19 organisations attended the Preparatory Meeting to organise the means for successful negotiations. During the Preparatory Meeting (29 to 30 November 1991), CODESA was named and its aims considered. It was established that decisions of CODESA would be taken by consensus and that where consensus did not exist, the principles of 'sufficient consensus' were invoked.

The Preparatory Meeting established the Steering Committee which was composed of one person from each of the participating organisations. The Steering Committee was tasked with convening the first plenary of CODESA, and to attend to outstanding items which featured on the agenda of the Preparatory Meeting.