In February 2007, the Swedish government made the decision to offer to be host for the facility and is prepared to stand for 30 per cent of the investment costs of around 12 billion Swedish kronor and up to 10 per cent of the operational costs. In June 2007, the Swedish government commissioned Lund University to establish a secretariat in order to plan for ESS, build up competency and recruit researchers. Professor Colin Carlile, former Director of the world-leading Laue-Langevin Institute in Grenoble, was appointed as Head of the Secretariat.
The Swedish government has appointed Allan Larsson, Chairman of the Board at Lund University and former Minister for Finance, as Sweden’s Chief Negotiator.