Brussels, 03/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Swiss federal government may decide to request EU membership during the next legislature that begins end 2003 and ends in 2007, it was confirmed on Sunday by the Swiss Minister for the Economy, Joseph Deiss, during an interview on the German radio channel, Deutschlandfunk. Restating Switzerland's strategy, he pointed out that a decision will be taken once the "impact of accession on the Swiss democratic institutions" has been analysed, and after an economic impact assessment. A federal decision along these lines should, however, have the assent of the population, since a referendum can quash a government decision, he stressed. So far, the strategy followed by the Swiss authorities has been to await implementation of the first EU/Switzerland bilateral agreements and the conclusion of the second round of negotiations before taking a stance on requesting membership.