Members of the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) and MP Victor Stepaniuc think that the persons responsible for relations with mass-media from central public administration institutions should cooperate with all mass-media institutions, regardless of their editorial policy. They should also ensure a higher degree of transparency. On the other hand, representatives of several bodies are pointing out the necessity for better trained journalists. These statements sounded on Wednesday at a roundtable themed “Access to Information: Cooperation and Transparency”, taking place in the Parliament building. Victor Stepaniuc, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Science, Education, Sport and Mass-Media, stated that ministries should be more open and approachable for the press. It is the Government’s fault that it doesn’t ensure free access to information. According to the MP, the ministries which have the most serious problems in this case are the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. Stepaniuc emphasised that information should be provided to all interested media institutions, not only to the Teleradio-Moldova Company. The cited source mentioned that the legislation in the field has seen progress in the recent years. Gheorghe Gorincioi, head of BCC, also affirms that there are a lot of cases when representatives of public bodies attempt to intimidate journalists and limit their right to information. A regrettable fact - these phenomena exist in spite of the sanctioned legal guarantees of press freedom. It is important that we ensure the cooperation of public institutions with mass-media, Gorincioi stated. Other members of the BCC also pleaded for a more efficient activity of the press services and for more transparency in the institutions they represent. Valeriu Soltan however stated that both journalists and the public structures should present the information so that “Europe and those who are watching us from abroad have the impression that there is a genuine cooperation and reforms are implemented here”. In turn, representatives of several press services mentioned that journalists should have a better professional training. Oleg Rotaru, deputy head of the Government’s Office stated that all the problems concerning cooperation with mass-media are monitored by the Government and that several actions have been implemented in this sense. The Government approved the decision on the necessity of creating web-pages for each ministry. Government’s Communication Concept, which is currently being worked out, provides the reforming of the Press Service and the communication system’s activity. The mechanism of cooperation with the civil society is also being improved, Oleg Rotaru added. At the beginning of the next year, BCC will organise similar roundtable, with the participation of the press institutions representatives.