¹ See Armin von Bogdandy & Stephan Schill, Overcoming Absolute Primacy: Respect for National Identity Under the Lisbon Treaty, 48 Common Mkt. L. Rev. 1417 (2011). For an overview see Polzin, Monica, Constitutional Identity as a Constructed and Restless Soul, and Pietro Faraguna, Constitutional Identity – A Shield or a Sword? The Dilemma of Constitutional Identities in the EU, both published in the present issue of the GERMAN L. J.Google Scholar

² See, e.g., Bundesverfassungsgericht [BVerfGE] [Federal Constitutional Court] Oct. 12, 1993, Case No. 2159/92, paras. 109, 161–62; see also Cloots, Elke, National Identity in EU Law 1–3 (2015).Google Scholar

³ See Konstadinides, Theodore, Constitutional Identity as a Shield and as a Sword: The European Legal Order within the Framework of National Constitutional Settlement, 13 Cambridge Y.B. Eur. Legal Stud. 195 (2010–2011) (providing Konstadinides's expression).Google Scholar

⁴ For a detailed analysis, see Zoe Papassiopi-Passia, Nationality and the Law of Aliens, in INTRODUCTION TO GREEK LAW 409–30 (Konstantinos Kerameus & Phaedon Kozyris eds., 2008).Google Scholar

⁵ For data published by the International Organization for Migration, see Greece, Int'l Org. for Migration, https://www.iom.int/countries/greece (last visited Sept. 17, 2017).Google Scholar

⁶ See Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 460/2013, para. 6.Google Scholar

⁷ See Christopoulos, Dimitrios, Country Report: Greece, EUDO Citizenship Observatory 15 (2013).Google Scholar

⁸ See Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 460/2013, para 6.Google Scholar

⁹ See Putler, Adelheid, Art. 4 EUV, in EUV, AEUV Kommentar ¶ 22 (Christian Calliess & Matthias Ruffert eds., 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁰ Around the same time, Symvoylion Epikrateias was faced with a similar problem in another case. The case had to do with the ethnic origin of the students in military schools. There was a minority opinion which stated that Greek citizens who were not Greek by birth but by naturalization could not be accepted in military schools because the domain of national security and defense is a sensitive one and citizens who were not Greek by birth could constitute a possible threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state. There was, however, no reference to the national identity of Greece. See Symvoylion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 3317/2014.Google Scholar

¹¹ For the debate in the Greek legal literature, see I. Koutnatzis, Grundlage und Grundzüge staatlichen Verfassungsrechts (Griechenland), in Handbook Ius Publicum Europaeum / 208 (Armin von Bogdany, Pedro Cruz Vilalon & Peter Huber eds., 2007).Google Scholar

¹² See Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 460/2013, para. 10.Google Scholar

¹³ It is well known that shipping and tourism are the two main pillars of the Greek economy.Google Scholar

¹⁴ See Lazaratos, Panos, Comment on Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 307/2014, 7 THEORIA & PRAXIS DIOIKITIKOU DIKAIOU 859 (2014).Google Scholar

¹⁵ See Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court], 100/2017.Google Scholar

¹⁶ See Lazaratos, Panos, Comment on Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 100/2017, 10 THEORIA & PRAXIS DIOIKITIKOU DIKAIOU 307 (2017).Google Scholar

¹⁷ The Symvoulion Epikrateias referred to the well-known ruling of the BVerfG on the constitutional protection of the Sunday holiday. See Vlaxopoulos, Spyridon, Comment on Symvoylion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 100/2017, 10 THEORIA & PRAXIS DIOIKITIKOU DIKAIOU 313 (2017).Google Scholar

¹⁸ See Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 100/2017, para. 10.Google Scholar

¹⁹ See Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 307/2014.Google Scholar

²⁰ Article 3 paragraph 1 of the Greek Constitution which reads as follows: The prevailing religion in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. The Orthodox Church of Greece, acknowledging our Lord Jesus Christ as its head, is inseparably united in doctrine with the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople and with every other Church of Christ of the same doctrine, observing unwaveringly, as they do, the holy apostolic and synodal canons and sacred traditions. It is autocephalous and is administered by the Holy Synod of serving Bishops and the Permanent Holy Synod originating thereof and assembled as specified by the Statutory Charter of the Church in compliance with the provisions of the Patriarchal Tome of June 29, 1850 and the Synodal Act of September 4, 1928.Google Scholar

²¹ For the special relationship between the Greek State and the Greek Orthodox Church, see Papageorgiou, Constantine, Religion and Law in Greece (2015).Google Scholar

²² See Joulia Iliopoulos-Straggas, Syntagmatiko Dikaio Kai Europaiki Enopoiisi [Constitutional Law and European Intergration] 62 (1996); Phaedon Vegleris, H Symvasi Dikaiomaton Tou Anthropou Kai To Syntagma [European Convention of Human Rights and the Greek Constitution] 132 (1977).Google Scholar

²³ See Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas, Oi sxeseis tis ellinikis me tin europaiki ennomi taksi [The Relationship Between the Greek and the European Legal Order], 26 TO SYNTAGMA 1093 (2000); Ioannis Bakopoulos, Oi epiptoseis tis synthikis tou Maastricht se themata ethnikis kyriarhias [The Impact of the Maastricht Treaty on National Sovereignty Matters], 23 TO SYNTAGMA 55 (1997); Evangelos Venizelos, I europaiki ithageneia kai to Elliniko Syntagma [European Citizenship and the Greek Constitution], 13 ELLINIKI EPITHEORISI EUROPAIKOU DIKAIOU 271 (1993).Google Scholar

²⁴ See Giannakopoulos, Konstantinos, Metaksi syntagmatikon skopon kai syntagmatikon orion: I dialektiki ekseliksi tis syntagmatikis pragmatikoititas sthn ethnikl kai sthn koinotiki ennoml taksi [Between Constitutional Objectives and Constitutional Limits: The Dialectic Evolution of Constitutional Reality in National and European Legal Order], 3 EFIMERIDA DIOIKITIKOU DIKAIOU 733 (2008).Google Scholar

²⁵ The 2001 constitutional amendment was very extensive, almost doubling its size, and of questionable quality. For more details and a fierce critique, see Dagtoglou, Prodromos, Constitutional and Administrative Law, in Introduction to Greek law 24 (Konstantinos Kerameus & Phaedon Kozyris eds., 2008).Google Scholar

²⁶ OJ L 199/54. For more details, see Tzemos, Vasilis, O Vasikos Metohos [The Major Shareholder] 17 (2006).Google Scholar

²⁷ See Opinion of Advocate General Poiares Maduro at paras. 31–33, Case C-213/07, Michaniki AE v. Ethniko Symvoulio Radiotileorasis and Ypourgos Epikrateias (Oct, 8, 2008), http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=68940&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=Ist&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=329930.Google Scholar

²⁸ See Case C-213/07, Michaniki AE v. Ethniko Symvoulio Radiotileorasis and Ypourgos Epikrateias, 2008 E.C.R. I-9999 (2007).Google Scholar

²⁹ See Nikiforos, Dimitris, To telos tou vasikou metohou … meso mias koinis arxchis: I analogikotita os diamesos tis ethnikis kai tis enosiakis ennomis taksis [The End of the Major Shareholder … Through a Common Principle: Proportionality as an Intermediate Between the National and the European Legal Order], 37 TO SYNTAGMA 315 (2011).Google Scholar

³⁰ The last three rulings on the matter were the Symvoulion Epikrateias [Supreme administrative court] 3470/2011, 3471/2011 and 3472/2011. For an analysis of these rulings, see Kapotas, Panos, Greek Symvoulion Epikrateias: Judgment 3470/2011, 10 Eur. Const. L. Rev. 162 (2014).Google Scholar

³¹ Konstantinos Giannakopoulos, I Epidrasi Tou Dikaiou Tis Evropaikis Enosis Ston Dikastiko Elegho Tis Syntagmatikotitas Ton Nomon [The Influence of EU Law on the Constitutionality Review] 376 (2013).Google Scholar

³² Nikos Alivizatos, Syntagma kai diaploki: symvoli stin ermineia tis neas paragraphou 9 tou arthrou 14 Synt. [Constitution and Corruption: Contribution to the Interpretation of the New Paragraph 9 of Article 14 of the Greek Constitution], DIKAIO MESON ENIMEROSIS KAI EPIKOINONIAS 23 (2004); Xenophon Kontiadis, I oriothethsl tissxesis politikis eksousias kai MME: Plouralismos kai diafaneia sto epikoinoniako systima kata to arthro 14 kai 15 tou neou syntagmatos [The Limitation of the Relationship Between Political Power and Mass Media: Pluralism and Transparency in the Communication System of Articles 14 and 15 of the New Constitution], in TO NEO SYNTAGMA [THE NEW CONSTITUTION] 265 (Dimitris Tsatsos - Evangelos Venizelos - Xenophon Kontiadis (eds., 2001); Antonis Manitakis, Oi thesmikes parenergeies tis ypothesis vasikos metohos: I eknomeusi tou syntagmatos kai I paragnorisi ton adilon tropopoiiseon tou syntagmatos meso ton europaikon synthikon [The Institutional Side Effects of the “Major Shareholder” Case: The Constitution as a Law and the Avoidance of Constitution's Implicit Amendments Through the European Treaties], http://www.constitutionalism.gr.Google Scholar

³³ It has been rightly pointed out that in reality this is a problem not only in Greece, but worldwide. See Venizelos, Evangelos, Oi eggyiseis polyfonias kai diafaneias sta MME kata to arthro 14 par. 9, oi kanones ermineias tou Syntagmatos kai oi sxeseis Syntagmatos koinotikou dikaiou [The Guarantees of Polyphony and Transparency in Information Media According to Article 14 par. 9, the Interpretation Rules of the Constitution and the Relationship Between Constitution and European Law], 53 NOMIKO VIMA 425 (2005).Google Scholar

³⁴ OJ L 19/16.Google Scholar

³⁵ See Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas, supra note 23, at 89–90.Google Scholar

³⁶ Via an action under article 258 TFEU (former article 226 TEC) for failure to fulfill obligations.Google Scholar

³⁷ See Case C-274/05, Commission v. Greece, 2008 E.C.R I-07969, para 40; see also Case C-151/07, Chatzithanasis v. Ypourgos Ygeias kai Koinonikis Allilengyis, 2008 E.C.R I-09013, para 30.Google Scholar

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³⁹ The peculiarity of higher education in the Greek social context is also evident in a more recent case of Symvoylion Epikrateias concerning the cuts in university professors' salaries. In that case, the court ruled that the quality of services provided by university professors and their role in the education of the new generation deprives the government from the possibility of cutting their salaries over a certain amount due to the financial crisis and the need to reduce public spending. See Symvoulion Epikratias [Supreme administrative court] 4741/2014.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ We are saying “especially” because, despite the defuse nature of the constitutionality review in Greece, the Symvoulion Epikrateias gradually became the main judicial body reviewing the constitutionality of domestic laws and interpreting the EU law. See VASILIOS SKOURIS & EVANGELOS VENIZELOS, O DIKASTIKOS ELEGHOS THS SYNTAGMATIKOTHTAS TON NOMON [THE JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONALITY] 66–68 (1985); Akritas Kaidatzis, Greece's Third Way in Prof. Tushnet's Distinction Between Strong-Form and Weak-Form Judicial Review, and What We May Learn from It, Jus Politicum (2014), http://juspoliticum.com/uploads/pdf/jp13_kaidatzis.pdf, at 14.Google Scholar

⁴¹ According to the more recent statistics; In Greece reside 151.200 EU and around 800.000 third country nationals. On the contrary, around 1.000.000 Greek citizens are residing in other EU Member States. See Foreign and Foreign-Born Population by Group of Citizenship and Country of Birth, Eurostat, (last visited Sept. 17, 2017), http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/d/d8/Foreign_and_foreign-born_population_by_group_of_citizenship_and_country_of_birth_2012.png;Google Scholar

⁴² Only the Greek Communist Party (KKE) voted against the ratification of the treaty. All the other parties of the parliament, the center-right Nea Dimokratia (ND), the socialist PA.SO.K., and the left-wing Synaspismos (today called SYRIZA), gave 286 positive votes collectively. See Papadimitriou, Georgios, I evropaiki enopiisi kai to ethniko syntagma [The European Integration and the National Constitution], in I Oloklirosi Tis Eyropaikhs Enosis [The Conclusion of European Union] 133 (1995); Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas, supra note 23, at 77–81.Google Scholar

⁴³ The following statement of the former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis are indicative: “I will not let five pimps and five other centers of power to handle the political life of the country, because there are easy to deal with as long as we do our job as legislators and the judges do their own job”. Newspaper &;I KATHIMERINI&; 07.10.2004, http://www.kathimerini.gr/196712/article/epikairothta/politikh/den-8a-kanoyn-koymanto-pente-ntavatzhdes.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Nikos Alivizatos, supra note 38, at 117.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Konstantinos Giannakopoulos, supra note 31, at 374–78.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ More specifically, part of the Greek legal scholarship has suggested that the conflicts between national constitutional and EU law could be resolved on the grounds of article 28 of the Greek Constitution, which has the function of a special amendment clause, rendering the constitution capable of accepting the integration process as a whole without being formally amended. See Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas, supra note 28, at 92–93; Lina Papadopoulou, I dimiourgiki autokatastrophi tou Syntagmatos I pos to Syntagma ypodehetai to koinotiko fainomeno [The Creative Self-distraction of the Constitution or How the Constitution Welcomes the Integration Process], in Enees, Eikosi Chronia Apo Tin Entaksi Tis Elladas Stin Eyropaiki Enosi: Apologismos Kai Prooptikes [Twenty Years Since the Accesion of Greece to the European Union: Aftermath and Prospects] 23 (2002).Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Vasilios Skouris & Evangelos Venizelos, supra note 40; Akritas Kaidatzis, supra note 40.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Konstantinos Giannakopoulos, I protaai idrysis syntagmatikou dikastiriou ypo to prisma tis ekseliksis ton sxeseon metaksy ethnikou kai enosiakou dikaiou [The Suggested Establishment of a Constitutional Court Under the Light of the Evolution of Relations Between National and European Law], Constitutionalism (last visited Sept. 17, 2017), www.constitutionalism.gr Google Scholar

⁴⁹ According to article 3 paragraph 3 TEU, “[t}he Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance”. Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas, supra note 23, p. 71.Google Scholar

⁵¹ For more details, see Kitromilidis, Paschalis, “Noeres koinotites” kai oi aparhes toy ethnikou zitimatos sta Valkania [“Imaginary communities” and the beginning of the national issue in Balkans], in Ethniki Tautotita Kai EthnikismosGoogle Scholar

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