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MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS

FIRST MEETING OF COUNCIL
21st. G.A., Boulder, Colorado, USA, July 2-14, 1995
Sunday, July 2

PARTICIPANTS:

NATIONAL DELEGATES AT COUNCIL

Algeria	S. Kahlouche	Ireland	P. Lynch
Australia	R.W. Johnson	Italy	C. Morelli
Austria	S.J. Bauer	Japan	S. Uyeda
Belgium	P. Paquet	Korea (South)	C.G. Baag
Brazil	D. Blitzkow	Netherlands	F.C. Zuidema
Canada	R. Langley	New Zealand	R.I. Walcott
Chile	O. Gonzales-Ferran	Nigeria	R.O. Cooker
China	Liu Guangding	Russia	G.A. Sobolev
Czech Rep.	J. Vanek	Slovenija	B. Sket-Motnikar*
Denmark	C.C. Tscherning	South-Africa	R.J. Kleywegt
Egypt	A. Ashour	Spain	J. Mezcua
Estonia	R. Room	Switzerland	H. Lang
France	F. Barlier	Taipei	*
Germany	R. Roth	U.S.A.	C. Harrison
Great-Britain	M.J. Hamlin	Zimbabwe	F. Podmore
Hungary	J. Adam

* late afternoon

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Opening at 9:20 a.m. by H. Moritz,
IUGG President.

1. Presentation of the Credentials

25 National Delegates are present at the opening, 22 being eligible to vote. The total number of Member Countries eligible to vote is 55. The quorum (= 19) is reached.

Other National Delegates will arrive in the course of the meeting, their number reaching a maximum of 28 at a given time; some will sometimes leave the room, the number eligible to vote being never smaller than 21.

2. Approval of Agenda

Egypt asks to add an item to the agenda on the "Condition of Geophysics in Developing Countries". It is seconded by USA. Proposed by the President to be before item 28. Vote by hand almost unanimous.

Denmark asks for moving up item 27 before item 14. It is seconded by Germany. Solid majority for it (vote by hand). It is approved.

3. Approval of the Minutes of the Council Meetings at Vienna (1991)

Approved.

4. The President's Report

The President prefers not to deliver a detailed report. His work will appear in the course of the various items.

5. The Vice-President's Report and the Work of the Advisory Board on Scientific Policy

A 2 page summary report is distributed and shown in viewgraphs. References are made to the different reports published in Chronicle 226 (papers by H. Moritz, P. Wyllie, C. Mooers, the Advisory Board on Scientific Policy, V. Keilis-Borok, G. Balmino).

Among all points reported upon, emphasis is put on:

- Geochemistry in IUGG activities, to be continued in the future;

- an informal discussion on the future of IUGG organized by C. Mooers will take place during this G.A., which will be focused on Earth Observing Systems. Of utmost importance is how IUGG can become more effective. There are structural and scientific issues:

- Structure: there was a proposition of the Secretaries General of Associations made about having an Executive Committee with no real Bureau. Another proposal by the Executive Committee is the reduction of the Bureau composition by one member and the withdrawal of the Past-President vote, the Association Presidents being in majority.

- Activity in Science:

i) the quadrennial General Assembly is the most important platform of IUGG; historically, the balance between disciplinary and multidisciplinary sessions has been debated for each General Assembly.

ii) a possible focus for the future activities of IUGG is being explored which could be in the areas of environment or natural disasters. Candidates are: 1) Earth Observing Systems; 2) Megacities.

In summary, assuming healthy Associations, the future of IUGG relies much on the success of its G.A.s.

A discussion follows. Denmark says there is not a chance to discuss here on the matters raised by the Delegates and Country Members. A group should be formed to assess the reports presented. It is supported by USA. Egypt thinks that the Executive Committee should evaluate first. The Vice-President answers that the Advisory Board including all Associations Presidents generated this report and the full Executive Committee has discussed the report. Belgium is not too much in favor of the Denmark proposal and would prefer a clarification on parts of the report. Since there are two groups with different views and since the Danish proposal requires duplication of the mandate of the Advisory Board, a vote by hand takes place. Result is: 7 in favor; 11 against; 4 abstentions; the proposal for a formal assessment is not considered.

6. The Secretary General's Report

The written quadrennial report was sent 3 months ago (in French and English). Important items are:

- evolution of membership,

- definition of the core of the Scientific Program of G.A. in Paris (November 93) at Executive Committee meeting,

- financial support of 20 workshops, schools, symposia (many in Developing Countries), and 67 individuals were funded for this 21st G.A.,

- ICSU grants enabled the support of 12 projects in 4 years (total amount: about $120K). Annual reports to ICSU were widely circulated.

- transformation of IDNDR Committee; Sec. Gen. was appointed Secretary of Committee. A brochure describing IUGG involvements in Natural Disasters mitigation was produced and is distributed at Boulder.

- the Chronicle continued to be published (20 issues over the period) under the responsibility of Honorary (former) Secretary General. Difficulties are encountered. Circulars, sent to National Committees, had little feed-back. Solution for the future will be proposed at this G.A. Anyhow, the 75th anniversary of IUGG was the occasion of publishing interesting histories of the Associations.

Egypt comments that ICSU relations information (besides the annual report of the Union) should be distributed more broadly than only to the Bureau and Executive Committee (i.e., to National Committees and different bodies of the Union). Denmark agrees.

7. Report of the Treasurer

The report was sent in two parts, in due time. One third of countries are late in payment. 95 % of IUGG income arise from the subscription fees. Various ideas have been proposed to increase the income but nothing concrete has been set up. It will be proposed to adjust to some rate of inflation the annual fees. Egypt comments that any proposal for changing the fees should have gone to the Finance Committee first; S. Gregersen says that two years ago he, the Treasurer agreed, with the Finance Committee on that subject. USA points that money-making from publications has not been investigated enough. This point will be discussed under item 16. UK reminds that they asked for review the category system. This point will be treated under item 11 and the President proposes to move this item as well as item 10 to the beginning of next Council meeting. It is approved and UK will provide input.

8. Changes of Statutes and By-Laws

8.1. Secretary General proposes to first take care of the most obvious and easy changes proposed, i.e.,:

a. Revision of wording to bring French and English versions into conformity

b. Proposal for an improved description of the Union objectives (Statute 1)

e. Proposal for change of IAMAP/AIMPA, into IAMAS/AIMSA (By-Law 1)

h. Proposal for an addition to By-Law 14.

Zimbabwe proposes two small wording modifications in Statute 1 and By-Law 14 which are accepted by a vote by hand.

The formal vote on the four items listed above gives:

VOTE 1 (items a, b, e, h):
24 yes; 0 no; 0 abstention.

8.2 The President introduces an important proposal:

c. Provision for a second Adhering Body from one country under specific conditions (Statutes 4 and 5)

It is explained that it is aimed at allowing a second Adhering Body of a country to become Member of the Union in order to solve the long-lasting problem of China, Taipei: IUGG is almost the only Union not having Taipei as a Member because of our Statutes. Ye Duzheng says that China worked in favor of having Taipei as a Member. China thinks this change of Statutes looks good and that all Members should agree. Egypt would like that the words "only under extraordinary circumstances" be removed from the Statute text. President and Secretary General argue that the wording has been very carefully prepared and should be kept.

VOTE 2 (item c):
25 yes, 0 no, 0 abstention.

8.3 President introduces a proposal for a change of composition:

d.Proposal for changes in the composition of the Bureau and Executive Committee (Statutes 8, 9 and By-Law 12)

The perception of the role of the Past President appears uncontroversial, withdrawing his vote does not seem harmful. The reduction from 3 Bureau Members to 2 Bureau Members is more delicate.

Not in favor:

Egypt is very much against both changes and thinks that the Bureau acts as a sort of referee on any matter raised independently from Associations; the 7 to 6 ratio (Association Presidents / Bureau) is not a very good decision. It would be better to increase the number of Bureau Members. Monin agrees, Belgium too, saying that the vote has to be different by more than one voice on important matters. IASPEI President emphasizes the broad character of the scientific field covered by IUGG and considers that the present system is good enough to be kept. Ye Duzheng wishes to have 3 Members because of the geographic distribution and for the benefit of Developing Countries. It is extremely difficult to have a President of an Association from a developing country. A decrease from 3 to 2 would imply that a Member from a developing country will have a smaller chance to be elected.

In favor:

IAVCEI President recalls why we proposed this change: if all Associations agree on something important, we wish it to be approved. IAGA and IAMAS Presidents express their viewpoint in favor of the reduction. Denmark agrees. USA and UK think that reducing from 3 to 2 would contribute to smooth the perception by the Associations of a conflicting situation within the Executive Committee. Australia shares this opinion.

Secretary General informs the Council that all votes on decisions made in the past were never close to a tie.

President says he will be happy if he has voice but no vote as a future Past-President. Reduction from 3 to 2 is less clear to him. He was responsible for initiating the proposal but now thinks it is an error. For instance, he is convinced that one needs 3 positions for the work of the Nominating Committee. At the Executive Committee meeting the day before, he recommended to stick to the present situation but the Executive Committee voted in favor of the proposed changes. His personal recommendation on this item is to accept the Past-President with no vote but keep the present Bureau Members number.

The votes on these 2 proposals are done separately:

VOTE 3 (Past-President right of vote withdrawal):
19 yes, 6 no, 0 abstention.

VOTE 4 (3 TO 2 Bureau Members):
11 yes, 14 no, 0 abstention. No change in the Statutes and By-Laws on this matter.

8.4 Other proposed changes:

Secretary General introduces:

f. Proposal for an addition to By-Law 9

It will help preserving the integrity of the Union.

VOTE 5:
24 yes, 1 no, 0 abstention.

President introduces the next one:

g. Proposal for changes in the election procedures (By-Law 10)

One should recognize that the election procedure is very old-fashioned in IUGG.

President reads and comments the text of the proposed modified By-Law. A discussion runs mostly on the wording which could be improved to render the procedure a little more open and clearer:

- Egypt proposes to replace "taking advice" by "soliciting nominations". Seconded by UK. Vote by hand: majority in favor.

- IAHS proposes to replace "at" (in "at the beginning of the General Assembly") by "no later than". UK agrees. USA seconds. Vote by hand: majority in favor.

- Egypt proposes to add: "together with their resumes" in the last paragraph after "candidates" and "further nominations". Seconded by UK and USA. Vote by hand: majority in favor.

The formal vote by ballots is then made:

VOTE 6 (modification of By-Law 10 with agreed wording):
21 yes, 1 no, 1 abstention.

9. Applications for Membership

President and Secretary General inform the Council of:

a. The confirmation of membership for Estonia (following decision taken in Vienna in 1991).

b. The replacement of Former Soviet Union (FSU) by Russia

c. The replacement of Czechoslovakia by the Czech and Slovak Republics

Secretary General recalls the applications of Croatia and Slovenia and asks for:

d. The ratification of membership of: Croatia, Slovenia

VOTE 7:
21 yes, 0 no, 0 abstention.

Then, and since the modifications of Statutes 4 and 5 have been approved, the President introduces:

e. The application of the Academy of Sciences located in Taipei, China

Ye Duzheng and China speak in favor of it.

VOTE 8:
21 yes, 0 no, 0 abstention.

The President congratulates and thanks the Council for this wise decision.

Secretary General introduces:

f. The application of the Ex-Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia

The Executive Committee approved it on scientific grounds at its meeting two days before.

VOTE 9:
21 yes, 0 no, 0 abstention.

g. Other applications (made between Feb. 27 and July 2, 1995).

- Mongolia:

Application was also approved two days before by the Executive Committee vote.

VOTE 10:
21 yes, 0 no, 0 abstention.

- Yugoslavia (standing for Serbia and Montenegro):

The President describes the application, says that the scientific merit was well assessed by the Executive Committee but an embargo from U.N. exists on everything but Sport and Culture. Science is not part of Culture. Secretary General distributes copy of the analysis made by an international lawyer at the request of the President, which explains the political problems and give hints on how to proceed. A discussion follows. Egypt thinks that the admission of Croatia and Macedonia implies that we cannot consider Yugoslavia unless it is a different country. President and Secretary General, on the basis of the international lawyer report, explain that the membership of (old) Yugoslavia, although neither terminated by IUGG nor asked for by this Member Country, has ceased de facto with the end of the statehood of Yugoslavia (in its structure). The situation today is that of a new country: Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) is to be considered. This is why the admission of Croatia and Macedonia could be considered and voted upon.

Secretary General would like the Council to concentrate now on scientific aspects. Belgium is in favor of the admission of Yugoslavia because there are individual scientists in this country working very hard and suffering because of the presence of embargo. UK suggests that one should have the opportunity to discuss between the Delegates before voting. We should postpone the decision to later on. It is agreed. The position of the President is that one should accept Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) on the provision that the sanctions may be lifted anytime in a near future, before the next IUGG G.A.

Discussion and decision are postponed to next meeting.

10. Countries in Arrears of Payment of their Contribution

a. Countries in Observer Status

b. Suspension of membership of some countries

Postponed to next meeting.

11. Review of the Categories of Member Countries (By-Law 11.G)

Postponed to next meeting.

12. Appointment of the Resolution Committee

Secretary General gives the list of proposed names for this Committee:

- Chairman: P. Wyllie (USA) - Members:
Gerard LaChapelle (Canada) (IAG)
Pierre Hubert (France) (IAHS)
Brian Fraser (Australia) (IAGA)
Guenadii Sobolev (Russia) (IASPEI) - Back-ups:
G. Young (USA) (IAHS)
P. Paquet (Belgium) (IAG)

This proposal realizes an acceptable geographic and disciplinary balance, and takes care of the bilingual constraint.

Vote by hand: majority approves.

13. The Nominating Committee and the Election Procedure to be Used

The proposal for the Committee is: H. Moritz (Chairman), J. Dooge (substitute for D. Lal unable to come), A. Gabrielov, R. Hide, C. Kisslinger.

The list of all nominees is read by the President. The list of nominations, established by the Nominating Committee will be distributed in the pigeonholes of the Council Delegates on Tuesday, 4th, at around 2 p.m. and posted everywhere.

29. (Moved Up). UK Invitation for Next G.A.

The invitation by UK which had been announced in 1991 was confirmed. No other invitation was received; implicitly, UK was inviting and other countries did not send any. President reads the letter from the Royal Society, dated June 21, received on June 26 (addressed to P. Melchior) by which the invitation is conditional for IUGG to sharing at the 50% level the financial implications. The UK Delegate (M. Hamlin and Chairman of the IUGG panel in the UK) explains the situation. In 1993, Manchester University and Birmingham University were considered as possible venues; in 1994, Birmingham was supported by the UK panel. Potential of sponsoring companies appeared to be non existent. The Royal Society cannot commit itself to cover all the expenses at its own full risk. IUGG should be ready to cover part of the deficit in any occurs and to share any profit. It is noted that for a meeting of such size and duration, registration has been very cheap. The fees were not increased since Canberra in 1979. Is IUGG prepared to share the risk of a deficit?

The President asks the President of the Finance Committee to comment: it is a very difficult question. If a country inviting the G.A. cannot support the cost, what does that mean? Losses related to the meeting depend very much on the way the inviting country organizes it. How can IUGG control the real useful costs? The inviting country does not contribute to the cost of the visiting people. It only provides assistance for the realization of the meeting which also brings a lot in terms of rewarding inputs (scientific thrust, international prestige).

The Executive Director of AGU which has been in charge of organizing this 21st G.A. informs that $500K might be the projected loss for AGU due to a number of facts. He also states that a G.A. could become an income generator in the future. We must consider all aspects.

The IUGG Treasurer estimates that losses at that level are far beyond the reach of IUGG budget ($300K/year).

Secretary General reminds that the financial balances of all G.A.s, since Grenoble (1975), were positive (except maybe Hamburg, 1983). In many cases, government organizations were backing the inviting institutions. It is true that registration fees are very low. One may consider increasing the registration fees though the attendance from the Developing Countries might be reduced. Management should be handled in a way that increase in registration fees be kept to a minimum.

The delegate from KOREA understands that an increase of the registration fees is the only possibility but also expresses his concern since, for instance in his case, he had to pay from his own pocket for his registration fees and living expenses. One should be careful with a possible increase.

The President announces he will ask for an investigation by Members of the Finance Committee (Father Cardus, A. Ashour, M. Hamlin, F. Spilhaus and J. Somogyi). The matter will be debated again at the next Council meetings.

27. (Moved Up). Future Organization of IUGG General Assemblies

A proposal by Denmark was sent 3 months ago to all National Committees for reducing the duration of the G.A.s.. The Danish Delegate distributes a document, explaining the reasons in more detail. It also gives recommendations to organize the future G.A.s..

Denmark declares, in relation with the preceding discussion, that the cost of a G.A. could be reduced with a shortened meeting. USA, as for it, thinks that G.A.s should be planned in a much better way than done until now. A Program Committee should be set up to coordinate the scientific inputs and activities (a one page document is distributed).

President thinks that valuable elements are given by Denmark and USA to be thought about. The item will be discussed again together with the question of the next G.A.

Additional note

* The Delegate from Slovenia had entered the Council meeting room in the middle of the session and had been congratulated by the President for the ratification of Slovenia membership.

* The Delegate from Taipei had been asked to enter the Council meeting room. Taipei expressed its thanks for being accepted. Taipei scientific community was very eager to enter the Union.

CLOSED AT 4:40 p.m.

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