A second chamber of Parliament would emerge at the European level as well. The EU's Council of Ministers, a diffuse collection of committees from national ministries, would merge into a pan-European chamber modeled on Germany's Bundesrat. In Germany's federal system, each state sends a delegation to the Bundesrat, or upper house, which in turn gives the 16 states a major role in the legislative process. Bundesrat members are appointed but not directly elected. The EU's existing, secretive Council of Ministers has prompted much of the criticism that the EU is undemocratic.
Ministers routinely meet behind closed doors.
Other issues with more regional importance would be delegated back to a national level. Analysts said that Mr. Schroeder's plan was likely to go beyond the aims of the French political elite, who want to retain a greater degree of national influence but who also support a future EU constitution in some form. The Danish, Swedish and Finnish governments also are likely to give it a cool reception, EU analysts said. Germany has given itself a leading role in the EU's enlargement into the former Soviet-bloc nations in Central and Eastern Europe, which ranks as Europe's next biggest undertaking after the 1999 adoption of a single currency. At December's EU summit in Nice, Mr. Schroeder gained stature in Europe after he successfully pushed for the 2004 constitutional convention, which the French resisted, as a vehicle to overhaul the EU's structures.