This paper gives a brief summary of the views expressed by the six panellists of the plenary on intercultural communication and reports on the salient points raised by the audience during the discussion. The synopsis first delineates the concept of cultures, which provides perspectives for discussion of the basic relationship between culture and interpreter-mediated communication settings. In a second part some of the acute problems that arise in such settings are explained. In the final part, a tentative definition is given of what the role of the interpreter is and should be in dealing with these problems.