We can decide to merge the GCVS with automatic surveys now. I have already outlined the difficulties and will give some examples illustrating the problems slightly later.  Steve Kawaler's suggestion: 'The GCVS personnel might play a role as a `meta-catalog' - a central `index' of survey-based catalogs of variable stars'. We like this suggestion in general. However, it should be worked out in more detail. If we want to have a good meta-catalog, the difficulties I have mentioned in relation to merging the catalogues still should be considered.