Berlin Drafts Referendum Legislation

The German government has drawn up legislation to allow referendums and is expected to be put to the Bundestag within a few weeks. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is under pressure to join other EU member states in allowing the electorate to vote on the new European constitution, and recent surveys show that three out of four Germans support the idea of a referendum. Earlier attempts to introduce the referendum system in Germany have failed. Germany would have to change its constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority in both the lower and upper houses of parliament.