Despite continuing resistance from the opposition Christian Democrats, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's pension-reform plans, the most radical in Germany for nearly half a century, are expected to clear their final parliamentary hurdle on May 11th. Last-minute government concessions on child benefit, widows' pensions and home ownership now look certain to ensure the bill's approval in the opposition-dominated Bundesrat, the second chamber, which speaks for Germany's 16 state governments.
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