Constitution (2004)

REFERENDUMS HELD ON EUROPEAN MATTERS: 1

2003: EU - Accession (Yes 92 % - No 6 % - Turnout 52 %)

CONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS - Constitution of Slovakia

Binding referendum provided for on important issues of public interest.

ARTICLES ABOUT INTERNATIONAL TREATIES, REFERENDUM AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Approval of international treaties:
Majority of votes from parliament, Art. 86 lit. d, 84 II ConstSlovakia. Majority from members of parliament required if rights are confered or duties imposed directly on natural persons or legal persons, Art. 7 IV, 84 IV ConstSlovakia.

Approval of transference of power without effect of constitutional amendment:
Majority of 3/5 from members of parliament, Art. 7 II, 84 IV ConstSlovakia.

Approval of transference of power with effect of constitutional amendment:
Not expressly regulated but constitutional amendment required.

Approval of constitutional amendment:
Majority of 3/5 from members of parliament, Art. 84 IV ConstSlovakia.

Other constitutional regulations about Referenda (Art. 93 - Art. 100):
Referenda can be called to confirm a constitutional law on entering into an alliance with other states or on withdrawing from that alliance, on important issues of public interest, Art. 93 ConstSlovakia. Referendum can be initiated by 350.000 of the electorate or the parliament, Art. 95 I ConstSlovakia. Result is valid if more than 1/2 of the electorate participated and if the decision was approved by more than 1/2 of the participants.
The National Council National decides on proposals to call a referendumand Art. 86 ConstSlovaki, and can amend or annual the result of a referendum by means of a constitutional law, but it may not do so earlier than three years after the result of the referendum came into effect, Art. 99 I ConstSlovaki.
Referendums are called by the President, Art. 102 ConstSlovaki

RATING AND DEBATE

• On 31.01.2008 the ratification of the Lisbon treaty was postponed after opposition parties walked out of the chamber in protest over a controversial media law. These parties, most of which are in favour of the Lisbon treaty in principle, refused to vote for it until the government backs down and debates its planned media law. "It is not the Lisbon treaty which is threatened but the level of democracy in Slovakia," former centre-right premier and leader of the main opposition party, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU-DS), Mikulas Dzurinda said. Opposition parties initially called for the proposed media law, which has also been attacked by the Vienna-based Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to be dropped but later called for a full discussion over it. Prime Minister Fico has branded the opposition's linkage of the two issues as "blackmail" saying they are allowing domestic politics to interfere with European issues. The dispute prevented the government from fulfilling its ambition of becoming the second country, after Hungary, to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.
• On 10.04.2008 Slovakia's parliament ratified the EU's Lisbon Treaty. The treaty was ratified by 103 votes to five thanks to the support of a some opposition lawmakers. The left-dominated three-way coalition, which has a clear majority in the 150-seat parliament, needed a these opposition votes to reach the 90 votes required for ratification. The opposition Hungarian Coalition Party announced a breakthrough in the treaty deadlock when its leaders said in the morning of the 10.04.2008 that they would vote in favour of the treaty "to protect Slovakia's good name abroad." The two other opposition parties left the chamber before the vote took place. Several Christian Democrat lawmakers sang the national anthem in protest before leaving. The party was the only one which opposed the treaty itself.

   

Eurobarometer (2006), The Future of Europe - Results for Slovakia, Special Eurobarometer 251, Fieldwork: 23/02 – 15/03 2006. (PDF)

PROCEDURE

Parliamentary vote

STATE OF THE PROCEDURE

The parliamentary ratification was held on the 10.04.2008, 103 deputies voted in favour and 5 against out of the 108 present in the 150-seat parliament.

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