The British-Irish Council will be a ministerial forum containing representatives of the Irish and British governments, the new devolved executives in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, and the governments of the small British islands: the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
As laid down in the Belfast Agreement, it will meet twice a year at summit level, and there will be regular meetings between departmental ministers to discuss possible co-operation in their respective sectors.
A small secretariat will be provided by the Irish and British governments. However, all implementation arrangements will be carried out by the respective administrations and there will be nothing like the new North-South co-operation structures being planned for the island of Ireland.
The Belfast Agreement suggests that "suitable issues for early discussion" in the BIC could include transport links, agricultural, environmental, cultural, health and education issues, and approaches to EU issues.
It says the parliaments of the eight members will also be encouraged to develop links, "perhaps building on the British-Irish Inter-parliamentary Body".
As with so many elements of the Belfast Agreement, progress on the BIC has had to wait for the formation of a Northern Ireland executive. In Scotland and Wales they have spent the past 15 months preparing for and electing members to devolved institutions. Any other business had to wait until the opening of the Welsh Assembly five weeks ago and of the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.
Department of Foreign Affairs officials report considerable interest in the BIC in Edinburgh and Cardiff, although until now it has been "pretty unfocused" as they concentrated on the historic task of moving towards autonomy.
The Irish Government has taken the most concrete steps towards recognising the new set of relationships in these islands, by appointing consuls-general in Edinburgh and Cardiff.
There has been a small, but steady, trickle of Scottish and Welsh officials visiting Dublin, including the putative presiding officers of the two assemblies. The Taoiseach met the Scottish National Party leader, Mr Alex Salmond, in Edinburgh last October.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and the British Foreign Office prepared joint draft papers for the Northern parties earlier this year on how the BIC might conduct its business.
"However, until the political leaders get together in a room no one has much idea about how it will go forward," said one official yesterday. Assuming a benign outcome to this week's talks, the first meeting of the council is expected in the autumn.