The result of our engagement was the Joint Declaration published on 1 May 2003. The Joint Declaration is the comprehensive assessment by the two Governments of what remains to be implemented from the Agreement and the most positive way of ensuring that this takes place. Published in conjunction with the Joint Declaration, the Agreement on Monitoring and Compliance set out some important principles on how confidence and stability in the political process can be sustained and developed, principally through the creation of a new independent body. This new body will monitor and report on the carrying out of commitments in relation to the ending of paramilitary activity and the programme of security normalisation in Northern Ireland, as set out in the Joint Declaration. It will also consider claims that any party within the Assembly was in breach of its commitments under the Agreement.