The DONES Steering Committee met in the Croatian city of Zagreb on 14^th March, in its 3^rd meeting, to discuss and review the progress of the DONES Programme, in particular the organisational and legal requirements needed to progress further.

The DONES Steering Committee meeting, held at the National University Library in Zagreb, was attended Andrej Plenković (Prime Minister of Croatia), the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education, the Director General at Ruđer Bošković Institute, the Spanish and Croatian delegation and representatives of other additional 15 countries, as well as the European Commission on behalf of EURATOM, the consortium of European fusion laboratories (EUROfusion) and Fusion for Energy (F4E).

During this meeting, an update on the Croatian contribution to the DONES Programme was presented by the Croatian delegation. Progress on the Procurement Arrangements template was presented as well as key organisational aspects such as the setting up of the Programme Team with the appointment of the interim Programme Manager and the agreement on the establishment of the DONES On-site Joint Team.

In addition, the DONES Steering Committee discussed the achievements since the last meeting held in Granada on 14^th October 2023, including the progress on addressing the recommendations raised by the External Expert Panel, and were informed on the Commonalities and Interface activities with the IFMIF/EVEDA project. The DONES Steering Committee was also updated on the ongoing discussions with interested countries to define their possible contribution to the DONES Programme.

Finally, the representatives reviewed and agreed the DONES Programme Value Estimates that sets out the value estimates and rules for the contributions to the DONES Programme.

The next meeting of the DONES Steering Committee will be held in the city of Granada in October 2024.

At its third meeting, the DONES Steering Committee was attended by representatives from: