What can be brought to a referendum?
Greece
CONSTITUTION OFGREECE
(Adopted1975; last amended 2008)
Article 44
2.The President of the Republic shall by decree proclaim a referendum on crucial national mattersfollowing a resolution voted by an absolute majority of the total number ofMembers of Parliament, taken upon proposal of the Cabinet.
Areferendum on Bills passedby Parliament regulating important social matters, with the exception ofthe fiscal ones, shall be proclaimed by decree by the President of theRepublic, if this is decided by three-fifths of the total number of itsmembers, following a proposal of two-fifths of the total number of its members,and as the Standing Orders and the law for the application of the presentparagraph provide. (…)
By Article 44, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, a referendum can becalled on crucial national issues and on existing laws on importantsocial issues.
The Constitution does not forbid a referendum on constitutional changes. In 2011, former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou argued for a referendum to revise the constitution. Although the referendum did not take place, it implies that constitutional changes can be subject to a referendum under the current Constitution, which was last revised in 2008.
