Due to the situation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the CERN Council has postponed the next step in the update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. During a special session that was scheduled to take place in Budapest on 25 May, the Council was due to adopt and make public the recommendations made by the European Strategy Group during a drafting session in January. This session will be replaced by a videoconference meeting, during which the delegations will discuss how to proceed.

The process of updating the European Strategy for Particle Physics began in 2017 and aims to define the long-term goals of the discipline. Discussions are being led by a group chaired by Halina Abramowicz of the University of Tel Aviv and comprising a delegate from each of CERN’s Member and Associate Member States, as well as directors and representatives of major institutes and organisations in Europe and invitees from outside Europe. Following a call for proposals at the end of 2018, the results of which formed the basis of discussions at a symposium in May 2019, which itself led to the drafting of a briefing book, the European Strategy Group met in January 2020 to issue its recommendations.

Read also the article in the CERN Courier.