Italian-annexed islands of Greece (Ionian Islands, Cyclades and Samos). Controversies Provinces are often deemed useless, and many proposals have been made in recent years to eliminate them. However, the difficulty of changing the constitution and the opposition of groups of politicians and citizens halted any proposal of reform. In 2013, during his speech to the Chamber of Deputies, newly appointed Prime Minister Enrico Letta announced that a revision of the second part of the constitution was needed, in order to change the bicameral parliamentary system and to abolish the provinces. The proposal, presented during the Renzi premiership, was rejected in the constitutional referendum held in December 2016. See also ISO 3166-2:IT Regions of Italy Metropolitan cities of Italy Municipalities of Italy Notes References External links Subdivisions of Italy Provinces Italy 2 Provinces, Italy NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union