Yes, the Bureau met again today. Time does go fast. This time there was a heavy political agenda, with discussions about fleshing out Article 11 of the Lisbon Treaty (participatory democracy) and amendments to the rules of procedure (upstream of the October renewal of the Committee), but also the current budgetary situation and its consequences. Last and not least, the Bureau appointed another senior official; Jean-François Bence, a French national and longstanding Committee official, was appointed Director of Consultative Works (with particular responsibility for external relations, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and the environment, and energy and transport. This was the last such senior appointment that needed to be made. Now, at very long last, the new establishment plan for the Committee’s administration, approved unanimously by the Bureau in December 2008, is about to be fully in place. It may have taken a long time, but it feels all the better for that.