ABSTRACT
The Compromise Group was established unplanned, unexpectedly and literally on the spur of the moment at Cartagena at 5 am on 28 February 1999. The three main groups that had negotiated so far – the Miami Group, the Like-Minded Group and the European Union – were sheltering in their trenches and refusing to come out unless their opponents offered major concessions. The countries of the Miami Group were widely perceived as mainly responsible for the breakdown at Cartagena. Each group had to take the floor in an order determined by the colour of a plastic ball its spokesperson took out of a bag at every round of interventions. The inter-sessional period was used wisely by Mr Mayr. He asked all the groups to submit text for a new working draft, which would be used as the final draft for negotiations.
