Research ministers from across Europe spent the last day and a half discussing how best to organise themselves so they can have more effective discussions. While this may seem like procrastination, it’s actually no small task when you are trying to forge out a path that is agreeable to 27 countries and the European Commission.

One of the main talked about issues was how to reform the scientific and technical research committee (CREST), a body through which member states advise the Europe Commission in its development of research policy proposals. Currently, a member of the Commission chairs the group. But the member states would like to be in the drivering seat so that they can take more ownership over the direction that EU research policy develops. After some wrangling with the Commission, a compromise was settled upon where both the Commission and the member states would chair the body. The research ministers were sanguine that their attempt at simplifying and giving more direction to their discussions would not in fact make things more complicated.

And, no meeting of EU research ministers would be complete without some mention of their problem child – ITER – the multibillion-euro fusion reactor project due to be built in the south of France. Following a story in Nature earlier this week, Tobias Krantz, the Swedish research minister, told journalists the project is “seriously” over budget and that the European Commission has been tasked with finding a way to plug the gap. He confirmed that one solution being looked at is getting a loan from the European Investment Bank. Picture credit:Mikael Lundgren