MEETING OF THE ESC COUNCIL
Thursday, September 14, 2000

Present: Titular Members and Executive Committee

The ESC President welcomes all delegates and thanks the Secretary General P Suhadolc and the Assistant Secretary A Walker, for their important contributions to the organisation of this 27th ESC General Assembly.

1. Presence of a quorum

P Suhadolc ascertains the presence of the quorum. 34 out of 49 are present.

2. Appointment of the Election Chairman and tellers

F Scherbaum is proposed as Election Chairman, A Gosar and M Herak as tellers. The proposal is approved.

3. ESC General Assembly in 2002

P Suhadolc informs the Council that one invitation has been received by the ESC Bureau for the organisation of the XXVIII General Assembly in the year 2002, from the Department of Earth Sciences, Univeristy of Genoa (Genoa).

No other candidatures are proposed from the floor.

There being no objections to a public vote, the nomination was carried unanimously by a show of hands; 34 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions.

In response to a request from P Suhadolc, C Eva thanks the Council approving this candidature and invites all ESC members to attend the ESC Genoa Assembly. The date will be the first week of September. It is noted that EAEE will meet in London during the second week of September.

The 2002 ESC General Assembly will be, therefore, organised by the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Genoa (Italy). Contact person: C Eva.

P Suhadolc asks the floor if there are any candidatures for the General Assemblies after 2002. The Titular member for Austria W Lenhardt raises the candidature of the University of Vienna to organise the 29th General Assembly in Vienna in 2004. The candidature is acknowledged with thanks.

4. Elections

The Election Chairman F Scherbaum takes over the presidency and asks the Nominating Committee to present the candidates for the Bureau in sequential order.

Soren Gregersen, member of the Nominating Committee, points out that there is one matter to be discussed before the slate of candidates for officers of the ESC is presented.

According to the ESC By-laws it is not possible to elect more than one officer from each one country. When the Nominating Committee has considered the best possible slate for the election for the coming 2-year period they have found several candidates from one country.

This condition of the By-laws is there to protect our European Commission from being dominated by one nation. The Nominating Committee judgement is that there is no danger of national dominance by this exception for one administrative period of two years.

The Nominating Committee prefers to bring up this question before presenting names, so it can be discussed independently of individual candidates.

The Nominating Committee, therefore, asks the Council to decide on:

"The ESC Council decides for the coming two-years period to accept two officers of the Bureau from one country, as an exception to the existing By-law."

P Suhadolc confirms that this condition is in the Article 5 of the By-laws.

L Mendes Victor asks the floor if there are any comments on this issue.

J Zschau asks why the exemption should be there only for a two-year period. C Browitt proposes to have the By-laws amended at the next Assembly in order to have more flexibility on this strict condition. P Suhadolc points out that the Council is sovereign and can always allow for such exemptions if there is a need for it. After some general discussion it is agreed to keep the Bylaws as they stand.

L Mendes Victor then asks the Council to vote on the proposal of the Nominating Committee. There are no objections that the election is carried out by show of hands. The proposal is adopted unanimously.

The President of the Nominating Committee D Mayer-Rosa presents the candidates in sequential order.

Results of the elections:

- Bureau:

President: L Mendes Victor is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. L Mendez Victor is elected (votes: 31 yes, 0 no, 3 abs.)

Vice-Presidents: For the first of the two Vice-presidents C Eva is presented. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. C Eva is elected (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

For the second of the two Vice-presidents D Giardini is presented. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands C D Giardini is reelected (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

Secretary General: P Suhadolc is presented as candidate.

No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. P Suhadolc is elected by show of hands (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

Assistant Secretary: A B Walker is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands. A B Walker is elected by show of hands (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.)

P Suhadolc gave warm words of thanks to A Shapira for his vice presidency and for organising the successful Tel Aviv Assembly.

- Subcommissions

SC-A: K B Makropoulos is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.) K B Makropoulos is elected.

SC-B: A Shapira is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.). L Shapira is elected.

SC-C: C-I Trifu is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands (34 yes, 0 no, 0 abs.). C-I Trifu is elected.

SC-D: J Mechie is presented as candidate. No further candidates are raised from the floor. Election is carried out by show of hands (33 yes, 0 no, 1 abs.). J Mechie is elected.