The phrase "preparatory discussion" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use the phrase to refer to a discussion that takes place before a more formal event or process. For example, "We held a preparatory discussion to set the agenda for our meeting."
He called back later to say that he had spent another 20 minutes speaking with Mr. Hevesi, and expected to continue preparatory discussions today.
10.12pm: EU chief negotiator Javier Solana said the six countries involved in talks on Iran's nuclear programme will meet tomorrow for preparatory discussions on a 1 October meeting in Geneva, AP reports.
But there was little sign of progress from the three days of preparatory discussions at official level; and little hope of the ministers making further progress.The current negotiations involve the Kyoto Protocol, a deal which was reached in the Japanese city of the same name in 1997.
Mike Moore, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has promised the delegations in Geneva what he calls a "reality check" at the end of July.Perhaps the most important change in recent months is that of the attitude of many of the participants in the preparatory discussions.
Language issues are likely to be dealt with in a more consciously fashion using the 'SPOCs & survey'-method compared to the 'team & report'-method even though there too, language issues may surface during the preparatory discussions.
Preparatory discussions are being opened in four new areas: opening up the electricity market, participation in the European GNSS project Galileo, cooperating with the European centre for disease prevention and recognising certificates of origin for food products.
Facilitators' training included observation at other facilitators, preparatory discussions before and reflective meetings after observations.
In our preparatory discussions, we challenged each other about the science and the educational value of each activity.
In 2009 2010, during preparatory discussions with head teachers it was suggested the consent method should be changed from active to passive.
However, there was no evidence of this given the openness of respondents, and preparatory discussions with local experts indicated this would not be a systematic problem.
