Court Orders Commitee Revamp

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has upheld a complaint brought by the conservative opposition that Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government changed the way a key legislative committee was formed to ensure it had a majority. The court ordered Wednesday that the government must reform the committee which arbitrates between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat on legislation on which they can't agree. In the wake of the 2002 elections, the government parties changed the way the committee was formed to give themselves a majority of nine to seven. With the upper house delegation evenly split, that ensured an overall government majority.