This document contains the summary record of the informal discussion on procedural guidelines and the agenda for the plenary session that took place on 18 June 1996. The meeting began with the Chairman inviting the delegates to give their views on the proposals for the agenda of the opening plenary sessions. Most delegations expressed agreement with the agenda as proposed by the two Governments, and NIWC also supported UDP's proposal on the creation of a subcommittee on prisoner release and reintegration, and that on social and economic deprivation and economic regeneration. Seamus Mallon highlighted the issues that may emerge if decommission was moved up in the sequence of agenda items on the table for dicussion, and this was followed by arguments by David Trimble and Peter Robinson in favour of an early consideration of the International Body's proposals on decommissioning. Mallon argued that covering decommissioning too early in the talks could put pressure on the loyalist parties and ultimately hinder decommissioning in the long run. Michael Ancram and Sean O'hUiggin commented that substantive discussions on agenda items should be deferred to plenary discussions. They reaffirmed that the list of items in the February communique had no pecking order, and that decommissioning would take place in parallel to the three strand talks. The meeting adjourned at 12.19.
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