retraite (45 FF) covers ‘toutes les aides auxquelles vous avez droit’ among other points.

Benevolent & Leisure Activities

Benevolent activities

Leasure activities

Editorial

Your Committee

Editorial

In general, GAC members liked the new format of the Bulletin, which is very encouraging to all those who contribute to it. In addition to the authors whose names are shown, all members of the Committee check and correct the drafts, while Roland Magny and Malcolm Dykes provide valuable editing assistance with the French and English texts respectively. I am very grateful for all this help.

In the last issue, I asked for suggestions towards making the contents more interesting to its readers, but, so far, nothing has been put forward. I am repeating this request in the hope that you may have since thought of some suggestions to make.

Meanwhile, I imagine that there are probably pensioners who, since retiring, have taken up interesting hobbies, have gone to live in or have visited exotic parts of the world. If you have done some of these things, or you know of another pensioner who has, please let me know, as I am sure others would like to hear of these activities.

Norman BLACKBURNE

Note by the President

(Original french)

I am happy to report to you at the end of my first year as President, following the elections of May 1996 and the renewal of the Committee.

First of all I am very glad to be able to tell you that your Committee operates in a very pleasant atmosphere, and good work is being accomplished. Although each member has specific tasks, I find the excellent team spirit very encouraging and efficient: we all realise our responsibilities to you for the overall performance of our Association. In addition to the monthly Committee meetings, most of us are occupied throughout the year with meetings concerning the Pension Fund, the Health Insurance Scheme, welcoming colleagues at the Permanences, and editing the Bulletin. In this edition of the Bulletin, you will find comments or reports on all of these questions, so I will limit myself to mentioning briefly items of general interest.

Our Association, which in addition to defend the interests of CERN pensioners, seeks to establish and maintain a climate of friendship and solidarity among us, is working well! We now have more than one thousand members and this number will surely increase considerably in view of the many retirements this year. Pleasing as this is, we are at the same time saddened to note the reductions in the active staff of the Organization. Because of the increase in the members of our Association, we now have six representatives to the Staff Council, instead of four. You have just voted overwhelmingly to elect two new representatives, Pierre Lazeyras and François Wittgenstein, whom we welcome with great pleasure to the Committee, and to renew the mandate of Jean-Paul Diss for another two years.

We have sought to maintain close contacts with the CERN Administration, especially with the Director of. Administration, Maurice Robin, the Leader of the Personnel Division, Bo Angerth, the Leader of the Social Services, Mrs. Pascale Leuzzi, and others, on all questions of interest to us. For instance, I remind you of the joint meeting we organized in October 1996 on the new Swiss law concerning health insurance, and the meeting on 10th June 1997, on the tenth revision of the Swiss AVS.

Now, a new task awaits us: following the decision of Council to set up pension guarantees in the case of the dissolution of the Organization or of a reduction in the number of Member States, we will be officially participating in an internal Working Group concerning the details of this.

Furthermore, Jean-François Barthélémy has prepared a note setting out the legal status of pensioners, which will be invaluable when we are discussing our affairs with the Organization.

Following the tradition laid down by our predecessors, we intend to continue our contacts with similar associations of other international organizations on questions of mutual interest. In particular, this will be the case for questions concerning long-term care for dependent persons.

Finally, I wish you all and your families excellent summer holidays. Retired persons also need some relaxation!

Giorgio BRIANTI - President

Committee News and Activities

(Original french)

Reading what I wrote in the last Bulletin, and reflecting on the six GAC Committee meetings held since November 1996, I wonder how to add a little novelty to this note. I envy those journalists who manage to produce a daily article with a leavening of fantasy and imagination. The brute facts of problems confronting GAC bring me quickly down to earth, and remind me that my role is to inform you of the work of our Committee!

Without going into details, which will be found in the articles below, the bulk of our work has again concerned problems related to health insurance.

Supervision by CERN of the CERN-Austria contract is being neglected. We feel it merits much more attention than it is given today. High-level discussions are taking place to ensure that the CERN Management takes this matter seriously.

Another worrying point concerns sick persons who need either to enter a medico-social establishment or need extensive home care. All countries are now confronted with this problem arising from their aging populations. Whatever the solution adopted, it will involve additional expense for the insured persons. We have contacted our colleagues of the other international organizations in Geneva, who are also seeking solutions to the same problems. Our two representatives Reinhard Budde and Jean-Paul Diss are closely following these matters.

We have also been examining the representation - with voting rights - of pensioners on the Governing Board of the Pension Fund, which would require a modification to the Statutes of the Fund. There are conflicting arguments concerning such representation and it is unlikely that it would be only to our advantage. These studies continue.

Although I have only mentioned two subjects, be assured that your committee is continuing to note your worries, whatever they may be, and will try to find appropriate solutions.

Jacques LEROUX - Secretary

Elections to Council of the Staff Association

(Original french)

Although the number of candidates was the same as the number of seats to be filled, our Rules do not allow a tacit election. It was therefore necessary to have a formal vote and the Committee asked you to show your support and confidence. Here are the results:

The following persons have been elected as members of the Staff Council of the Staff Association and become ex-officio members of the GAC Committee:

We thank all those who voted; we are very satisfied with 64.9% participation and will continue to carry out our tasks, knowing that we have received your support.

Jean ROBERT - Secretary

New Elements Concerning Taxation of Pensions?

(Original french)

The GAC Committee has learned of the existence of the Union sur la fiscalité applicable aux fonctionnaires retraités des organisations du système des Nations Unies. Although originally intended for former personnel of the United Nations family, retired personnel of other organizations may belong to the Union. Several members of your Committee have met with the Secretary-General of the Union and we are carefully following its work. You will be kept informed of any interesting developments in this delicate area.

Jean-François BARTHELEMY

Internet

Among the Staff Assciation's newly-designed Internet pages are several devoted to GAC.

The address of the Staff Association home page is:

        http://www-staff-assoc.cern.ch

To get the GAC pages, click on "PENSIONERS" .

If this project is found to be interesting and useful, the issue of extending it will be discussed by the Committee

Norman BLACKBURNE

"Permanences"

(Original french)

At our Permanences we provide support and assistance to our retired friends. Courtesy visits are also welcome. Contrary to what many people imagine, the permanence sessions are not information seminars, but individual and confidential discussions. You may therefore come to us with complete confidence. The permanences are also open to staff nearing retirement.

We try to ensure that these discussions are pleasant and we listen to your problems, try to understand them, and, if possible, imagine ourselves in similar situations.

It is important for us to follow-up questions for which no immediate replies can be given. These we bring to the Committee and we may need to seek new ways and means of solving the problems of our former colleagues and their spouses.

During the last five sessions, between 5th November 1996 and 8th April 1997, we had 44 visits, often covering more than one subject:

If we may describe our Association as a sort of "pensioners' division", it is the only division which is growing. It is not surprising to note a corresponding increase in the use of our permanences since their inception in 1989. This is illustrated by the following graph.

It will be seen that, since 1989, the number of visitors to the permanences has multiplied in 1996 by 3.5, while the number of GAC members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund have multiplied by only 2.1 and 1.9 respectively (1).

The increased number of visitors to our permanences suggests two possibilities: are our friends encountering more problems? Or are our permanences becoming more popular?!! We opt for the first reply.

  (1)  Comparison of curves A and C should not be interpreted that there are more GAC members than beneficiaries of the Pension Fund. Rather, in relation to 1989, the ratio of GAC members has increased more rapidly than that of the beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.

The table below shows the comparison between the last two years.

It should be noted that the number of subjects treated has gone up from 47 to 70, an increase of almost 50%.

Tax related questions are the most common. We give below some remarks concerning the various topics treated.

French taxation

The problems concerning the Contribution sociale généralisé (CSG) seem to have been resolved for CERN pensions of pensioners living in France. Now, problems related to family allowances are arising.

The Committee has examined this question, but, in view of the many different situations encountered, it is difficult to give a single global reply. However, we will henceforth be able to give you more precise advice on this subject.

Health Insurance

Questions concerning exemption from the Swiss health insurance law (LAMal) for pensioners living in Switzerland have been answered.

We are advising pensioners and their spouses who can benefit from French social security to use Austria only as a complementary insurance.

Social matters

For the forthcoming CERN pre-retirement-seminar, we are proposing several items for the agenda, especially:

• the 10th revision of the AVS on 1st January 1997;
• placing dependent persons in retirement homes. In this respect, in conjunction with the CERN Social Affairs Service, we have information available concerning retirement homes in the Canton of Geneva and, for France, in the Departments of Ain and Haute Savoie.

Miscellaneous

We send all non-confidential matters, enrolments and similar, to the Treasurer for action.

Except for January, July and August, we are present on the first Tuesday of each month from 14h to 17h in the Staff Association's small conference room. Remember that our permanences are also useful information exchanges and that we are pleased to receive your advice and hear about your experiences.

You may write to us at:

GAC - Permanences
c/o Staff Association, CERN
CH-1211 Geneva 23.

Françoise BEETSCHEN-BUTTAY, Mario CESELLI, Jacques LEROUX

Treasurer's Report

(Original french)

The 1996 account shows a net benefit of 22'662.25 CHF, transferred to the reserve as in the previous two years. The reserve fund at the end of 1996 stands at 107'348.55 CHF. A careful check of subscriptions paid, including some 1997 subscriptions amounting to 13'973 CHF, shows that total subscriptions amounted to 28'203 CHF

We recommend the following ways of paying subscriptions:

1. payment by postal order (CCP);
2. banker's order to the SBS bank; or
3. standing banker's order to the SBS bank.

A significant number of members either pay at the bank counter, send us a check, send us banknotes in an envelope, or even a postal order in a foreign currency. Such methods complicate our work and we ask all our members kindly to use one of the three procedures listed above.

In principle, the accounts of excursions should balance, but, in 1996, there was a profit of 1'408.20 CHF. Our thanks go to the organisers Jean Robert, Hella Koemer and Mario Ceselli!

In spite of our deposit account increasing by 2'440.80 CHF and our savings account by 19'421.10 CHF, interest dropped by 95 CHF, due to the general reduction of interest rates.

Outgoings on general expenses, taxes, materials, printing and social events amounted to 4'497.05 CHF, representing 14% of income. The Annual General Meeting on 26th April 1996 decided to make a grant of 5'000 CHF to the Staff Association.

As usual, we requested the reimbursement of withholding tax which amounted to 913.20 CHF. Because of lower interest, the withholding tax in 1996 was only 879.80 CHF, and will be recovered in 1997.

On 31st December 1996, the balance sheet showed a total of 107'348.55 CHF, composed of 6'179.20- CHF in the postal account, 4'718.45 CHF in the deposit account and 96'450.90 CHF in the savings account. This sum is very welcome: some of it will be needed by the Committee in attacking certain problems. Since the beginning of my mandate, the number of GAC members has risen from 727 to 1'001. You can therefore easily imagine that the work of your team, Suzanne Brèches, Jean-Paul Buathier and myself has become very heavy!

Werner ALBRECHT - Treasurer

Auditors' Report

(Original french)

(approved by the Annual General Meeting)

In compliance with the mandate entrusted to us, we examed the 1996 accounts of our Association on 25th March 1997.

Following verification of the documents presented to us, we can confirm that the information given in the profit and loss account and in the balance sheet are correct.

On the basis of our examination, we recommend that the Annual General Meeting approve the accounts and the work of our Treasurer, warmly thanking him for having carried out his functions in a careful and precise manner.

Gladys GUICHARD, TheaVERMEULEN - Auditors

1997 Budget

(Original french)

The budget is based on 1'050 members (although this number is likely to be exceeded in the coming months) each paying 25 CHF, so that the expected income is 26'250 CHF.

Cautious estimates of bank interest of 1'900 CHF and recovered withholding tax of 850 CHF.

Foreseen expenses are justified by the Committee's determination to attack certain problems and to defend pensioners' rights.

The Annual General Meeting in April 1997 approved a grant of lO'OOO CHF to the Staff Association in 1997.

Werner ALBRECHT - Treasurer

Obituary

We have learned with regret of the deaths of our former colleagues given below:

On behalf of all members of GAC, the Committee sends its sincerest sympathy to the bereaved families.

For the list of deceased beneficiairies of the Pension Fund consult : the list of deaths.

Remembrance

We have received several contributions (2) from pensioners and active staff concerning former colleagues who have recently died.

  (2)  Persons wishing to propose a short obituary for a retired colleague to be included in a future GAC Bulletin are invited to take or send this to one of the Permanences.

The Pension Fund

(Original french)

We present here the main Pension Fund news since the last issue of this Bulletin in December 1996. The information concerns:

• the administration of the Fund;
• adjustment of pensions;
• the latest results from the actuarial study group;
• investment policy;
• pension guarantees;
• results of the 1996 exercise.

The administration of the Fund

Several modifications have taken place in the composition of the Governing Board due to the end of the mandates of certain members. Necessary replacements have been made either by elections at the end of 1996 or by nominations according to the Rules of the Fund.

• Irene Seis was elected as member, and Christian Roche as alternate member (replacing respectively Edith Deluermoz and Giovanni Castelli, who did not seek re-election);
• As his representatives on the Governing Board, the Director-General of CERN renewed the mandates of André Naudi, as member, and of Henry Atherton, as alternate member, and nominated Maurice Robin, as member, and Bo Angerth as alternate member;
• The Staff Association nominated Jean-Pol Matheys alternate member to Michel Borghini, in replacement of the elected member, Irene Seis;
• As proposed by the Governing Board of the Fund, the CERN Council renewed the mandates of Paul Levaux and Guy Maurin, as President and Vice- President respectively, and nominated Maurice Robin as Vice-President.

				CERN PENSIONERS’ ASSOCIATION (GAC)

					EXCURSIONS AND TRIPS

					    QUESTIONNAIRE

	Only those persons interested in the Association's excursions and trips,
	and have not already sent in a Questionnaire should reply.

 Mr., Mrs., Ms., (name in capitals)   ..........................................

 (forenames)   ....................................

 Residing (street, number)   ....................................................

 Postal code   ............ Locality   ........................ Country   ........

 Telephone No   ..............................

 is interested in receiving information concerning GAC excursions and trips.

  Date:  ..................  Signature:  ........................................

 To be sent to

	CERN Pensioners’ Association (Groupement des Anciens du CERN),
	"Excursions and Trips”
	c/o StaffAssociation, CERN,
	CH -1211 GENEVA 23.

				CERN PENSIONERS’ ASSOCIATION (GAC)

					EXCURSIONS AND TRIPS

					    QUESTIONNAIRE

	Only those persons interested in the Association's excursions and trips,
	and have not already sent in a Questionnaire should reply.

 Mr., Mrs., Ms., (name in capitals)   ..........................................

 (forenames)   ....................................

 Residing (street, number)   ....................................................

 Postal code   ............ Locality   ........................ Country   ........

 Telephone No   ..............................

 is interested in receiving information concerning GAC excursions and trips.

  Date:  ..................  Signature:  ........................................

 To be sent to

	CERN Pensioners’ Association (Groupement des Anciens du CERN), "Excursions and Trips”
		c/o StaffAssociation, CERN,
			CH -1211 GENEVA 23.