French composer takes part in formal discussions (13)

I believe the answer is:

deliberations

'formal discussions' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'french composer takes part' is the wordplay.
'french composer' becomes 'Delibes' (Lo Delibes, r8tn-r89r).
'takes' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'part' becomes 'ration' (ration is a kind of part).
'delibes' enclosing 'ration' is 'DELIBERATIONS'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Another definition for deliberations that I've seen is " Formal discussions".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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