The National Book Chamber and the National Library will not merge as the Ministry of Culture proposed in a bill with amendments to the law on editorial activity adopted in 2000. Under the bill that was debated in the last sitting of Parliament, the state will initiate national book editing programs only as a result of contests-auctions involving all the editors, regardless of the form of ownership, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the Parliament’s sitting, Deputy Minister of Culture Gheorghe Postica said the National Book Chamber should be preserved, not transferred or joined with the National Library. Chiril Lucinschi, chairman of the parliamentary commission on culture, education, youth and sport, said the National Book Chamber is an important institution that should be kept. “The National Chamber is a book store, while the National Library has another function,” he stated. The other amendments adopted by Parliament in first reading ban the public authorities, persons holding responsible positions or public organizations from interfering in the publishing houses’ organizational and creative activity. The censorship on works is also banned. Gheorghe Postica said the amendments are aimed at updating the law so that it becomes stimulatory, equitable and equal for all the institutions involved in the editorial process and at avoiding possible monopolization, censorship and unfair work conditions for publishing houses.