overestimated and its adoption should not put a stop to the reform of the Conference. But if we approved it in the very near future, that would be a first step towards establishing better conditions for reinvigorating the work of the Conference in general. We appreciate that to solve all the problems of improving the work of the Conference at one blow, as the saying has it, is impossible. Numerous questions and proposals are not yet ripe for solution. Here, obviously, the continuity of the process in general will inevitably be accompanied by something of a step-by-step approach. As a contribution to our discussions, I would like to express some ideas on this issue. First of all, we believe that the rule of consensus should be maintained. The question of this rule arises most often in connection with the establishment of ad hoc committees and their mandates. That is understandable. But it can hardly be expected that if we decide to hold negotiations on a particular problem against a State's will that State will then happily accept the talks and take part in them. At all events, we will not get any final result that way. Moreover, consensus is a kind of guarantee of equal rights for all the members of the Conference regardless of any one State's military significance and of political schemes. All the same, some changes might be made in the procedure for setting up the working bodies. First, we might look into the question of not repeating every year the procedure of setting up an ad hoc committee with a particular mandate if the committee has already been established once. Let the work continue until the mandate is fulfilled. At the same time, a clearly-delimited two-week period might be set aside at the beginning of each 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the internal workings and decision-making process of an international conference, rather than a specific sector or field. The language used is formal and diplomatic, suggesting a discussion among government representatives or international organizations.

**Category**
International relations