The Constitution of Greece: EU Membership Perspectives

Abstract

The Constitution of Greece, adopted in 1975 after the collapse of the military dictatorship, was drafted with provisions providing the constitutional grounds for European integration. Subsequently, two EU related amendments were introduced and, additionally, constitutional interpretation is used to overcome further conflicts. The Constitution is described in the report as detailed and comprehensive, with a legal character and strong normative force. It includes a detailed list of rights, including social rights. The Constitution refers to the concept of ‘welfare state rule of law’. By way of an exception to constitutional systems of this type, Greece does not have a constitutional court, but instead a decentralised system of review of constitutionality. Adhering to the French ‘État de droit’ and the German ‘Rechtsstaat’ traditions, the rule of law works in conjunction with specific constitutional provisions. In particular, nulla poena sine lege is a cornerstone principle of constitutionality and the rule of law, and has prompted extensive scholarly concerns in relation to the European Arrest Warrant system. More widely known are the constitutional and fundamental rights issues raised in the context of the EU and IMF austerity and conditionality programmes, marking, according to the report, a darker side of sovereignty loss. The report summarises a broader concern in Greek academic commentary that constitutional rights and values have been given marginal protection, as the national constitution is no longer the guarantor of popular sovereignty rooted in a political decision made by the people, but rather has become a guarantor of the state’s compliance with EMU obligations.