Around a dozen national referendums have now been held on such eu issues as new treaties and whether to join the euro.
This absence, and all those lost referendums, carry a message: the great treaty-drafting machine that has kept European integration pressing forward for decades has, for now, seized up.
Fianna Fail and Mr Cowen have a poor record on EU referendums, losing two out of three since 2001.
Unlike in places like California and Switzerland, referendums are extremely rare in Greece, with the last such vote held in 1974 when the country voted to abolish the monarchy.
Switzerland regularly conducts referendums in which voters are supposed to chose between two options. Britain does not.
Markets are unlikely to wait for the EU to call a constitutional convention, debate schemes for integration and negotiate a text, only to see it buffeted in parliamentary votes and referendums.
Mr Berlusconi opted not to fight on the issues, but instead to appeal to the courts to stop the referendums happening.
By contrast, his new position on referendums is sensible and mature: even a climb-down is preferable to madness.
This year nearly a score of presidential or parliamentary elections or referendums have been scheduled among the 53 members of the AU; some have already been held, with mixed results.
Pending referendums, 12 big cities outside London could have elected mayors by 2013.
Residents, for their part, will be able to instigate local referendums on any local issue.
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