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With more than 700 staff including contractors, an °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ all-staff meeting is not easy to organize these days. And so it was a welcomed opportunity to move this New Year's reception to Osco Manosco, the newly built communal hall of the neighbouring city of Manosque. As host it fell to the city's mayor, Bernard Jeanmet-Peralta, to address the first words to the gathered crowd¡ªand not without some faint irony: "Quelle machine infernale," Peralta yelled, holding his hands against his ears. "What a diabolic machine..." Of course the mayor wasn't referring to the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ machine being built only a dozen kilometers to the south of his city, but to the sound system that was suffering from some "diabolic" acoustic feedback from the microphones.

Peralta was followed by Jean-Paul Clement, Director of the International School in Manosque which many of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ children attend. And then it was the turn of Osamu Motojima, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Director-General, as well as the project's three Deputy Directors Rem Haange, Rich Hawryluk and Carlos Alejaldre to wrap up the achievements of the past year. Motojima compared the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ project with a train that is picking up speed. "During the acceleration phase increased tension is appearing at the joints between individual cabins," he said, explaining that each cabin of the train stood for an individual element within the project.

It wasn't without satisfaction that Director Motojima pointed out that the project's Schedule Performance Index had increased markedly and that the Strategic Management Plan, developed during the year 2011 to minimize potential delays, was showing positive effects in keepting the project within the schedule and cost boundaries cemented by the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Baseline. "Today, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ budget is secured in all seven Member states," he continued. "Sixty-five Procurement Arrangements have been signed so far representing almost 75 % of the project's in-kind value."

So much for the project's status. With the first one hundred contracts coming to an end this year¡ªyear number five for the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization¡ªand more contracts terminating in early 2013, there was genuine interest in the future staffing policy. Having answered a handful of questions on this issue by explaining management's approach, Director Motojima then opened the buffet where the Galettes des Rois, a traditional , were waiting to be shared by all.