Dear Colleagues,
  The OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy met at Ministerial 
level in Paris on January 29&30, 2004. The press release can be found at:

http://www.oecd.org/document/15/0,2340,en_2649_34487_25998799_1_1_1_1,00.html

I've excerpted the passages relevant to the LC below.
Norman Graf



"...

Ministers acknowledged the importance of ensuring access to large-scale research 
infrastructure and the importance of the long-term vitality of high-energy physics. 
They noted the worldwide consensus of the scientific community, which has chosen 
an electron-positron linear collider as the next accelerator-based facility to 
complement and expand on the discoveries that are likely to emerge from the Large 
Hadron Collider currently being built at CERN. They agreed that the planning and 
implementation of such a large, multi-year project should be carried out on a 
global basis, and should involve consultations among not just scientists, but also 
representatives of science funding agencies from interested countries. Accordingly, 
Ministers endorsed the statement prepared by the OECD Global Science Forum 
Consultative Group on High-Energy Physics (Annex 3).

...



ANNEX 3

International Co-operation on Large Accelerator-based Projects in High-energy Physics

Ministers expressed their appreciation for the work of the OECD Global Science Forum 
Consultative Group on High-Energy Physics. They welcomed the report from the Group 
and commended the clarity and worldwide consensus they found among the high-energy 
physics community in developing the roadmap for future large accelerator-based 
facilities.

In particular, the Ministers noted several important points that were articulated 
in the report:

o A roadmap that identifies four interdependent priorities for global high-energy 
  physics (HEP) facilities: 
  i) the exploitation of current frontier facilities until contribution of 
     these machines is surpassed; 
  ii) completion and full exploitation of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN; 
  iii) preparing for the development of a next-generation electron-positron collider; 
  and iv) the continued support for appropriate R&D into novel accelerator designs.

o The need to have large, next-generation facilities funded, designed, built, and 
  operated as global-scale collaborations with contribution from all countries that 
  wish to participate.

o The need for strong international R&D collaboration and studies of the organisational, 
  legal, financial, and administrative issues required to realise the next major 
  accelerator facility on the Consultative Group's roadmap, a next-generation electron-
  positron collider with a significant period of concurrent running with the LHC.

o The need to continue to educate, attract and train young people in the fields of 
  high-energy physics, astrophysics and cosmology in the face of the increasingly 
  competitive environment where all areas of science, industry and commerce are seeking 
  to capture the imagination of the most creative minds.

Ministers agreed that, given the complexity and long lead times for decision making of 
major international projects, it is important that consultations continue within the 
scientific communities and, when it becomes appropriate, within interested governmental 
communities in order to maximise the advantages offered by global collaboration.

..."