Note on progress of the Commission’s work – UNCCP working paper

1. The Commission might now consider declaring what might be called the "general discussion" to have "closed”. By thus clearly giving the impression that it was entering upon a new period of its work, it would make it easier for the parties to proceed to a readjustment of their respective positions, such as seems indispensable if any rapprochement between them is to be possible.

2. Once the general discussion has been closed, the Commission would be able to approach the examination of questions from a perceptibly different angle. Each question could be taken separately and made the subject of a detailed study of all its elements and factors. At the same time, the Commission or the organs to which it might entrust such work could go further than has been the case up till now in working out compromise proposals or formulas with the aim of facilitating the rapprochement of the parties on each question under consideration. It would in short be a case of ascertaining the possibility, through detailed analyses, of disentangling points on which agreement already existed or might be obtained from the sum-total of information and proposals on the table before the Commission.

3. For carrying out what might be considered the second stage of the Lausanne conversations, it would be desirable to set up two Committees entrusted respectively with territorial questions and the question of the refugees. The Agenda of each of these Committees should be very precisely worked out so as to ensure as exhaustive a discussion as possible of each concrete question.

4. If the Commission accepts this suggestion in principle, the Secretariat could draw up a kind of balance sheet showing the proposals formulated by each party on the concrete questions which have been studied by the Commission.

5. I think that it would be desirable to fix a date for examination by the Commission of the results of the work of the Committee in this second stage of the Lausanne conversations. In principle, 3 to 4 weeks would seem to be enough to show whether such work could lead to positive results or whether, on the contrary, it would be preferable to go no further than drawing up a list of the concrete points on which the Commission judges a rapprochement between the parties indispensable, and suspending the conversations for a period of from 3 to 4 weeks to enable the Delegations to consult with their Governments.

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