Member State Relations

Mandate

The Member State Relations Section coordinates matters concerning relations between CERN and its Member States to ensure an ongoing and effective dialogue.

Activities

  • facilitates appropriate information-sharing and exchange on matters of common concern;
  • works with a designated Management Liaison for each country;
  • helps to coordinate Thematic Forums for Member States on topics of interest.

The Management Liaison is a member of the CERN senior staff, who helps to maintain open dialogue between the CERN management and the Member States Council delegates and other relevant officials in that country. They may also interact with existing Informal Networks of staff and users from their country.

The goal of the Thematic Forums is to bring together CERN and Member State representatives who are experts in the relevant field to exchange information, share and develop ideas, and discuss long-term strategic issues in different areas.

Member States

The CERN Convention was signed in 1953 by the twelve founding states Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia, and entered into force on September 29, 1954. The Organization was subsequently joined by Austria (1959), Spain (1961-1969, re-joined 1983), Portugal (1985), Finland (1991), Poland (1991), CzechoSlovak Republic (1992), Hungary (1992), Bulgaria (1999), Israel (2014),  Romania (2016) and Serbia (2019). The Czech Republic and Slovak Republic re-joined CERN after their mutual independence in 1993. Yugoslavia left CERN in 1961. Thus, CERN today has 23 Member States.

All Member States are represented in the CERN Council, the supreme governing body of the Organization. The Member States Relations Section coordinates day-to-day relations between the CERN Management and the Member States. A Management Liaison has been designated for each country from the senior staff to help maintain dialogue and information exchange. They are listed below. Administrative relations with the two host states France and Switzerland are under the responsibility of the Relations with the Host States Service.

Management Liaisons for Member States

Head of Member State Relations: Peter Chochula